Need Plasma TV help! Buy now? Wait?

[Mrs. Charming]

I need a little help. We are getting a nice little tax return, and DH wants a new TV. We've been looking around, and yesterday we saw a nice 50" plasma TV at Best Buy. It was their "Insignia" brand, and it was $550. We *really* liked it. So, of course, we had other errands to run and we didn't buy it, and then it went up to $630 overnight. After some thought, we called Best Buy and the guy was a jerk to DH when we asked about pickup, delivery, and since they had none in stock, that they had no idea when they'd get them in etc etc etc... So then DH said he didn't want to buy from Best Buy. Ok. So I look around, and since we've had really good luck with Samsung TV's in the past, we figured we'd go with the comparable 50" Samsung plasma. So, I look around, and I find one for $647 shipped on Amazon. Should I just jump on this and buy it now? The other problem is, getting it home. We have a minivan, but it's getting repaired, and you can't lay it flat in the station wagon. Delivery is $70.. ouch.

I guess I haven't researched TVs long enough to know exactly what a good price is and what isn't. I mean I can tell what's full price, and what an OK deal is, but I can't tell when it's an "OMG! Buy it NOW!!" price is. And of course, the TV we want from Best Buy (the Insignia one) was $550 shipped on the week of January 20th.

So... should I buy the Samsung now on Amazon for $650, or hope the Insignia one goes down in price? Right now, their price on the Insignia is $630, and it includes this "free buyback program" that I have absolutely NO interest in, so it's not a bargain whatsoever. ::sigh::

This is so confusing, I hate big purchases!!

 

[LadyBeBop]

I understand why it went up overnight (from last night to today). Most big screen TVs go on sale right before the Super Bowl. Those sales ended yesterday (to allow time for the Geek Squad to install all these TVs today).

 

[ceecee]

Wait til after the game...it may go down again. DH just got one for our bedroom, he didn't want plasma but got an LED instead, it's got a great picture.

 

[Darcy03231]

We just got a Samsung 55" LCD/LED/3D TV at Sears. They've been having some great sales.

We didn't consider the plasma because we found that the LED/LCD has a much better picture from all angles. My brother has a couple of plasmas and while the picture is really good if you're looking at it straight on, its fuzzy when you look at it from an angle.

 

[jedijill]

Plasmas also work best in low light areas like basements. I bought a LCD since I have a large sliding glass door in my living room. Also, plasmas consume much more electricity and give off more heat. Two more reasons I went with the LCD.

Jill in CO

 

[KibbyCat]

Definitely wait until after the Game. You might even luck out and get an "Open Box" deal on one that somebody bought for the Superbowl and then returned...

 

[robinb]

Plasmas also work best in low light areas like basements. I bought a LCD since I have a large sliding glass door in my living room. Also, plasmas consume much more electricity and give off more heat. Two more reasons I went with the LCD.

Jill in CO

I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma (P42S2, I think) and it really doesn't consume that much more electricity than an LCD and it works perfectly fine in my living room during the day with the blinds open. We got it for a great price a couple of months ago directly from Panasonic.

OP, I wouldn't jump right now. I would keep an eye on how much 50" TVs generally cost in the next few weeks so you can know what is is good price. I would open a new savings account and plop your $650 into it so it won't temp you and but when you are comfortable with the deal.

 

[ocalla]

We have also been watcing prices. Target has a 50" panasonic on sale for $599 until Feb. 19.

Remember, when you take a Plasma home it must stay Upright, for whatever reason. Your not supposed to lie it down, so make sure your car seats can lie down and it can stand up.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

My bro-in-law's plasma died after 5 years and it was just after his warranty expired

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We LOVE our Samsung, and everyone we know that has bought a flat-panel TV in the last couple of years has bought a Samsung. My husband researched and shopped HD-TVs for months and wouldn't settle for anything but the Samsung. And, when the plasma went on sale and I told him, "we can get the plasma now or wait until the LCD drops in price a bit more," he didn't even hesitate - we waited for the LCD. And if we were buying now, we'd get an LED. My sister's family just got the Samsung LED and it's amazing. Don't buy the cheapest thing today - wait and get what you really want.

 

[amy-momofthree]

We bought a Samsung Plasma back in June and LOVE it. The picture is so clear. We looked for six months before buying and found it cheapest right around father's day.

You need to make sure you get a 1080p (not 720p). There is a difference in picture clarity.

If you do buy from best buy they have a great price match guarantee that if the price goes down in 30 days they will adjust the price. I bought a washer and dryer and two weeks later it went on sale, they gave me credit no questions asked.

 

[robinb]

Remember to to use your AMEX card if you have one to double the warranty. Also, COSTCO has good prices and a double warranty.

 

[quentina]

My DH, who is a retail sales manager for audio/video, says no. He advises you to look at Panasonic. However; he states that it is a personal choice. Then started rambling about room brightness LOL.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Remember to to use your AMEX card if you have one to double the warranty. Also, COSTCO has good prices and a double warranty.

Costco has great tv prices.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Thank you-- I feel a LOT less guilty now. I felt like the big bad wife who put the kibash on DH getting a TV today. I guess I just didn't feel like we were getting the best deal.

I'm definitely going to look into the Costco double warranty. We're not members but that would be worth joining.

I'm going to look into the Panasonics more, but I think we like the Samsungs since they've always been good for us in the past (and present.)

Thank you all.

Oh, and I fully expect it to die the day after the warranty expires, just because that's our luck!!

 

[sharlon]

We bought the 50" Panasonic Plasma today and I am watching the Superbowl on it right now. It was to replace a 50" Vizio Plasma that had overheated & died. We went with Plasma for the same reason both times. We watch a lot of sports and there is not the delay that you often see in LCDs. We have never had a problem with lighting with our Plasmas.

We did not go with a Samsung (who also makes LG and Insignia, per the guy at Best Buy) because I have read in a lot of places about power problems with Samsungs when they get to be about 2 years old. Even the store manager at Best Buy was suggesting the Panasonic over the others, plus we liked the picture better.

The Panasonic in today's Best Buy ad is the same as the one in the Target ad. It has been discontinued, so, of course, no Best Buy anywhere near us had one and the warehouse was out. We got the last one that our Target had. All of that said, I wouldn't wait too long on the Panasonic, or you may not get one.

 

[8esther8]

Panasonic plasmas are rated highest by Consumer Reports, even higher in picture quality than LED/LCDs. The price in plasmas have come down, because they are not the newest technology. I got my Panasonic 50" plasma at HHGregg, if you have them near you. They have many more models. Costco only has 2 plasmas. The picture quality is outstanding. We got it for Christmas and can't get over the picture. Many people say the picture is not as bright as an LCD, but there are several settings if you want to adjust the brightness of picture. I have mine set on "Cinema" and it feels like I am at the movie theatre. The brightness of the room also does not make much difference anymore. They all have new reduced glare screens. Make sure that the TV is hooked up to a blu-ray so you can see the highest quality picture. Many stores hook up so many tvs through one poor quality connection, so you don't see what you will actually be getting.

 

[jbmom1b2g]

We got a plasma panasonic TV and we are not happy about it. We have what is called the blink of death. We have to unplug the tv for a bit to get it tp turn on. This may not happen with the newer ones but it looks like the mode; we have has that problem. And it is past warranty

 

[Shmily1]

My friend had a huge plasma for a year and a few days. The warranty was for 1 year.... it died less than a week later. When she went to buy another one, two sales people at two different stores said to never buy a plasma because they have so many problems with them. Needless to say, when we got our 55" tv a few months ago, we got an lcd.

 

[marie1203]

We have a Samsung lcd. It is almost 3 years old and it works great. We used to have a plasma before that and I we like our lcd better. We were told that for tvs the best brand are sss. Sony, Samsung and sharp. My husband did a lot of research at the time to make sure we got the best quality. We paid a lot of money for our tv. It was worth it because even after 3 years it has better picture quality that most tvs out there now.