Pre lit Christmas trees

[skiwee1]

Does anyone have the prelit trees that are getting popular? I am thinking of getting one this year but would like opinions, where to buy, what to look for and so on. I have an artificial one now that I put up in the living room. We go out and cut down a fresh one for the family room. I would really like to get rid of my old fake one as it is such a pain to assemble, takes me at least 3 hours to do, and it isn't prelit. Is there any downfalls to owning a prelit tree? What happens when the lights stop working all together? Do you just toss the tree? The trees I'm looking at are around $500 and I can't imaging getting rid of it the lights don't work but what to do? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mudnuri]

A SIL of mine has a huge prelit tree- I'm not sure where she got it- I think QVC, I know she paid around 500 for it. Its huge though, she has 14 foot ceilings in her living room- so it's about 12-13 feet high, and BEAUTIFUL! She's had it now for 2 years, this will be the 3rd christmas, and all the lights worked last year..The lights look so perfect on it- and you cant tell it's a fake tree either by looking at it, and I'm NOT a fan of fake trees

Brandy

 

[ripleysmom]

We started to buy one last year. It had lights and fiber optics. It was a nice tree but I was disappointed cause it didn't have twinkling lights too.

2 days after we put it up the light broke on the fiber optic system so we had to take down the tree and take it back. We bought another tree but it was not pre-lit so I wouldn't have that problem again.

 

[krissy3483]

My mom bought a pre-lit tree two years ago. I believe it was made by Martha Stewart's company. I don't know about all pre-lit trees, but a few of the lights went out on this one, and you can just replace them individually. Her tree also can be set to rotate slowly, which was kind of neat because you get to see all the ornaments on the tree.

 

[Tinkertude]

We have had our tree for 3 Christmas' We have had no problem with the lights at all. They will either blink or stay on. We paid about the same price you are discussing. We bought at a local garden center. The only problem is I can't stand the idea of crushing it into a box. So we just slide it into the spare room and shut the door. lol

 

[Octoberbeauty]

Wanna get even easier? Here's a prelit, predecorated, remote control tree. LOl
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...ype=1&dept=174133&path=0:174133:175369:175369

 

[Jasminesmommy]

I have a 6 footer I bought for $39 suppose to be $99 the marked it wrong. I have had it for 3 years and love it. They made it so if a light burns out you just have to replace the one.

 

[minniecarousel]

We bought an 8-ft pre-lit 4 years ago and love it! We just replace bulbs as they burn out. Ours takes less than an hour to completly set up - it's in 3 peices.

I see that Costco has some at a very reasonable price - bet there won't be any at any Costco in a month though!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I LOVE my pre-lit tree! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! My SPINS too, if I want it too!

We scored our a couple XMas's ago at KMart half-off. It's a 7.5 ft, white lights - very full and beautiful. There are some gorgeous full ones, and dinky skinny ones =) You just have to look around alot.

Ours is in 3 pieces, easily snaps together, fluff it out all the way around, and hook the lights together. Plus I can turn it on rotate if I want, so we get to look at all the ornaments on the tree (and it makes decorating so much easier!!!). Takes us way less than an hour to get it put together...

=)

 

[SnoWhite]

We used to always cut down a Christmas tree, and I was very against fake ones, but last year we went ahead and bought a pre-lit tree from Costco. It's absolutely beautiful! I love it! I decided that it was ok since now I can keep it up as long as I want without it drying out!
You can check their webpage, but I know that they sell out quickly when they do get them in.

 

[totalia]

I think the fiber optic trees are horribly ugly. I won't be buying one.

 

[AZKathy]

We have a 9 foot pre lit tree we got at Sam's Club four Christmas's ago. It is beautiful. The only drawback I see is that it is very heavy with the lights on, but otherwise fairly easy to assemble. It comes in three sections that you have to connect the cords together after putting the piece on top of the first piece. We had one section that was dark on the tree last Christmas and it took a bit to find the burned out bulb, but you run into that with any lights.<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_73.gif' border=0></a>

QVC had a cool one recently. It was 7 1/2 feet tall and came with a total of 1200 lights; 600 were white and 600 were multi-colored. It cames with a remote where you could change the configuration of the lights....all white....all multi-colored....both. I think it was around $170 ballpark figure.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I bought one 5 years ago due to allergies. I bought mine at an after Christmas sale. I've really enjoyed it. No watering, and you can put it up whenever you want.

Lori

 

[LuvN~Travel]

And those that turn are SO easy to decorate, too. My dad and brother bought my mom one a few years back when she had broken her foot. My sister and I both went over and decorated it for her. We could just stand there and the tree turned for us. No hunting round and round to hang items. BTW, she hasn't any problems yet with hers either.
Kim

 

[DVC-Don]

We bought a 7' pre-lit from Lowes a couple of years ago. We got it after Christmas that year during a huge sale. We like not having to hunt for a tree at the tree farm and not having all those wires.

 

[dzneelvr]

I manage a Gift Shop and one of the pre lit trees just bit the dust this season after 3 years. The tree is lit an average of 12 hours per day 7 days a week from October 20 through January 20 if that gives you an idea of longevity.
The manager tried cutting off the lites but it was too much of a hassle. Around our area, we can find decent trees for alot less than $500! I'd shop around at the end of the season at places like Walmart.

 

[ellyn2000]

I bought 2 of the prelit trees from QVC several years ago and they are so easy to use. My 16 yr. old DD sets them up for me and she decorates the one in the living room and I decorate the "kitchen tree" in the dining room. We're done in a flash and they are just as easy to take down. I got a great deal on them during a Christmas in July special so if the lights stary dying I'll probably trash them and get a new one. Used about 3 years now and no problems.

 

[skiwee1]

Thanks everyone for your informative replies! I feel much better about getting one now. I will also check out Costco and start watching QVC! I was looking on a webpage called treeclassics.com and that is where I got the $500 price but didn't realize you could get them in stores. I will definitely be doing some shopping around this week. Our new family room has a cathedral ceiling so I guess I'm going to get a 9 foot one though a bigger one would fit. It sounds like they all come in 3 pieces which sound great! My old tree is very pretty and realistic and comes with 150 branches that you have to put on one at a time. That is why it takes me so long and it tears my hands up. I always have to put the tree together one day and then decorate the next. Such a pain! Sounds like the pre lit is the way to go. Thanks so much for all the good info!

 

[helenabear]

Good luck hunting trees! I bought a 7' prelit last year from Sears for about $150 (it was during a half off sale). It is so easy to put up, and the number of lights just makes the room glow so beautifully It was one of the best deals I have ever gotten and since I seem to put up and decorate the tree, I have no trouble putting lights on and making them look right anymore.

 

[Feralpeg]

I went by K-Mart yesterday and they have some beautiful pre-lit trees. I like the ones that look like long needles and they had both ones with colored lights and ones with just white lights. I am planning on going back to get one. They were 7.5 ft trees and were less than $200.