Prelit Tree Questions

[kayeandjim00]

DH and I are getting our first artificial tree! With the addition of two cats and a dog this year we think it's our best option since we have no idea what to expect from them. We looked at different options and the prelit is definitely a strong contender but DH is concerned about the tree STAYING lit for more than a year or two. Any experience with this? Also where did you get yours? I'd like a nice one - 6-7' and prelit would be wonderful if it will be lit more than a year. Pros and cons of prelit vs not? Thanks for your help!!

 

[ducklite]

I'm interested in this as well. I need at minimum a 9 1/2 foot tree (12 foot ceiling) and have seen some pretty unreasonable prices--saw one that was gorgeous, but at $1200, it better decorate itself, pack itself away at the end of the season, and wrap all the gifts!

Where can I find a tree that looks nice at a reasonable price?

Anne

 

[KarenAylwood]

I'm interested in this as well. I need at minimum a 9 1/2 foot tree (12 foot ceiling) and have seen some pretty unreasonable prices--saw one that was gorgeous, but at $1200, it better decorate itself, pack itself away at the end of the season, and wrap all the gifts!

Where can I find a tree that looks nice at a reasonable price?

Anne

I saw a 9 1/2 foot tree at Sam's Club just yesterday (they didn't have many left). I can't remember the exact price (would be way to big for our little apartment!) but it was far below $1200. Goodluck!

I'm also wondering about pre-lit vs. unlit. I figured that once they blew out on the tree after a few years I could just put regular lights on it.

 

[ducklite]

I saw a 9 1/2 foot tree at Sam's Club just yesterday (they didn't have many left). I can't remember the exact price (would be way to big for our little apartment!) but it was far below $1200. Goodluck!

I'm also wondering about pre-lit vs. unlit. I figured that once they blew out on the tree after a few years I could just put regular lights on it.

Hmmm...We didn't renew our Sam's Membership because there isn't one all that convenient to us here. Wonder if we can get a one day pass to go in, and join if we decide we want to buy it?

Anne

 

[KarenAylwood]

Go to www.samsclub.com and click on the "Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" and then on "click here to share a one day pass..."

Just print it out and that's your guest pass!

Also on the site, under search type in "prelit tree" and there are 10 or so results. The one I saw in the store was 9 1/2 but it looks like most on there are 9' or 12'.

 

[ducklite]

Go to www.samsclub.com and click on the "Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" and then on "click here to share a one day pass..."

Just print it out and that's your guest pass!

Also on the site, under search type in "prelit tree" and there are 10 or so results. The one I saw in the store was 9 1/2 but it looks like most on there are 9' or 12'.

THANKS!!!!!!

Anne

 

[DVC-Don]

We've had a 7' pre-lit multi colored tree from Lowe's (I got at an after Christmas sale for $50) for the past 4 seasons. This year we are adding a 7.5 pre-lit multi colored tree I got off eBay last Feb for $60. Love artificial. Used to drive to a tree farm and walk around the fields for hours to find one to cut down. Best time pricewise is right after Christmas.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Buy it at Costco and you can always take it back if the lights don't work a few years later. We got ours at Sears, it's by GE, and I believe it has a 5 year warranty on lights.

 

[Brianne]

We bought a 9' pre-lit from Target last year for around $300 or so? I honestly can't remember, but it was somewhere between $200-300.

We've had pre-lit trees for a few years now, and haven't had any problems with them (we only switched to the 9' because this house has higher ceilings than our previous home-our old tree looked very short & squat in this house. ). The lights are no different than a string of lights; just make sure you store the tree carefully over the year.

 

[Poohnatic]

I'm headed out in a few to get a 7 1/2 foot GE from Sears. Check out their website, they've got a good sale. 219.99 for the 7 1/2 foot.

That said, had been looking all week-Lowes, Home Depot, Costco, Target, etc. DH also hit Penneys, Macys and Dillards. Costco had a couple of nice 7/12 and 9 foot, but they had clear lights.

In a perfect world, I'd find an all blue light tree, but I know that's not going to happen, lol. I'm not an all white light fan, and only tolerate the multi colored lights. My family had all blue growing up, so that's the only way that seems 'right'.

Suzanne

 

[twocat]

I got a 7.5 foot, 700 light, Chicago slim ( lived in a townwhouse at the time and needed a narrow tree) at Michaels 2 years ago for about $100 with a coupon that Michael's seems to continually put in their ads.

I did a great deal of looking around (Target, Frank's, K-Mart, and several other places I can't recall now) and this was by far, the best tree based on light count and branch fullness, at the best price.

So, try Michael's if they're in your area.

Donna

 

[HappyMommy2]

We have a pre-lit tree from K-Mart. I think it was around $150, 6.5 feet tall and is really pretty nice for the price. We are on our third year of using it and so far so good.

One thing to consider though is whether you like the lights to blink or not. Ours remain steady-on and don't have a blinking setting. I prefer the steady-on but wish I could switch it to blink now and then. If I were to buy again I might look for one that offered a blinking mode. I'm thinking of adding a string of blinking lights to ours just for fun.

 

[buckylarue]

Ours is a 7-foot pre-lit that we got at (I think) Target a few years back. It is a fiber optic prelit, so it only has a single bulb in the base that is easily changed, but the original bulb is still going strong. It also has several rotating disks to put over the light source for different effects; one makes twinkling white lights, one makes twinkling multicolors, and one makes a swirling color effect across the whole tree, or you can just leave them out and have steady white lights on the branch tips. It was around $100 on sale when we got it.

 

[DawnCt1]

How long does it take to put it together and pack it away, and is it a big box?

 

[marybet]

I got my 7 1/2 foot pre-lit at K-Mart three years ago. Didn't put it up last year because of Hurricane Ivan. I think it was only around $150 and it has 1000 lights. It is nice beacuse I used to spend two days putting the lights on the tree, (like them to be just so), the first year I had to redo all the plugs on my Hallmark lighted ornaments to match the lights on the tree, what a pain. The second year it went a lot quicker. I have strings of lights that are over 10 years old and they still light, so I think you will get a lot of years from a pre-lit tree.

 

[buckylarue]

How long does it take to put it together and pack it away, and is it a big box?

Ours is just the base with the light fixture in it and 3 tree sections that fit into each other. The branches are all attached to the sections and just fold up for storage and down for display.I'd say the box was about 18"x18"x36" or so.

 

[marybet]

How long does it take to put it together and pack it away, and is it a big box?

Mine is in three sections and it doesn't really take any longer than a regular tree, but it is heavier.

 

[agotta]

We love ours. We wanted something small and inexpensive for the apartment. It is actually a collapsable tree. You build the frame and the "body" of the tree is put on like a skirt! It is pre-lit and so easy to decorate. We just love it. There is a tool they sell so that if one light goes out and you can't figure out which one, you just plug this little tool into a light outlet it will light up all the lights except the burnt out one. Merry Christmas!

 

[summerrluvv]

I bought a Target brand 7.5 foot pre-lit and we are going on the third year with it. The lights are still twinkling I just put it up today actually If you have a Goodwill in your area, check them out for Target's tree's from last year. They mark them at half of Target's price and they are brand new in the box.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I think we paid about $300 for our pre-lit tree. It is 7.5 ft., 900 lights. It plays music and the lights flash in time to the tune, or it can just have the lights flashing or "on". It is pretty cool. The lights are all white and they are really bright so we have to put lots of ornaments to offset the lights. One thing to be aware of is that you can't plug anything into the light strings. I have some Hallmark ornaments that plug into the socket from the light string (you remove the bulb and plug the ornament in). Can't do that with the pre-lit. You can always add a string of regular lights and plug the ornaments into that string.

This will be our third year with it - hopefully it will still work! It is sort of a chore to wrestle it back into the box but we have very limited storage space so it is necessary to put it back each year. The worst part of setting it up is separating the little branches, spreading them out to make them look "natural". The tree has lots of little "fingers" and they all have to be sort of fanned out before we can put ornaments on them. That's my least favorite part!