Analysts say HDTV prices will drop like Blockbuster stock as the holidays approach, thanks to a glut of LCDs flooding the market.
CNN Money reports DisplaySearch predicts TV prices will plummet to 12 percent or more below 2009 levels. And as always, Black Friday will be the day for the sweetest of TV deals, with some 32-inch LCDs projected to drop to less than $250.
If you’ve held out on buying an HDTV, how low do prices need to get before you ante up?
Flat-screen TV prices to plunge for holiday season [CNN Money]
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Samsung C6500 series, 46″ LED needs to drop below $1,000. Then I will make the leap. Otherwise, I will continue to suffer with my 5 year old 37″ LG LCD.
I just got the 40inch 6500. The picture is fantastic.
Continued price drops are great, but TV makers have yet to release an LCD I’d be interested in. There’s only one model in the size I’d want and it’s a Sony that costs $20,000. TV manufacturers, introduce a larger model at $3-4k and I’m sold.
(Have a 70″ LCOS set that I’d happily replace with an LCD if it didn’t involve having to downsize by 5-10″. )
20k? Does it make you breakfast too?
What model is that???
That would be because LCD technology doesn’t work well over 42 inches.
The technology continues to improve, but don’t expect a good-sized 3-4k LCD TV for a long time. Or ever, as technology might just change by then.
Plasmas are superior over 42 inches. Get one of those.
My parents have a 46 LED LCD and it is fantastic, it’s colors and picture are better then any of the plasmas I have seen.
I don’t seem to have any issues with my 55″ Vizio … best picture of any in the store … looks damn good in my living room, too.
If a Vizio had the best picture in the store, you must have been shopping at Walmart; or you need glasses.
Like 5-10″ would really make a difference at that size.
I’m looking forward to upgrading to a HDTV but it’s really hard to justify it until our current TV dies.
I agree.
Demote your current TV to the bedroom, buy new TV for family room. Give away old TV from bedroom. Repeat whenever you want a new TV.
easier to justify if you at least donate it to a charity and get a tax deductible receipt
I’ll be glad to see prices drop across the board, but I’m still holding out for a set with Netflix (at least) and hopefully GoogleTV built-in. I just know I’d be kicking myself two years from now if I don’t have some patients now.
There are BluRay players that do this. I’d rather have a TV that is good at display and leave the Internet Video to easily replaceable players.
I have a Samsung HDTV with Netflix streaming, and the picture is phenomenal. And just about every manufacturer — Hitachi, LG, Sony, Vizio, Panasonic and others — is now making TVs that will stream Netflix and other internet programming. True, it might make more sense to have your Netflix served up via a blu-ray player (or other external box) instead, but the odds are increasing that if you buy a new blu-ray player or a new HDTV, most of the “all-but-the-cheapest” models are going to have streaming built in, whether you want it or not. (I actually didn’t want or need streaming on this TV, since its in the same room as a blu-ray player that also has it, and Netflix will only allow you to authorize a limited number of streaming devices per account. But this was the best 42 inch TV I could find, and streaming was included.)
You have more to worry about if you don’t have any patients now. Might want to start advertising your practice.
Don’t get a TV with all that hoopla garbage built in because you will are paying extra for it, either in extra dollars or a crappier picture. TVs will built in features tend to not get updates as frequently as stand alone boxes or bluray players with these features. The result is that in a year or two you not only have a TV with a crappy picture, but crappy outdated features as well (and then the TV manufacturers have you right where they want you, in the position to buy another new TV).
You are much better off buying the TV with the best picture that is in your budget (which usually means little or no extra features) and then getting a stand alone internet tv device, or bluray player with the features you want.
I’m waiting for ~$400-$450 on a 37inch LCD.
But I’ll see how low it goes before I jump on it.. if I get one for $299, I’ll consider it a success.
I’d like to get a new one for the living room and move that one into the bedroom. They have went down considerably since last year even.
I’ve read too many horror stories about HDTV’s failing after only a year or two of use and occasioning huge repair bills. I’ll wait until my trusty Panasonic CRT dies, thank you very much…
GAH! I just took delivery from Amazon on a new Samsung 32-inch TV and Panasonic blu-ray player (as recommended by Consumer Reports). Where was this advice last week? Thanks a lot there, Consumersit.
But hubby wants a plasma, boo!! I want an LCD because everyone else has one so they must be good. We still rockin’ the CRT’s lol
If you have a bright room, go LCD.
If you have a dark room, go Plasma.
If you go LCD, get a LG with LED backlight, 1080P, netcast, 120Hz refresh or better. you can’t go wrong. very energy efficient
If you go Plasma, just get the biggest one you can afford.
Another consideration is if you are going to use a game system with your TV, get an LCD. Plasmas are susceptible to burn-in from stationary images on screen, which is common in games.
Just because everyone else has something doesn’t make it good. Tons of people buy complete junk.
LCD and plasma are different, and at this point in my life I’d probably get a plasma given needs. Most people just buy LCD because it’s often cheaper and far more ubiquitous.
Last weekend Walmart had a nice deal for a 46″ 1080p Sony LCD with a Sony Blu Ray player for $968. If I didn’t already have a huge TV and blu ray player I would’ve jumped on that deal in a hot second.
I would be tempted, but I have to get rid of my Sony Wega first. That monster is so heavy the FedEx guy asked for my help getting it out of the truck when he was delivering it. I figure I will Craigslist it when I move and pick up a flat panel tv later. I am probably not moving in the next 2 months, though.
I had a 190 lb sony flat screen tube TV (made around 2000). Tried to craigslist it, no luck. Tried to give it away for free, no luck. Ended up paying a guy $35 to take it away from my upstairs apartment.
That doesn’t sound good. I hope I will be able to get rid of mine when the time comes. It only weighs 110 lbs, and I live in a college town, so I will keep my fingers crossed. It really is an awesome tv.
I am in the EXACT same situation. I have the cash, I know which tv I am going to get (Samsung PN50C6500) but my 36″ Sony Wega is keeping me from pulling the trigger.
That thing has served me well and I’m still glad I got it overall, but man the size and front-heavy weight of that thing is just absurd. The last time I moved four huge pro moving guys needed me to jump in and help with it – and I’m not a beefy guy, they just needed someone to prevent it from trying to flip itself face-first on to the ground.
One time I tried to move it to the other side of the room and used my couch to move it, and it sunk so deep in to my couch it took 5-6 people to pull it out!
I’ve been waiting for it to die (it has threatened to a few times) but it JUST KEEPS LIVING.
I can’t give this thing away. People always say how great it looks when watching it but when I go “hey you want it? free? it’s yours!” they always decline. When I note on craigslist that they need to bring a handful of people over just to get it out of my place the offers to take it away (for free!) dry up completely.
Never been a fan of LCDs for anything other than computer monitors. Plasmas are the way to go for me. People always cry about burn-in, but there are ways to prevent (and correct) that problem.
I’m very sensitive to refresh rates, and even with some of the higher-end 240Hz LCDs, I can still notice the flicker. There’s also the issue of contrast ratio quality on the bulk of LCD models.
I’m not saying I’ll never buy a large-format LCD HDTV, but the picture quality to price ratio will have to get a lot better first.
We’re going to buy one this year as the family Christmas present. I’m looking at a 52″ screen and expect to pay $1500 or less for a good one.
I’m shootin for a 55″ fully backlit led-lcd, 240mhz for 1500. I’ve some around 1700-1900 so I know it’s doable.
This whole HDTV thing is a double fail. On one hand the resolution is not really so high compared with PC monitors several years older (and cheaper). On the other hand, the way most people mount their “HD”TV makes it impossible for normal people tell the difference between the “HD” and the old regular TV image.
Explain about the mounting fail?
Explain about the “normal people” fail?
He might be referring to TVs that are way too big for the room they’re located in.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-2RJmNj5CKVv/learn/learningcenter/home/TV_placement.html
That’s very perceptive, and it helps explain why so few people have bought HDTV’s in the last few years, and why virtually no broadcasters or cable companies have bothered to upgrade their content to HD, since nobody notices the difference anyway!
Yes, resolutions of monitors have been capable of 1920×1080 for a while now, but not at monitor sizes large or cheap enough to be used by most people as living room televisions.
And just how are people mounting their TVs that makes HD indistinguishable from SD? The difference is pretty obvious and pretty significant to the vast majority of people.
Gimme a 32″-37″ with Netflix onboard for less than $600 and I’m in.
Well not for me, just a task a friend asked me to help with.
I’m in the market for a new tv since mine died, and I’ve been waiting cause I knew prices would drop for the holidays. Right now I’m making it with my old backup tv & plotting for the day when I can buy something. And I’d totally take a 32-inch for $250.
That’s great news. I won’t go out and fight the Black Friday crowds, but maybe Amazon will have some bigger TVs on sale on Black Friday. I want a 55″ plasma for the living room.
Wooo…. crappy TN based LCDs with horrible black levels and low viewing angles. Too bad most people only care that its cheap, flat, and big.
Last year, I noticed that prices for HDTVs were lower in the couple months leading up to Black Friday than on Black Friday. The only way I noticed it was because I was getting email alerts for Black Friday deals and compared them model for model.
Black Friday is just a nice phrase for “Marked Up More Than Before But For Less Than Advertised Now”
wow. an actual useful article by phil. nicely done. of course the answer to how to get any electronic device cheaper is always wait. wait until christmas when they go on sale, or even better wait until after christmas when they really go on sale
We had no intention of buying a new TV until I noticed this article last night. Now? Well, our current 24″ TV is pretty old and has seen better days, and with these prices, it would be difficult to turn down an upgrade, especially since we’ve already got a cable plan with HD channels that we can’t use with our old set. This definitely makes me want to take the plunge and at least look at what’s out on the market right now.
Better yet, wait until January when this year’s models go on clearance.
Last year for Black Friday, Best Buy had their 50″ Panasonic Viera plasmas for $800 (I think I saved like $400).
You’re a fool if you buy a TV now so close to x-mas.
While it’s definitely not a need (the ole 27″ CRT works just fine), I saw a sweet 42″ LG the other day for $599.
Gonna keep my eyes on the price to see if I can be persuaded.
“If you’ve held out on buying an HDTV, how low do prices need to get before you ante up?”
I’d like to see a decent quality, brand name 50 inch for around $500. It seems like there’s no point in buying a lesser expensive smaller tv if they keep lowering in price. Then again, you can always use them to phase out the bedroom/office/loft tv’s.