Call it the welcome side of Christmas Creep; manufacturers are discounting LCD and plasma TVs ahead of the traditional year-end holiday sale cluster mess, but you won’t find the best deals in retail stores.

…if you’re in the market for a TV now, prices are already pretty compelling. Prices for L.C.D. and plasma sets have gotten so competitive, that the market for rear-projection sets has moved into only the biggest size screens, a trend that analysts predicted last year.

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But for those looking for more down-to-earth sizes in thin form factors, LCD or plasma is the way to go. To get the best price, you may need to shop online. When I compared online prices for some L.C.D. and plasma models with prices at two of the top consumer-electronics “big box” retailers, Amazon and other online stores beat brick-and-mortar stores every time.

When you add in no shipping and no sales tax–often available from many sites–the cost difference can be substantial.

We snagged a decadently large Samsung set from Amazon two years ago. Not only did Amazon beat every retail store’s price, but the tax-free DLP was delivered straight up to our apartment by a shockingly professional delivery company. The experience was better than the usual retail nightmare in every possible way, something we’d gladly repeat.

For the Best TV Prices, Stay Online [Bits]
TVs & HDTVs [Amazon]
(Photo: fab4chiky)

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