Here’s the thing: If you have $20,000 to spare, you could buy Samsung’s new 88-inch, 4K Ultra HD TV. But you really don’t have to. [More]
tvs
Move Over Mattresses: $100,000 Found Stashed Inside Old TV
By 2.16.17
You wouldn’t expect to fit more than a few dollars in the back of today’s flat-screen televisions, but TVs of yesteryear with their bulky backs full of tubes and cords were apparently another option for consumers who have a tendency to stash away money. You know, if their box springs were already full: More than $100,000 was recently found hidden inside an old TV at a recycling plant. [More]
American Airlines Ditching Seatback TVs In Some New Planes. Will They Be Missed?
By 1.25.17
Not that long ago, “in-flight entertainment” consisted of having to crane your neck to watch a bland, inoffensive movie on shared screens — and that’s assuming your headphones worked. Then individual seat-back screens expanded viewing options; more movies, shows, and games to choose from. But with nearly everyone now carrying some sort of personal entertainment device, are these small screens necessary? American Airlines doesn’t think so. [More]
When Is The Best Time To Buy A New TV?
By 12.29.16
Are you in the market for a new television? If so, your timing is good. While it’s common wisdom that TV deals are the best around the time of the Super Bowl, sales data also show that’s true. [More]
Customers Complain When Walmart Won’t Honor Pricing Error That Listed 70″ TV For $99
By 12.5.16
If you see a TV that normally sells for $2,000 suddenly listed for sale at $99, you probably know it’s either stolen, worthless, or — most likely — a pricing error. You’re free to try to take advantage of that goof, but you don’t really have much of a legal leg to stand on if they realize the error and cancel your order.
[More]
Sears Expands Another House Brand, Sells Kenmore TVs
By 6.22.16
A few weeks ago, Sears announced with its quarterly earnings that it was looking into doing some unspecified money-making thing with its signature house brands: Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard. Most observers assumed that this meant selling the brands, since Sears Holdings needs some cash flow. Instead, the company is expanding the brands to include new and related like DieHard car tires and now Kenmore-brand televisions. [More]
Sharp Will Stop Selling TVs In The Americas, Licenses Name To Hisense
By 8.3.15
Sharp was an early player in the flat panel screen market, but the Japanese company has decided to leave behind their TV business in the Americas, agreeing to license their name to a Chinese company, Hisense. Sharp sold its factory in Mexico to Hisense, which will presumably supply TVs to customers in North and South America alike. [More]
What You Say To Your Samsung Smart TV Is ‘Transmitted To A Third Party’
By 2.9.15
It was almost three years ago that we started to wonder whether it was possible for smart TVs to watch and listen to anyone in the immediate area of the television. It’s possible, but could it really happen? Over the weekend, the Daily Beast pointed out a single incredibly creepy sentence in the privacy policy for Samsung’s smart TVs, and we all began to wonder what our TV sets are really up to. [More]
Quantum Dots Are The Hot New Thing At CES. So What Are They, And Why Should You Care?
By 1.6.15
TV’s are getting bigger and better every year, while also getting thinner and lighter. That’s good, but even as resolution increases by leaps and bounds, there have been some trade-offs in performance. This year, though, a new tech with a name right out of science fiction — the quantum dot — is the buzzword promising to be the solution to that problem. [More]
Do Many People Really Buy New TVs For The Super Bowl?
By 1.24.14
If you look around the Internet this week, you’ll see any number of stories advising you on the best TVs (and best deals on those TVs) for watching the upcoming Super Bowl. Given all this attention, you might think that tons of people are rushing to stores to snatch up big screens. But this may be much ado about very little. [More]
This $40,000 TV Is The New Thing To Ridicule With Delightful Amazon Reviews
By 12.9.13
It’s not every day that the Internet’s commenters can all decide together which product on Amazon is most in need of derision by way of product reviews. This time it’s not a gallon of whole milk or even a gigantic tub of lube, but a $40,000, 85-inch LED TV from Samsung. It’s on sale, too, down from $44,999.99! [More]
Toll-Free Number On Walmart Black Friday TV Voucher Forwarded To Wisconsin Spa
By 12.4.13
There might have been thousands of people who received vouchers from Walmart during Thanksgiving weekend that entitled them to order a television online at a certain price. For many of them, the voucher didn’t work, so they called the toll-free number on the voucher. For some reason that isn’t clear to anyone yet, this number was forwarded to a spa in Wisconsin. [More]
New LG TVs Will Be Telling Marketers What You’re Watching
By 9.5.13
Your co-workers, friends, and maybe even your loved ones might not know you obsessively watch marathons of House Hunters International, but your TV soon will, with LG and others looking to launch Internet-connected sets that tell third-party marketers about all the horrible TV shows you watch. [More]
Best Buy Cancels My Black Tie Plan, Forgets To Tell Me
By 7.29.13
Reader L. had heard nightmare tales about Best Buy’s Black Tie Protection Plans, but they couldn’t possibly be true. Could they? Two years into a four-year protection plan on his TV, he found out the hard way. No, they didn’t refuse to cover his problem, or stall on sending a repair person over: they had canceled his plan back in 2011, but forgotten to tell him. [More]
Best Buy Employee Reveals 3 Common Mistakes Customers Make When Picking Up Big-Screen TVs
By 7.23.13 — Updated: 5.23.17
Consumerist reader “A” works at Best Buy and sees a lot of customers buying large TVs. He also sees many of those TV-buying customers making the same mistakes when it comes time to take that new set home. [More]
Consumer Reports: $1,500 Ultra HD TV Is Just a Mediocre LCD TV
By 5.29.13
With many Ultra HD (or 4K) TVs ranging in price anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000, early adopters who want that level of visual definition without going bankrupt may be tempted to buy Seiki’s 50″ Ultra HD for around $1,500. But our TV-testing siblings at Consumer Reports say you’d probably be better off saving your money for now. [More]
Toshiba Sends Contractor To My House To Break My TV Even More, Shrugs
By 3.11.13
Chad is getting surgery soon: a spinal fusion. He’d like to be able to lie around and stare at his TV while he recovers from the operation, but his TV isn’t working so well. Audio from the coaxial connection went fuzzy, and now doesn’t work at all. A technician came to repair the TV, which was under warranty, and just went ahead and drilled through the screen. Now Chad is stuck between the service company and Toshiba, and they just keep passing him back and forth. [More]
Repair Company Can’t Fix TV Without Parts, Warranty Won’t Replace Repairable TV
By 12.28.12
How long could your household go without a television? It depends on how many people are there, what you watch, what time of year it is, how the weather is, and whether or not it’s Christmas break and your kids are home from school. That’s the case for Roman’s family, cord cutters who are cut off from television content. Last Black Friday, Roman got a Vizio 3D smart TV from Walmart. Just under a year later, the set doesn’t work. That’s okay, though: he bought the extended warranty. The repair service set up an appointment, then just didn’t show after Roman took a day off work and waited around for them. Why? They didn’t have the part he needed in stock. [More]
