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Went with a friend to pick out a Plasma, and... (1 Viewer)

Bryan^H

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The other day my friend was going to shop for a new TV. When I told him the advantages of Plasma, and how much better it looks than LED/LCD he was sold. He did the homework online, and opted for the 60" Samsung F8500. Good choice.

I went with him to Best Buy, they had all their Plasma tv's on display(not the one he wanted) but the four or five on display looked hideous compared to the other TV's. There was no "black Levels" as everything resembling Black was dark gray.

When the salesman approached him "Do you have any questions?" My friend who never restrains from the obvious replies "Yeah I was wondering why all your Plasma Tv's look terrible".
Salesman" Those are the factory settings from the manufacturer"

After the salesman leaves, I told my friend, this is bullshit. If anything the Plasma tv's should be schooling the rest of the televisions on display. He thought so too. "I guess they really don't want to sell the plasma tv's do they?" he said. Nope.
Anyway he went with a flat panel 4k Samsung. available for in store pickup on Wednesday. When he got home he noticed the salesman had sold him the wrong tv, as his receipt said "curved" display. He promptly returned it, and is still without a tv.
 

Mike Frezon

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I hate when things work out like that.

You set out all excited...going to make a big purchase...you know what you want.

Then you get to the store and the wheels fall off. And then the axles fall off too. And you're left sitting on the ground with nothing.

Hate that.

You should really convince your friend to stick with the idea of a plasma.

There's been a couple of recent threads on the search for the remaining plasmas.

#1

#2
 

Bryan^H

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Yeah, I told him from here on out...ORDER ONLINE!! I hate condoning this practice for big purchases, but with the fiasco that he went through at a brick and mortar store. I mean you hit a buttton, on your computer, and you get 1. What you want 2. Free delivery. 3. No weird salesperson putting their spin on what they think is right for you. It really is that simple.
 

Mike Frezon

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I ordered my Plasma online (Amazon). No problems. And I even expedited things by picking it up at their local warehouse (they used a third-party shipper--not UPS or one of the regulars)!

Right. If you're sure know what you want..it actually can be a better experience to order online and avoid the pitfalls of what you described in the OP.
 

Robert Crawford

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I'm trying to talk myself into buying a Samsung F8500 60" for my bedroom to replace a Panny GT 50" which I'll move into my Computer Room HT while trashing an old Sony 40" 1080p display.
 

hanshotfirst1138

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Where'd you find a place which still stocks them? I almost never see one at Best Buy. Though frankly, given that it's an electronics store, I'm occasionally surprised at the lack of knowledge from some employees. Why HDTVs which aren't calibrated correctly are used for display is one of the great mysteries of the universe.
 

Bryan^H

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hanshotfirst1138 said:
Where'd you find a place which still stocks them? I almost never see one at Best Buy. Though frankly, given that it's an electronics store, I'm occasionally surprised at the lack of knowledge from some employees. Why HDTVs which aren't calibrated correctly are used for display is one of the great mysteries of the universe.
My Local Sears still has a few f85500 Samsung in stock. (including the 65" model).

My local Best Buy had at least 4 different Samsung Plasma tv's in stock. Although they were not the flagships series. The 5000 whatever series.
 

Robert Crawford

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hanshotfirst1138 said:
Where'd you find a place which still stocks them? I almost never see one at Best Buy. Though frankly, given that it's an electronics store, I'm occasionally surprised at the lack of knowledge from some employees. Why HDTVs which aren't calibrated correctly are used for display is one of the great mysteries of the universe.
I got lucky and bought my 60F8500 from Amazon for $1501 after they honored their low price guarantee. So far about this display's performance, to mimic Darth Vader: impressive, most impressive.
 

Mamiamjo

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I am contemplating a 60F8500 as well, but am undecided. We will be moving in June and I really want it for the new house, it doesnt fit with my existing set up, but I'm afraid if I wait until then I won't be able to find any.I just went to Best Buy also looking at what they have on display. I saw a 60" Samsung 4K model for about $500 more than the 60" Plasma that looked good if I decided to wait. But I saw the same thing with the plasmas that were there(not the F8500), they were terrible, all washed out and grayish
 

hanshotfirst1138

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Saw a Samsung PN60F8500 at Best Buy, asked the guy and he said the Panasonics were months gone. I thought about it, but the price was high, and it was 3-D, which I wasn't chomping at the bit to pay more for. I'm seriously considering trying to get a hold of one before they go the way of the dinosaurs at the end of the year, but this prices are high. They had LEDs on sale in fairly large quantities, even at 1:00 in the afternoon, the Black Friday hordes were out in full.
 

Robert Crawford

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hanshotfirst1138 said:
Saw a Samsung PN60F8500 at Best Buy, asked the guy and he said the Panasonics were months gone. I thought about it, but the price was high, and it was 3-D, which I wasn't chomping at the bit to pay more for. I'm seriously considering trying to get a hold of one before they go the way of the dinosaurs at the end of the year, but this prices are high. They had LEDs on sale in fairly large quantities, even at 1:00 in the afternoon, the Black Friday hordes were out in full.
If the price was around $1500 give or take 5-10 bucks then that's a great deal. I don't think you'll find any more of them in next week or so.
 

Patrick Sun

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schan1269 said:
I thought the 60" 8500 was $1000...How is that "high"?
At the moment, the 51" 8500 model was $1000, the 60" model was $1500, and the 64" model was $2500.

I may hold out to see if the price moves down on the 60" 8500 model in the next few weeks, and up to the Super Bowl weekend.
 

Robert Crawford

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Patrick Sun said:
At the moment, the 51" 8500 model was $1000, the 60" model was $1500, and the 64" model was $2500.

I may hold out to see if the price moves down on the 60" 8500 model in the next few weeks, and up to the Super Bowl weekend.
IMO, you won't find any of these displays by then as the current stock is already hard to find and there is no way they have any of them in February.
 

Patrick Sun

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That's okay, if I have to go with a 4K display later, I won't be overly disappointed. :D

HHGregg, Best Buy, and Fry's all still have the 8500 line in stock at the current prices, so I'll keep monitoring those stores online.
 

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