Considering a new TV/Best Buy Financing Deals (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stone]

I recently moved from my parents house and left them with my old trusty Panny 53WX41, and am now considering buying a new DLP set. It'll primarily be used for TV on DVD and HDTV (I do most of my movie watching on my Infocus 4805 front projector). Right now I'm considering either the Samsung S5086W or S5686W (the only difference being size: 50" vs 56"). I was very impressed with the detail briefly looking at the sets at Best Buy. Has anyone had any experience with these models?

Also, does anyone know when Best Buy is going to have another financing deal? I bought my old Panny with 24 month same-as-cash financing and would like to do the same thing this time around if possible. I know the blue-shirts usually offer this periodically and I wondered if anyone knew when the next one would be.

Thanks!

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

My nephew has the 46" version of that set and has been very happy with it. OTOH he really isn't an HT hobbyist - he mostly watches sports in HD and the odd movie on DVD.

Best Buy typically keys their financing deals to major events that will move the product concerned. For big screen TVs this obviously includes that end-of-year holiday period from November through New Years day, but also includes major sports events like the (just passed) College Baksetball Sweet 16, the NFL and MLB playoffs (and World Series.) (For some reason the NBA playoffs and Stanely Cup don't seem to generate the same kind of TV sales, hence the lack of major promotion tie-ins. The Super Bowl, on the other hand, moves a lot of TVs.)

The next such event coming up is Father's Day in mid-June, so I'd expect a lot of "Buy Dad a Mondo TV and Look Like a Hero While Taking 24 Months to Pay" ads next month.

When I was shopping for a new set last year, the best-looking TV I saw in that size range was the 1080p Sony SXRD (their version of Liquid Crystal on Silicon LCoS technology.) Unfortunately their 50" and 61" sets were not quite the right size (for my space a 56" was really ideal) and the prices were outrageously high. I also looked at several 720p DLP sets. In the end I bought the JVC 720p H-DILA (LCoS) in the 56" size. In terms of picture quality it was 2nd only to the much more expensive Sony, it was exactly the size I wanted, and Best Buy had the financing I wanted. I've been very happy with the set ever since. Once calibrated with Avia it looks very good on SD and analog material and spectacular on HD stuff. (And at my viewing distance even 1080p probably wouldn't look appreciably better, much less justify the extra cost.)

Regards,

Joe