Topic: Talk Me Out of This TV Set

[PJungnitsch]

Very true. For projectors local sellers like Future shop and Best Buy tend to have high prices and old stock for some reason. You really have to buy online from a place with a good return policy. My Epson came from Costco.ca.

But projectors have matured considerably, it's harder to go wrong now. They are brighter, quieter, and 1080p is almost standard.

I'd be tempted by this one, $1400:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/epson_home_cinema_8350_projector_review.htm

http://www.hd.ca/epsonprojectors/8350.php

[Dexer]

Well, it's done. I ordered that TV set.

Some of you may think it was foregone conclusion that I'd buy the thing but I must tell you it was a very difficult decision. I actually talked myself OUT of buying it a couple of times over the last few days. Even this morning, I took one last look at some local projectors but just couldn't get any movement on price.

I looked at some other brands over the weekend and re-read the flyers this morning to see if I was missing anything obvious.

I went to Future Shop about 90 minutes ago and I still prepared to forget the whole thing. I put a few last roadblocks in front of myself to stop me from spending the money. First thing I decided was that I would only deal with the salesman that I saw last Friday. If he wasn't there, I wasn't going to renegotiate with someone new. As a final condition, I would demand some kind of consideration in exchange for the reward points being offered by Best Buy. The salesman was there and he not only matched the value of the BB reward points but he exceeded them. BB was offering reward points equal to about $137.00 in a Best Buy gift certificate. The Future Shop salesman matched that with a further $150.00 discount on the TV set.

Basically, I ran out of excuses not to buy the set. I put a lot of conditions on the sale and failure to meet any of them would give me an "out". But I got what I asked for so I signed on the dotted line.

Delivery is tentatively scheduled for this Saturday but I will cut them some slack on that. Weekend deliveries and our wonky weather sometimes don't get along.

My job for the rest of the week is conversion of an old coffee table into a TV stand that can support 105lbs.

[quadzilla]

Basically, I ran out of excuses not to buy the set.

I love when that happens. 

Congrats and don't forget to post pictures when you have it setup.

[safristi]

WE ARE ALL COMING OV'r FER SUPER_BOWEL FESTIVITIES  ..i doubt the $150 will cover the first quarter BEER concession.....and no scheap snaks either,,,,,,,,,,,,, .......

[Dexer]

I do have to say that Best Buy made negotiating easier by printing the big "5X Reward Zone Points" promotion right in the ad with this same TV set. I cut it out of the flyer and showed it to the Future Shop guy.

Normally, those BB Reward Zone points aren't worth the trouble. The only reason I got a Reward Zone card is so that the damn cashiers would stop asking me to sign up for one every time I bought something. You have to buy about $400.00 worth of stuff to get a 5 gift certificate.

In this case, by offering five times the points on a $2200 purchase, it became serious money.

[dr_spock]

Well, it's done. I ordered that TV set.

Congrats.  Good luck with the table stand conversion. 

[tortoise]

Congrats, sounds like a great deal on a fantastic TV.

I still can't believe you came here looking to be talked out of buying something. 

[Bubba]

Well, it's done. I ordered that TV set.

What time should we arrive for your Super Bowl party?   

[Dexer]

I still can't believe you came here looking to be talked out of buying something. 

After a day of talking to salesman, you tend to get starry-eyed and convince your self that you absolutely NEED to have something. That's what salesmen do. It's their job to make something sound irresistible.

I figured if I put the topic up for general discussion, people would remind me of the pitfalls.

The big problem with display devices today is that there are multiple technologies and it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to research and understand them. Ten years ago, it was basically: What size do you want; what brand do you want? TVs were, for the most part, all 4:3 CRTs.

Today, you've got plasma and LCD. LCD's are backlit with LEDs or CCFLs. The LED backlighting can be full array, edge lit and local dimming. Now we have all of those with 3D if you want it. Plus they come with internet options (my new TV can be hooked to the net for Sharp Live Support to diagnose problems). They come with various levels of media playing options.

One guy can't keep track of things.

[dash]

Dexer,

Congrats.

Just query an AV forum for recommended settings.

[quadzilla]

Just query an AV forum for recommended settings.

Then start looking for a quality pro calibrator (only if you really want the best pictures of course). Always give the TV 100+ hours of operation to ensure no issues though.

[Brig]

I figured if I put the topic up for general discussion, people would remind me of the pitfalls.

If nothing else, we are EXCELLENT at shooting people down. 

[Dexer]

Oh Boy, Oh boy!

No time to go into detail but, so far, it's perfect and stunning.

Check out the TV stand I converted from a coffee table. My center channel speaker is in there.

[PJungnitsch]

Heh, congrats! Looks great.

[Bubba]

Sweeeeet.

[safristi]

...RETRO PORN....................good choice................

[Dexer]

...RETRO PORN....................good choice................

Funny you should mention that. My old TV had such a narrow angle of view that nobody walking by the house would be able to see what I was watching. The specs on this one are that it has a 176 degree angle of view. So I may have to keep the curtains closed.

I've had a few hours to calm down so here's the story.

The delivery window for the set was between 9:00AM and Noon. The set arrived at 9:10AM which means I was likely the first stop. That's good because it was -20 this morning and I didn't want the thing getting cold soaked. After leaving it in the box for a couple of hours, I dropped a temperature probe into the container and it was 14.5C which was fine so I unwrapped it and got it set up.

It comes with the small table stand already attached so it was a "simple" matter of lifting the 105lbs onto the main TV stand. It wasn't pretty...but it was done.

I connected the cable TV, the HDMI from my receiver and then plugged it in. It powered on and started memorizing channels. Very smooth operation.

Then I had to set my PS3 to output through HDMI...tricky because it'd been set to component to match my old set. Well, it was a chore. You have to force the PS3 to reset which seems simple according to the manual but was frustrating me. Nevertheless, I finally got it to reset and then just pressed a couple of buttons for full 1080p. Plus I have a 7.1 HDMI receiver so I'm all set.

Things are operating 100%. No surprises at all from the TV. Well, I guess I'm surprised at how good the picture is. I didn't expect a significant jump in quality over the old HDTV but this is like night and day when viewing Blu-rays. Standard Def TV still sucks but that's not the TV's fault.

So I'm real pleased.

[CatsEye68]

Funny about SD signals though -- some HDTVs seem to do a lot better job than others with them. My old Sony was far worse than my Panasonic in that department. I didn't want to watch anything in SD on the Sony, it was so bad. The Panny is not a problem and actually makes most SD signals look pretty good.

[Dexer]

SD signals don't look particularly bad on this set...I think it's simply a function of size.

The TV is so damn big that a picture is about 30" tall. You can only do so much with 480 lines of resolution.