People still think HDTVs are too expensive... why?


Recommended Posts

The VIP package is $58.95 (although this includes hundreds of non-HDTV channels)
Is the VIP package HD capable? When we bought our tv Rogers gave us a thing for HD content for a year/free. I went to watch Showcase in HD this morning and it said we had to order the channel..
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice! What brand?

Insignia, I think it's around $379 now though, I reckon I got lucky :) but there are decent sets around that size under 400 you can find. I would never pay 800 bucks for a tv.

http://www.slickdeals.net has shows pretty good deals on tv's and such

Edited by ViperAFK
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Insignia, I think it's around $379 now though, I reckon I got lucky :) but there are decent sets around that size under 400 you can find. I would never pay 800 bucks for a tv.

http://www.slickdeals.net has shows pretty good deals on tv's and such

Not bad. But I always prefer Sony or Samsung TVs. Right now, their 32" HDTVs are around $800.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, they are to me damn it. I'm sick of people assuming everybody can afford anything.

Yeah I know. People at my job keep pushing me to get one because they claim that I need to live in the 21st century, not the 20th. I don't understand. I make more money than those people, I save a lot and I still can't afford them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got a 26 " LCD for $320 on sale at best buy and it's plenty big. You just gotta shop around a bit.

Wow, lucky ******.

I'm saving up for a 26" Vizio for $480.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Samsung and LG have recently brought out their new series' of HDTV's, so you should be able to find their older ones at reduced prices. Clearance and all that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got a 19" HDTV for my bedroom for ?150 ($300), but for a tidy 26" your still looking too pay around ?300 ($600). A lot of people just cant afford that.

Especially when you consider here in the UK sky HD costs ?200 ($400) at least for the box, then an extra ?10 ($20) a month on top of whatever your paying already. And even then the number of HD channels is very small.

May take off with this new freesat thing, and the possibility of HD channels on freeview soon though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got 2 of them, Sony SXRD 50" 1080p and Sharp Aquos 46" 1080p LCD.

I prefer my SXRD, the picture feels much "finer", less pixely... Anyway, both are great and I enjoy watching digital HDTV (cable) on it. I also have a X360 and PS3 to enjoy my games and movies in Hi-Def.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we have a $400 26 inch CRT HDTV...and it's "HD" branding is really a piece of crap. it's really no different from my old CRT TV, and we got it only because the old one died.

I have a sense that my dad will never get a TV that costs more than $600, the lower end of flat panel HDTVs. It's just the type of person he is, unwilling to spend that much $$$ for a TV and keeping a really crappy job he doesn't like for ~10 years. My family isn't poor, he's just really reluctant to spend money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we have a $400 26 inch CRT HDTV...and it's "HD" branding is really a piece of crap. it's really no different from my old CRT TV, and we got it only because the old one died.

I have a sense that my dad will never get a TV that costs more than $600, the lower end of flat panel HDTVs. It's just the type of person he is, unwilling to spend that much $$$ for a TV and keeping a really crappy job he doesn't like for ~10 years. My family isn't poor, he's just really reluctant to spend money.

I don't think CRT HDTVs are as good as LCDs and Plasmas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think CRT HDTVs are as good as LCDs and Plasmas.

HD CRT's get a great picture... not to mention no motion-blur like the LCD's and cheaper than the other both lcd and plasmas.

You really can't find them anywhere though.

We've got a 30" Samsung Slimfit HD Tube along with a 26" Samsung LCD and a 42" Panasonic Plasma... when it comes down to it... they all look fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HD CRT's get a great picture... not to mention no motion-blur like the LCD's and cheaper than the other both lcd and plasmas.

You really can't find them anywhere though.

We've got a 30" Samsung Slimfit HD Tube along with a 26" Samsung LCD and a 42" Panasonic Plasma... when it comes down to it... they all look fine.

I see. I haven't seen any CRT HDTVs in the store anymore. It's a shame they did away with them.

I have a Samsung Slimfit as well, but it's an SDTV. Aside from some minor flickering, it's a great TV. Nice space saver.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every television in my house is a High Definition set, however my paychecks are a helluva lot larger than most people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I'm a bit confused; how are HDTVs too expensive? Only if you go for the high end models or the newer techs, like 1080p, do you start to pay more.

A big part of it IMO is that they don't cover the market.

Before the digital-transition issue came into play, you could buy 13" CRT sets for like $70, and 19" ones for like $120.

Now, the only products in those ranges are SDTV CRTs which cost significantly more (like $30 more), and small 720p-or-worse LCDs (usually in the 19" size) for $250-300.

Personally, I think a KILLER product would be an affordable HDTV reciever with VGA out. Lots of people have very nice 17/19/21" CRT monitors which they're considering near obsolete, but which would make excellent LCD TVs, even if you have to letterbox a 720p image in them. HDTV for 50 bucks plus a monitor sitting in your basement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's worse when some people don't complain about prices for HDTV's but rather complain that HDTV's are worse than older CRT's because they're higher quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's worse when some people don't complain about prices for HDTV's but rather complain that HDTV's are worse than older CRT's because they're higher quality.

Are they?

I think it's important to seperate picture quality from product quality. After all, a broken HDTV sucks as badly as a broken SDTV.

We've got one SD set left here. A 17" GE. It was made in either 1985 or 1987 (can't be bothered to look). I recently got rid of a 12" RCA black-and-white set made in 1975, that actually had the best tuner circuit I'd seen.

To get the same life out of a new HDTV, it would have to still be ticking in 2030. I somehow don't expect it.

The lifespans of CRT televisions had been collapsing before HD took over (I think the last two sets we bought lasted under 5 years each). And LCDs are a ticking time bomb because of the back-light.

So then we get into how much you pay for unit enjoyment.

If a $400 LCD lasts me five years, I've paid $80 per year of enjoyment.

Meanwhile, for that CRT to have cost me $80 per year of enjoyment, it would have had to cost over $1,500. I doubt a 17" CRT cost $1500 in 1985.

No wonder people don't see HDTVs as a great value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.