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

[cork1958]

For many people, $800 is a good big portion of their paycheck. HDTVs are affordable now, but cheaper prices wouldn't hurt.

A good, big portion? You bring home $800 a week? I don't know anybody that brings home that a week, so I'd have to say that is SLIGHTLY more than aportion.

IMO,

the big screen tv's always look fuzzy to me, so, right there, they aren't worth it, but yeah also, I still consider them to expensive for what you get. Not much of a tv watcher anyway. Wasn't for the wife and kid, I probably wouldn't own one, or, maybe just one, instead of 7!!

[Dick Montage]

A majority of people earning a decent wage are paid monthly not weekly!

Also, on a weekly basis, I make a LOT more than $800 - and I consider myself still on a low pay-scale!

[ozgeek]

Well, there ia another reason why people don't buy those new TV's - BECAUSE THEY DON'T NEED TO! If they already have a working one, why bother? I have a 51cm CRT TV myself and it still works. I got it in 2002/2003. I see no need to replace it just yet.

[shakey]

also, most of us have better things to spend a grand on, like school, rent, food, gas, and outdoor events.

[Angelic Marge]

People think HDTVs are expensive...because they are ...durr! People will compare them to other TVs on the market, and see that those are cheaper (non HD). Not everyone cares about having the latest fanciest gadgetry ..

also, most of us have better things to spend a grand on, like school, rent, food, gas, and outdoor events.

I agree with both the above. I think they are way too expensive and I'm not ignorant and I'm not dumb. Whats the point in having a dig at people like myself? When the day comes that my telly breaks I'll be buying the cheapest replacement available.

[Hierophant]

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/unconfirmed/mit...-ces-330686.php

TVs are gonna get clearer AND cheaper... I hope.

DLP is the killer tech app IMO

[SkyyPunk Veteran]

I had a win-win situation :D

Through a deal, I got a 42" LG LCD HDTV for $350+tax, it has a QAM tuner built in, and I have a $15/mo tv package with comcast (most basic you can get). Quick QAM scan, and I found about 120 channels on it. Of those, so far I know of about 10 in HD (four or five local channels, plus stuff like Sci Fi i think was HD, espn, history, travel, discovery, PBS). Worked out pretty well, and I get all the channels I want (Local NBC/ABC in HD, Sci Fi and Comedy Central)

[SimpleRules]

I think HDTVs generally are expensive, 1080p ones ... I certainly don't want to buy a 768i/p when the content out now is better than that. Blu-Ray & HD DVD support 1080p and I think most if not all content uses that, the HD service here in the U.K. Sky is 1080p too ... the BBC, Channel 4 & Sky's HD channels are in 1080p ... so it makes sense to get 1080p now and not play the shops game and have to buy a new TV in a few years. 1080i are cheap but not as easy to find as 768p, they are really pushing these ... in hopes you'll be back for Full HD as they call it.

Luckily we found a great TV a month back ... its 1080p, 37"" and cost around ?600 ($1200 - bear in mind, this is Blighty - its expensive here!). We haven't got any content yet, other than an Xbox 360 with no HD DVD player, but its a sound investment for the future I think.

[Hum]

The bad thing about current HDTVs are the misleading 720p models -- they are not true high definition.

People are wasting a lot of money on those low-rez models, and will probably be upset when they figure it out.

Then again, I suppose many people don't care that much about picture quality.

I'm sorta waiting till the 42" 1080p HDTVs fall below $1000.

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

The bad thing about current HDTVs are the misleading 720p models -- they are not true high definition.

People are wasting a lot of money on those low-rez models, and will probably be upset when they figure it out.

Then again, I suppose many people don't care that much about picture quality.

I'm sorta waiting till the 42" 1080p HDTVs fall below $1000.

but 99.9% of "normal" customers dont know the difference

[JAbad28]

It sounds like Rogers is better than Shaw then. Rogers charges $200-$300 for the basic HDTV box (no PVR) and the HD content is free. There are about 17 HDTV channels that didn't cost anything beyond their normal VIP package. I don't subscribe to any movie or digital speciality channels so I pay about $105/month including 5Mbit high-speed internet. Overall, I get a few hundred channels.

HDTV's are actually getting less expensive. You can buy some for under $600 these days.

I bought my VIZIO 26" LCD HDTV 1080i for under $500 at wal-mart, lol.

[sharpy2k4]

i got a 26" Samsung HD tv 720p i think, for ?600 last year. and im happy with it, only content i use on it is the freeview built in, xbox 360, brothers Wii, and occasionally connect to pc for football streaming.

[shakey]

im not going to spend more than 500 on anything that isnt at least 32". Anything smaller i feel you should go get a monitor.

[ncoday]

$800-1000 is way to much for TV!!

I don't spend that much time in front of a TV.

Once good quality HDTVs get down into the $350-500 range will people start buying them in larger numbers.

[Shadrack]

I don't think its the HDTV's that are expensive, its what it costs to make HDTV's transmit HD Content.

My parents walked into a store about 2 to 3 years ago and seen a HDTV on sale and they almost bought it, then the guy told them what it would cost to make the picture that quality and that is what turned them off.

I didn't take into consideration, my Cable company charges $450 for a HDTV box, it comes with the cables, Wii Component Cables to broadcast in 480P cost $20, an up converting DVD player can cost up to $100. HDMI can cost (retail $60, but if you know where to get them online you CAN get cheaper).

Blu Ray and HD-DVD in Canada still cost $300+ I havn't seen any rediculous prices like $100 HD-DVD players in Canada yet, I think its gone as low as $200 though, i'm not positive.

Might not be availabe everywhere, but where I'm at all I needed was a $60 roof antenna to pick up broadcasted HD network television from local stations. 720p and 1080i for Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and others for no monthly cost.

[ANova]

They're just not worth their cost. Maybe most of you guys are too young to remember the days when tvs were as low as $100 and typically $800 at the most for high end. HDTVs started out at ridiculous prices, $5000 and up so now they may seem relatively cheap by comparison but they're still overpriced for most people. Plus I personally don't even much care for HDTV as it looks kind of grainy and pixelated imo. Then there's the high cost of HD-DVD and blu-ray, without them it is practically pointless to have an HDTV at all unless you have cable or satellite (which I don't have) and which costs more. There are plenty of channels that are still broadcasting in SD. Maybe another few years down the road when things settle and prices drop I'll be interested, right now I don't have any complaints with my 42" SD projection tv that I've been using for the last five years.

[Mike Frett]

Because if I can buy a 32 inch standard def TV for 200 bucks, thats the better deal, hi def or not. Plus, some of us live on fixed incomes. After light bills and the like, we only have about 200 dollars left and that has to be used to buy food.

But it is true, they will get cheaper. Hopefully down to what the standard def tv's are. Something did catch my eye the other day while looking at one of the dollar store adverts, a refurb hi-def tv for less than $200. No doubt it was probably crap, but getting there none the less.

[Hierophant]

im not going to spend more than 500 on anything that isnt at least 32". Anything smaller i feel you should go get a monitor.

But, anything bigger than 50" and $600 and you should get a DLP front projection screen, for a huge picture. Its a pickle deciding...

[Rudy]

In Montreal various promotions mean the HDTV box can cost as little as 100$. Also, like I said, Videotron HD service is only 3 or 4$ a month. Wiring has always been an issue, even before HDTVs.

please tell me where because im in gatineau and i havnent' seen any discounts and i have their crappy services :x

[DaDude]

Why do people think HDTVs are too expensive? Well I just bought a 20" SDTV for $240. An HDTV at that size will cost around $600. Go figure!

[stezo2k]

I think HDTVs are great for the price these days, ive seen brand new 42" Plasmas/LCDs go for around the ?500-600 and some good 32"s at ?400 which isnt bad to say CRTs were fetching around the same prices (in fact some more) a few years back.

At the end of the day people get what they pay for, if you spend more you usually get more. My Pioneer 42" set me back over a ?1000 but it was well worth the money

[include]

I worked for Best Buy for a while, and I found that any technology in its infancy deters people who think that it might be unstable or BOUND to decrease in price in teh near future no matter how affordable or acclaimed it is...just my two cents.

[DaDude]

I worked for Best Buy for a while, and I found that any technology in its infancy deters people who think that it might be unstable or BOUND to decrease in price in teh near future no matter how affordable or acclaimed it is...just my two cents.

HDTV will have to go down in price in 2009 when OTA becomes exclusively digital.

[shakey_snake]

• there's three resolutions (480, 720, 1080)
  
• to scan types (interlaced, progressive)
  
• some TV have HD tuners, some don't
  
• some have the needed types of connections (of which there are about 10), some don't.
  

There's just way too many options for people at this point, and their not going to spend a couple days figuring everything out, or risk spending $800 only to realize they need to spend $300 more to get everything to work "properly".

Once the technology gets cheap enough and some sort of baseline of performance becomes standard, and they can plug a coaxial cable into their walls and plug the other end into their TVs and get 1080p people will but them.

[M4nB3arP1g]

I think they are still too expensive but then again I bought my crt when HDTVs where getting popular so I only had to pay $100 for it and I will probably due the same when HDTVs are on the way out so I only have to pay $100 for one lol.