HDTV... Wait or jump on this deal?

[Wired]

The wife and I are looking at getting an HDTV for ourselves for Xmas. We've never had an HDTV and we decided we want one now.

I will be buying from Crutchfield: LCD TV, Car Stereo, Home Theater, Speakers, Plasma TV as I have a gift card for them and I love their customer service.

Right now they have a special on a Sony XBR. Sony KDL-40XBR7 40" BRAVIA® XBR® 1080p LCD HDTV with 120Hz anti-blur technology at Crutchfield.com. It's a really good deal and has all of the inputs, etc... that I'm looking for, but I'm debating on getting this right now or waiting and seeing what specials they're going to have during the holidays.

Right now we're using a tube TV and a very old Teac receiver with 2 speakers hooked up. We would like to get to an HDTV with a decent 7.1 surround sound system.

So, what do you think. Jump on this deal since it's $1100 off and buy a receiver outright or wait and see what's offered during the holidays? Anyone have any inside information on their holiday specials?

Here's the receivers I'm looking at right now: Sony STR-DH800 Home theater receiver with HDMI switching and advanced surround decoding at Crutchfield.com or Yamaha RX-V863 Home theater receiver with HDMI switching and video upconversion at Crutchfield.com or Sony STR-DG1200 Home theater receiver with HDMI switching and video upconversion at Crutchfield.com

[Majk]

To give you an idea, our LG 42" through best buy was $900 about 6-7 months ago. Have you price shopped that tv? It's not truly $1100 off.

I think the most expensive Sony at BB when we were there was $2,500 and that was near a 50" with all the bells and whistles.

[ssilicon]

Depends on how badly you want to jump in at this point. Cruchfiled in general is expensive but you can make your value judgments about costs and things being worth it etc.

Organic LED is the new rage. Right now it's tier one pricing, but as it comes down you may want to go OLED, or get even better bargains on LCD or plasma as that happens. No matter what though, when it comes to these things, there is ALWAYS a BETTER DEAL just AROUND THE CORNER. So, at some point you jump in anyway 'cuz you'll wait forever waiting for the ultimate deal.

That being said unless you have money to burn, do not be an early adopter and pay tier 1 pricing for anything.

[Wired]

Other places have it for $1100 to $1700 although Crutchfield's prices are usually a little higher and some of those are on ebay and other places I wouldn't buy a TV from.

[Fdxpilot]

I just googled it and found the TV for $710 to $1500, but the $999 that Crutchfield is offering is the second best price listed. I have bought from them before, and if you get stuff on sale, it can be a good deal. It sounds like prices are dropping in anticipation of Xmas and possibly a new model line. Sony introduces new models every 8 to 12 months.

As far as the sound system, I would hold off and check out the Christmas sales. Just my $.02 worth.

[SaBoTaGe]

hD IS sweet IMO..i work for comcast and and have been dealing with it for years....Its only going to get better IMO..otters making a dam is awesome to watch!!!

[Wired]

Originally Posted by Fdxpilot

I just googled it and found the TV for $710 to $1500, but the $999 that Crutchfield is offering is the second best price listed. I have bought from them before, and if you get stuff on sale, it can be a good deal. It sounds like prices are dropping in anticipation of Xmas and possibly a new model line. Sony introduces new models every 8 to 12 months.

As far as the sound system, I would hold off and check out the Christmas sales. Just my $.02 worth.

So you think I should wait and see if they offer a package deal?

[orleanfire]

IMHO, I bought a 52" samsung, to replace a projector, which replaced a 42" vizio, which replaced a 37" no name. I think the samsung is the best picture out of any tv I have shopped for, and believe me I am into AV a lot, and shopped around a lot before I settled on the samsung. It was 2100 two years ago, and you can get them on sale, the newer ones with better contrast ratio, for 1200 or so. Check out gizmodos deals of the day, they put up tvs at a great price all the time. I really can't ever see paying 1100 for a 40" sony. Wait for black friday man, the deals will be insane on much larger sets that are better off. Just make sure it has 120hz, (240 is marketing bs) and look at the contrast ratio. Even Vizios can offer very nice specs for cheaper than that sony, which a bigger set. I loved my vizio, but my samsung has muccch better contrast ratio then it had.

[Wired]

Originally Posted by orleanfire

IMHO, I bought a 52" samsung, to replace a projector, which replaced a 42" vizio, which replaced a 37" no name. I think the samsung is the best picture out of any tv I have shopped for, and believe me I am into AV a lot, and shopped around a lot before I settled on the samsung. It was 2100 two years ago, and you can get them on sale, the newer ones with better contrast ratio, for 1200 or so. Check out gizmodos deals of the day, they put up tvs at a great price all the time. I really can't ever see paying 1100 for a 40" sony. Wait for black friday man, the deals will be insane on much larger sets that are better off. Just make sure it has 120hz, (240 is marketing bs) and look at the contrast ratio. Even Vizios can offer very nice specs for cheaper than that sony, which a bigger set. I loved my vizio, but my samsung has muccch better contrast ratio then it had.

The thing about black Friday, is I won't have access to a computer until the end of the day and I'm not going to a store. I will be buying through Crutchfield, I just don't know if I should wait or not. As for the size, I can't really go much bigger than 40".

[hspratt3]

If you are a member of Coast Co or or know someone that is, wait till around Thanksgiving or after. They had a great deal last year one was even two plasmas for one price. For the receiver stay away from Sony unless you are going for their high end line. Yamaha is a great one for the money. The biggest thing on the receiver is get one that has a high current amp, this will make a big difference in the sound. A little of my .02