So for those of you, international readers, the day after turkey day is referred to as the "Black Friday." It's the day when all the suckers fall for the ridiculous sales pitch, promising insane prices and myths like companies selling things "at a financial loss." And yet, each year, there are bazillion brochures in the newspapers, tons of tv commercials, advertising what time they open (generally 5am, some stores as early as 4am). I remember one year, I woke up early to go check out what all the craze was about. And so I remember going to Circuit City a little before 5am and saw a line that wrapped around the store... I never bought anything cuz at the time, I wasn't in need of anything. I just wanted to go check it out...
Well, why am I telling you this? I, just like many other people here, looked through some brochures and discovered that Circuit City was selling the Sharp Aquos 46" HDTV (1080p) for $1,299. There were a few other bargains but not quite as good as this one. So, I did the appropriate thing and started researching. Eventually, I found this forum that basically told me what I needed to know... that it was probably a pretty good buy and at the very least, for the price, I couldn't really go wrong.
So, I woke up this morning around 4:15am... yes, 4:15am... and I was at Circuit City by 4:30am... Just to see pretty much what I expected... a line that wrapped around all the way down the side of the store. However, thanks to the "research" that I did a few years back, I came well prepared. I wore sweat pants underneath my jeans and I had multiple layers on the top... and down here in VA, it's like 40 degrees (Farenheit, again, for all you international readers) so it wasn't too bad. I was able to catch up on reading some of the blogs on my Treo and so before I knew it, it was 5am, the doors opened and the line was moving! (Thank you Astin and Dr Pauly!) So, I follow the crowd and I walk in the store, just to find out that there is a TV line... well, no big deal I thought. Except with all these layers, I was starting to sweat... But I mean there are only about 30 people in front of me and obviously, they all know what they want so it can't take but so long, right? Wrong. 2.5 hrs later, I was finally telling them which TV I wanted. Nonetheless, I was able to buy a brand new, pretty decent TV at a very low price. I checked Amazon.com later and found out that they had it at $1,599 so 3 hrs in line saved me $300... not bad.
I wish I could tell you how great the picture is and stuff but I chose to have it delivered so I actually don't have it yet... nonetheless, it was a relatively fun shopping experience.
If you are reading this and you are TV savvy and you think I shoulda gone with a better LCD like Pioneer FHD or something, please keep in mind the price I got the Sharp for. One could argue that I could get something better for approximately $2,000 but then again, I don't want a marginally better TV for $800 more... but then again, if you know of a better deal, let me know so I can cancel my purchase. Now, I just have to go get a PS3 or XBox360 so I can experience the 1080p in full effect...
Oh and btw, if you think us bloggers are bunch of geeks talking poker (and I guess if you visit 2+2, I could see how the innocent might think that) but man, the AVS Forum is definitely for geeks too... and I freakin love it. I guess I'm a geek at heart.
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3 comments:
You won't regret the purchase, believe me. I have a 37" Aquos and tried to get the same deal on the 46" at CCity myself this morning (unsuccessfully, sorry to say - the store is close to a freeway exit and the over-flow from their too-small parking lot had actually blocked the freeway so the police weren't letting anyone exit there!)
One of the best HD pictures available at the regular price, and you got a great deal. Be sure to do some research on how to set up the picture (the factory set up has way too much brightness, so they look better for in-store display.)
For whatever it's worth, I discovered the Olevia brand during President's Day in 2005 (President's Day I think is second only to Black Friday in sweet deals offered at retail stores), when I picked up a 26" LCD for $500. Olevia is a pretty new brand, and probably not quite at the level of a Sharp or a Panasonic, but all in all it's a really solid brand, HD looks fantastic, etc.
Well, Office Depot had a 42" Olevia on sale for BF this year for an outstanding $700. It's only 1080i, which I'm okay with, 1080p is not a necessity for me at this time, but it's got an HD tuner built in, which is great for me, because I can't get my local HD channels through my Dish Network subscription. Anyways, I'm very happy with it so far, minus a couple small features lacking on the remote control interface.
I definitely considered picking up a Sharp Aquos, though, and if it hadn't been for this Olevia deal at OD I probably would have.
That's definitely an awesome TV! I went with a 42" LCD myself because I like to play Madden and Guitar Hero on the PS3. People kept telling me that plasma screens burn images in while gaming and that scared the mess out of me! I am not familiar with this TV though, but I hope it last forever for ya!
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