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Kriegster’s Tips for Buying an HDTV

Posted on April 27, 2008

Note: This post is more informal and stream-of-consciousness than normal.

I often get asked by friends, family and coworkers for advice on buying an HDTV. I’m no home theater expert by any stretch, but after going through the research and purchase process myself I’ve come to the conclusion that consumers are unnecessarily focused on the technology details rather than the things that matter most (good price, favorable reviews, technology not obsolete).

Some thoughts in no particular order:

1. I have no overall brand preference - for people like you and me (home theater amateurs), most brands will be good enough
2. I have full confidence in the Costo-type off-brands like Vizio since the screen and core components are made by the same folks. The prices are lower because their standard definition tuners are typically lower quality. If you plan on watching a lot of standard definition content you might want to steer away from these.
3. It’s normally difficult to find online reviews of Costco and Sam’s Club TVs. This is because the model numbers the manufacturers use for the warehouse club units are typically different than the mass market models. Rely on the fact that the TV looks good enough in the store and that Costco lets you return almost anything at any time.
4. Don’t get hung up on comparing TVs to each other in the store; it’s a total apples to oranges comparison. Some are older, some are newer, some have been sitting on the floor for 8 months running 24×7 and their bulbs are dim, the lighting stinks and is different in different parts of the store. If a particular TV looks good enough then it’ll be fine at home. Even if conditions were 100% equal, you’ll go nuts comparing two sets, but if you took either of them home, within 5 minutes it’ll be the only one you know and will look great.
5. Rely heavily on online user reviews, especially on Amazon. Stay away from TVs that don’t have any (or many) reviews.
6. You might be able to negotiate a better price on plasma because there are way more LCDs selling as plasma is phased out
7. Don’t buy an extended warranty from the reseller
• It is almost always a sucker bet
• The resellers make almost no margin on the TV and ALL their margin on the warranty; they’ll gouge you on the warranty price.
• If you insist on having an extended warranty, see if you can get it direct from the manufacturer post-purchase. For example, I got my Sony TV at Tweeter and they wanted $300 for an extra 3 years. I called Sony and they told me I could buy the exact same warranty direct from the Sony web site up to 1 year post-purchase for LESS THAN HALF the price. The caveat is you need to buy the set from an authorized reseller.
8. If you buy with an American Express card you’ll add a year (max) to the base manufacturer’s warranty at no additional cost. American Express will also give you accidental damage protection (e.g. Nintendo Wii controller wedged in the screen) for 90 days
9. Personally I don’t like Best Buy or Circuit City; I find their prices very high. Sears has VERY competitive prices. Online prices are normally the best but you’ll pay shipping. So you just have to do the math. Tweeter is normally much more expensive and I’d normally never buy there but they matched Sears and they give great service (e.g. the sales person isn’t a pimply high school kid who doesn’t know anything). Find the best local price and see if Tweeter will match. As a rule, they won’t match any online reseller or “fell out the back of the truck” places.
10. Don’t forget to upgrade your cable service to HD. And if you use your existing Tivo with the new HDTV then you’ll have to keep switching between the regular cable and HDMI inputs. My dad has this problem. I told him to either get an HD Tivo or a HD DVR from the cable company or else it’ll be a giant ongoing pain.
11. If your cable box offers HDMI output and component video output (in addition to the standard coax, RCA and S-Video connectors), use the HDMI. I’ve seen many people hook up the new TV with their existing coax or RCA or S-Video cables and they get a lousy picture because connections can’t carry an HD signal.
12. Do not ever, under any circumstance let the store sell you HDMI cables. Don’t even buy them from Walmart or other mega-chains which are normally cheap. You get charged 5X what they are worth. Buy them from Amazon (you can get a 6′ cable for $7 online vs. $30 or more in the store).
13. There is NO DIFFERENCE between the super-duper-gold-special HDMI cables than the regular old ones. Pretty much universal agreement on this. Just get the cheapest ones you can find that don’t have cat teeth holes in them.
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