Seeking advice on: Best place to look for a BIG screen TV. Sales to wait for etc

Plow King

Little bit.
Right.

Basically the Mrs has bought a new house and I'm looking for a big, mean looking tv. I'm not interested in 3d and I'm not too bothered if it's plasma, LCD, LED, IED or STD. My budget is around $1500 and I want it from an Australia retailer.


Browsing Harvey norman and the good guys recently I noticed one of the Samsung 64" tvs that looked awesome. It was around $1500 I believe and was an ex display model. It's amazing the difference 4" make (Just ask some sluts). Now I know JB hifi offers '20% off all tv sales' and other retailers have a similar sort of thing. Now is there any way of forecasting when such sales will appear or should I just wait and be patient until a sale pops up.

I'm looking for 60" + and my budget is $1500

Thanks,

Chris
 

mitchy_

Llama calmer

slowmick

38-39"
i did pretty well with a run out Samsung from Big Brown Box online. Had a price that Harvey Norman and JB Hifi would not match. They were easy to deal with and delivery is pretty cheap.

Actually, re reading your post I have the 64" Samsung plasma. i love it. just wanted a big, relatively cheap, relatively good TV. They have specials pretty regularly so it pays to check reasonably often.

I'm no good at the haggle so i just waited till the TV i wanted was the price i coudl deal with.

Once you get your TV, enjoy it and never look at another catalogue. They are like computers, they will always be cheaper and better tomorrow.
 

Joel O

Likes Bikes and Dirt
If you have a chance have a play with the remote and menus. Cheaper TV's always seem to be a bit lacking there and there's nothing worse than an EPG that won't load until after you select the channel. If you'll be using it mostly for gaming and downloaded content that may not be an issue for you.
 

Plow King

Little bit.
Alright cheers guys.

I think I have settled on a 64-65 inch tv. Just gotta have a look around now I guess. :)
 

Steve-0

Likes Bikes and Dirt
If you have a chance have a play with the remote and menus. Cheaper TV's always seem to be a bit lacking there and there's nothing worse than an EPG that won't load until after you select the channel. If you'll be using it mostly for gaming and downloaded content that may not be an issue for you.
This is a pretty good point. I would never have cared for it before but I bought a 51" Samsung plasma 3d tv for like $800 a year ago and it was definitley the best value for money TV i could find. It looked brilliant, lots of HDMI ports, ethernet port, USB (with lots of codecs) etc. etc.

But it's a shit TV for cruising channels. It takes like a solid minute to load the EPG and then it refreshes for another 20-30s when you scroll down 4 channels. Luckily It's primarily for movies but got damn it's annoying.

Bit of a side rant.... TV's are cheap and whatever you buy will suck soon anyway. Just look for a cheap bargain on a solid panel. Don't bother with 3D. IMO go plasma, Love that shit.
 

jett_e

Likes Bikes
Only go for a plasma if you have a dark room. I bought a 55" Panasonic 3D Smart tv recently from Seconds World for $1400. Great Tv in the showroom, got it home and its like watching a mirror during the day. Even with the blinds drawn. Admittedly, the salesman said it was a great TV for dark rooms but he failed to mention it was shite in sunny rooms...ergggggg
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
Screw the budget, get this and be done with it.

http://www.bigbrownbox.com.au/panasonic-viera-th-p65st50a-65-inch-165-cm-full-hd-3d-neo-plasma-tv/

You won't find a better panel.

The size you want and the price point your hitting won't get you anything spectacular.
What he said, or if the budget really is set, consider this:
http://www.bigbrownbox.com.au/panas...a-42-152-4cm-full-hd-3d-plasma-tv-thp60ut50a/

Not as awesome as the panel in the S series, but by all accounts still brillant. Helped a mate's parents get the 50" S from big brown box, painless purchase and the cheapest around (until dicksmith matched it with a special, but none of their stores in the area had stock).

My old S-series is kicking along great, still looks fantastic; well the panel anyway, the bezel/casing is pretty clunky and ugly.
 

willsy01

Eats Squid
Only go for a plasma if you have a dark room. I bought a 55" Panasonic 3D Smart tv recently from Seconds World for $1400. Great Tv in the showroom, got it home and its like watching a mirror during the day. Even with the blinds drawn. Admittedly, the salesman said it was a great TV for dark rooms but he failed to mention it was shite in sunny rooms...ergggggg
Go into the Picture menu and turn on Eco mode. Adjusts the contrast based on ambient light.

I've got a P50ST50A and my living room is bright as hell on a sunny day. Turned on Eco mode and it handles the brightness fine.
 

freddofrog

Likes Dirt
Ok, here's a secret to buying cheap TV, cameras etc, use these guys www.shoprite.com.au .

You need to be a member of something, typically unions. If not join something, I joined Friendlies Chemist for $15. You will save hundreds! Basically you shop around for the very best price you can get (excluding online retailers). You then call them, tell them the best price and they will try and beat it. You need to provide specifics, like make and model number, not just say a 40" TV. But when they call you back you are kinda obligated to buy from them which is fine by me. If they can beat the very best price I can get then why not.

They arrange the deal, then the retail store calls you, typically the commercial depart of a major retailer like HN, JB Hifi, etc. Sometimes you pay over the phone, sometimes you go to the store and pay when you pick up your goodies. They must make a commission from the store cause it's a free service to use.

I bought a compact camera Panasonic camera at a 20% discount even before it was released in Australia. That was thru HN. I've also bought Sony Bravia tvs etc. Ages ago I tried to by a Go Pro but at the time, they were only being sold through speciality stores. Now seems everyone sells them.

Anyway, good luck.
 

3viltoast3r

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I would recommend looking at credits scrolling across a normal tv and a 3d tv side by side. I have found that 3d tv's have FAR capabilities at keeping up with fast movement (less blurry). (120Hz vs 60Hz)
 

willsy01

Eats Squid
I would recommend looking at credits scrolling across a normal tv and a 3d tv side by side. I have found that 3d tv's have FAR capabilities at keeping up with fast movement (less blurry). (120Hz vs 60Hz)
Whether it is 3D capable or not won't have a bearing on how smooth it is.
 
3d capabilities don't affect how smooth the picture is, but i think its the actual refresh rate the TV is. 100hz vs 200hz (i think?)
Usually the 3D tv' have the faster refresh rate so they look better.
as everyone mentioned before a panasonic plasma would be my pick or the 64inch samsung series 8 looks pretty good.
 

willsy01

Eats Squid
Please correct me if i'm wrong, but a standard lcd runs at 60Hz, and a 3d capable tv runs at 120Hz?
Mine is 3D and runs at 60hz. There's no correlation between refresh rate and 3D capabilities.

Anything marketed as being higher than 100Hz is usually marketing trickery. They use image smoothing technology to artificially increase the refresh rate.......I turned it right down on mine, it made everything unrealistically smooth.
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
They use image smoothing technology to artificially increase the refresh rate.......I turned it right down on mine, it made everything unrealistically smooth.
Yeap, that interpolated frame bullshit is the worst thing on modern TVs, it's like watching everything in fast forward, but at normal speed...which sounds just as dumb as the effect looks.
 
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