We've recently decided to upgrade our TV to a flat panel of some description. Personally, I'm leaning towards LCD (and yes, I've done the research), but ultimately if the price is significantly different, I wouldn't *really* object to a plasma.

The space we're looking to put it in would really suit a 46-50 inch screen. What I'm looking for are any suggestions on where abouts to pick them up cheaply. I've checked out WoW & JB HiFi but at the moment, their prices seem really s*** compared to what I've seen in the past.

Obviously, with a screen this size, we're wanting full 1080p resolution. Any thoughts/suggestions etc?

You can get good prices at JB/WoW. Just have to haggle a bit.

give us an example haggle script

shopbot.com.au

aldi (although i doubt they have any tvs left, they would have all sold out on the day they were released)

The Electrical Discounter (over at Underwood) is pretty good on price. If you're prepared to haggle can save a fair bit, especially when looking at that size TV. I talked down $500 off the asking price for my 50" Pana Plasma and got the Warranty extended to 5yrs when I bought last November.

kogan

Whats your budget....

JB is probably the best place these days, just remember you can always walk out if the deal ain't good enough and go to another store.

I just bought a 42" 1080p LCD (Hisense) from JB that had 2096 on the ticket, got it for 1890 with 5yr warranty.

www.theelectricdiscounter.com.au

duh

Hey guys, thanks for the replies, details as follows:

Budget is about $1500 (set by what my girlfriend's happy to spend, not what we can actually afford to spend. If there was a super awesome deal, I could possibly get her to agree to maybe around $2500)

Haggle script goes as follows: I have a large wad of cash right here. See all these green notes? I'm prepared to part with some of them, in exchange for that boring, old Samsung Gen8 that you're trying to flog. I'll give you 3 shiny green notes for it.

I was looking at the Kogans last night. They seemed to get some mixed reviews. Appliances seem ok, but apparently the service and customer support is f***ing awful. Anyone had any personal experience with them?

give us an example haggle script

"I can get this TV for $___ (something equal to or less than their price) at ______ store. Can you give me a better deal?"


You will probably have to get a plasma with that price range (assuming its 46"-50").

Yeah, I've been doing some more research on plasmas and my thinking's starting to shift again :S

At this stage, I think I'm now beyond caring about the technology behind it, I just want a f***ing massive screen to watch rugby, MotoGP and movies on. :P

You: What's the best price?
Salesguy: WHAT?! THAT IS THE BEST PRICE OMG I CANT DO IT ANY CHEAPER
You: Talk to the boss.
Salesguy: OH OK FINE

*goes away for 10 minutes while he does a dump, makes a coffee and plays some Xbox*

Salesguy: Ok look, I managed to knock off $100
You: Oh is that all? Well I only have $x (make $x a reasonable amount to offer, not something stupid)
Salesguy: WHAT?! THAT IS THE BEST PRICE OMG I CANT DO IT ANY CHEAPER
You: Talk to the boss.
Salesguy OH OK FINE

*goes away for 10 minutes while he does a dump, makes a coffee and plays some Xbox*

Salesguy: Ok we can do it at that price
You: Oh great, can I get a written quote for that? I need to go talk to the boss (insert jibe/joke here about the wife/gf being the boss) about it.
Salesguy: Okokokokok, how about $x - $y ($y being proportional to how much he can stitch you up on HDMI cables)
You: Wow that's really good, I'm concerned about the Z year warranty though, what does it cost to extend that?
Salesguy: YOU'RE KILLING ME! Ok I'll throw in the extended warranty.
You: Fantastic, let me just make the call to the boss (insert jibe/joke here about the wife/gf being the boss).

*go away for 10 minutes, take a dump, grab a coffee, ring some other stores for price comparisons, etc*

You: Ok I'll take it!
Salesguy: Great, here's an HDMI cable you NEED for SUPER AWESOME PICTURE and it's only $399 on special today.
You: That's ok, I have cables at home.
Salesguy: *pout*

TA-DA!

for $1500 from TED you can get 1024x768 42" plasmas in Panasonic, LG and Samsung.

for between $1700 and $1800, you can get a 50" 1366x768 in Panasonic, Samsung or LG... or you can get a Full HD 42" Panasonic.

Not sure what I'd go for... I have a 42" 1024x768 Panasonic from a couple of years ago, and its great... I'd probably prefer extra size over more pixels.

last edited by mongie at 11:23:09 24/Aug/09

why would anyone suffer a poxy 1024x768 resolution in a television i have no idea

f*** all desktop realestate for the lose

Rumor is LG seem to have more problems.

Heh, I can't tell the difference.

We have a HD plasma and a FHD lcd and while the LCD is better I don't think it has anything to do with the resolution?

This is using FTA, DVD and 360 as the source.

I have a 1024x768 42" panasonic and its great. I sit pretty close too and dont notice the low res either. 42" even at 1024x768 I much prefer it to a full hi def 32" screen. Much like megapixils in cameras, screen resolution is only a small part of what makes a TV good.

I watch DVDs, play xbox 360 on it, and watch downloads (hi and low res)

Plasma uses more Electricity though doesnt it ?

along the ipswich motorway has a good guys and a harvey norman's next door.

I walk into harvey norman had a look at a price of a low grade same brand same sized tv, walked into good guys, asked for a price match or better, got them to price match the wrong tv and got $800 dollars off.

I was going to walk out when he said no, but that alone was enough for him to reconsider ask permission from his manager (?) and do the deal. That was just for a 42" LG LCD tv. Its a little old now, but i love it..

Resolution depends on your source. You will notice the difference between 1024x768 & 1080p if you're watching HD content but not so much with FTA, Xbox, DVDs, etc.

I used to think Bluray was a bit of a wank but after seeing it in action I can't go back :(

Xbox 360 you can tell the difference, I know that much :D only for 720P tho, not 1080

1024 x 768 is obviously fine if you have low standards like mongo

lol good guys are full of s***, i went and showed them a 3 chip camera in the same series that was cheaper than a 1 chip of theirs, and they were real a******s about it, basically bulls***ted their way out of the whole price-match guarantee thing they have. "oh no that store sells online" so ??? fail. Got it at Videopro for $500 less. $500 is ridiculously dishonest markup for the product in question.

You: That's ok, I have cables at home.
Salesguy: *pout*

gigglesnort.

I can kinda understand their point with the "We dont price match online stores" because they are right, they don't have as much overhead. It doesnt really bother me because Ill go to their store, play with it, go home and buy it online :D

lol good guys are full of s***

Throw their s*** back at them.

I'm not 100% on this, but the full time staff there don't nearly care as much about sales as some kid who's part time/casual who needs some sales for commission to pay for his $500 dollar uni books.

Find someone that actually gives a s***, and then throw it in their face till you get what you want. The industry for those kinds of things are f***ed anyway.

Plasma uses more Electricity though doesnt it ?

Sort of... but newer screens use less and less power.

The complication is that LCD's always use a reasonable amount of power. Plasma's vary dramatically depending on how much of the screen is lit up... but their average power draw is generally close to an equivelent LCD (maybe slightly higher).

1024 x 768 is obviously fine if you have low standards like mongo

Ok... suggest an LCD for $1500 that is FullHD and big.

Ok... suggest an LCD for $1500 that is FullHD and big.

JB have a 42" Hisense for $1591 - linky here

haha..

I think that kinda speaks for itself.

There is a toshiba 40" for ~ $1600...

I'd still be taking the plasma.

last edited by mongie at 15:07:42 24/Aug/09

What speaks for itself? A 1080p LCD panel at a reasonable size from $1500 - hells yeah! Much smarter option than a 1024x768 panel.

Hisense.

I'd take an 852x480 plasma before I took anything made by Hisense.

Ad says 3 year in house replacement warranty ... they seem to back their s***?

http://www.kogan.com.au/

Got a few mates who have bought them and they are all very happy . You do get the odd dud with Kogan but any cheap brand will do that

Each to their own.. I I had a budget of around $2500 for a 40-42" screen and bought a Hisense (different to the one in the above JB catalogue) over a 7-series Samsung because it looked a s*** load better (even after playing with both TV settings for about 30 minutes).

Wifey agreed that it looked better and she is a techno-noob who has no concept of brand names, resolutions, contrast ratios or any other mumbo jumbo. 2 weeks in and I haven't had a problem with it.

Aldi gets some nice TVs.
When i get one i will prolly get it through them.
They had a nice one recently for $800. sold out fast.

I'd take an 852x480 plasma before I took anything made by Hisense.

haha, lols

yer, apparently the kogan tvs are fine, just hope you dont have any problems with them

Aldi gets some nice TVs.
When i get one i will prolly get it through them.
They had a nice one recently for $800. sold out fast.

they sure do!
i missed out on the last one as well :( (i got an older aldi lcd on the wall in the bedroom though, its fine for what it is)

last edited by Spook at 15:21:45 24/Aug/09

Check out warranty stuff like, where do you take the TV after store warranty runs out. I had a cheapo TV (Conia) that worked quite well, but had some discolouration. I had to ship it to Melbourne to get it fixed under manufacturer's warranty because it was over a year old. f*** sending a giant CRT to Melbourne...

I bought a cheapo CRT and DVD a few years ago for the kids.

Needless to say it was all pretty crap, actually I think the DVD is still fine with it's new owner but the TV remote stopped working after a few months and it refused to turn on every now and then and not to mention its pretty s***ty picture (not that the kids would care or complain).

In summary, I look for bargains but avoid the cheap 'unknowns'.

I've currently got a 68cm Conia behemoth. It's worked flawlessly since 2004, but it (and the cabinet it's in) are taking up *far* too much room in the lounge, which is why I'm looking at the flatscreen.

In all honesty, given the experience I've had with Conia, I wouldn't have much problem buying them again.

Yep I bought mine based on a friend owning one for a few years and it being fine too. The only problem I've had with mine (which is still running fine) is this colouration problem - kinda looks like someone's held up a magnet to it. I can manually degauss by unplugging for a few hours, but that's not very useful when I have gf or mates around for a movie.

Hisense is distributed by TEAC in Australia (as far as I know).

Elcheapo 42", possibly s***. I'd be surprised if you found a 46"+ for $1500. I'd suggest scouting around a few stores and find one with a display that makes the 42" TVs look miserably small compared to the 46-50"s and then take your gf there to make it easier to convince her to stretch the budget.

Check out warranty stuff like, where do you take the TV after store warranty runs out. I had a cheapo TV (Conia) that worked quite well, but had some discolouration. I had to ship it to Melbourne to get it fixed under manufacturer's warranty because it was over a year old. f*** sending a giant CRT to Melbourne...

Wasn't it you who posted the ACCC link that said it was the retailers responsibility to handle warranty for the reasonable life of the product? Since reading that article I'm never going to buy an extended warranty ever again.

Best thing is if you know somebody who works somewhere like Videopro/JB/WoW etc... they can usually get you a price damn near close to cost.

Yeah Ive noticed that extra warranty thing floating around a few places.
Its misleading and might even be illegal.

give us an example haggle script

Apparently at some stage in the process you're supposed to say "What? Ten for that? You must be mad!"

http://exurbanpedestrian.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/haggling.jpg

Sometimes you can haggle some free extras.
Maybe they throw in some free cables some DVDs free delivery big discount an another purchase.
Always remember...
Anything is Negotiable.

Update/Necro/Resurrect/STFU:

Picked up this last night. Got them to knock a little over $700 off the price.

I know I said I wanted LCD, but TBH, when I compared them side by side, the only ones that matched this for quality (in the same size) were about double the (pre-discount) price.

Now all I need is to cable the surround sound speakers in properly, figure out what I'm going to stand it on (old cabinet is too small) and install a USB-powered popcorn maker in the couch and I'll be set ;)

Cheers for all the advice/discussion guys, really helped me make the right choice.

television purchase fail

Too bad the things you fail are aren't simply limited to TVs Spook...

*goes away for 10 minutes while he does a dump, makes a coffee and plays some Xbox* *goes away for 10 minutes while he does a dump, makes a coffee and plays some Xbox* *goes away for 10 minutes while he does a dump, makes a coffee and plays some Xbox* --------- thats why that sales guy took so long. he sounded like he was on my side lol

I know I said I wanted LCD, but TBH, when I compared them side by side, the only ones that matched this for quality (in the same size) were about double the (pre-discount) price.

f***ING BAM SPOOK.

f***ING BAM.

hehe, settle down

plasmas are fine for povos

hahahah

plasmas are fine for povos

Don't get me wrong, we could easily have afforded twice or three times this price... we just didn't feel it was necessary.

no doubt u had expensive unbruised bottles of scotch to purchase!

Gesthemene... don't worry, Spook is just bitter cause this puts doubt over his "LCD's are better" story.

You've made a good choice :D

With the money you saved, you can afford to get your eyes tested.

Thanks Mongie, I know Spook's just a bitter, twisted nancy boy :)

Thing is, I'd probably be happy to share some of my unbruised single malt with him, but I doubt he could get over himself enough to accept that I'm the better man :P