How can you guys/girls afford a hdtv

Ahhh, selling plasma... its how I got my drinking money in college.

Plus after going down a pint of plasma, a little bit of alcohol goes a looong way. ;)
 
[quote name='HeadRusch']
PS: You guys should also consider some of the 720p DLP projectors out there now on the cheap for gaming goodness..........and of course used is your friend too, don't be afraid to try a used Rear Projection CRT set either.[/QUOTE]

This is the correct answer. I paid like $500 for my projector (only 480p but it still rocks. :D ) You can get a nice 720p for like 6-800 now.
You can say theres no difference in playing on SD or HD, but it's definitely a better experience playing Bioshock on a 96" HD screen with surround :lol:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view...d=5057468623324334849&iid=5072793080729037810
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view...d=5057468623324334849&iid=5058135773479325154
 
If size isn't an issue you can get 19' to 26' HDTVs for less than 500 bucks if you catch the right sale. I got a 1080p 19' for about 230 after tax and love every game I play on it.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']Why is this in the 360 forum?!?!


Moving to Deal/Shopping Discussions & Bragging Rights forum.[/quote]

seems more suited to off topic.
 
[quote name='guyver2077']qft

anyone with a sdtv needs to shoot themselves in the head for being beyond cheap[/quote]My primary TV is a 27" Magnavox with only RF input.

Does that mean I should have a Second to shoot me in the head again after the first?

Though when I say "primary," I haven't used it for months. I do most of my gaming on my laptop screen via the GameBridge.
 
i waited very patiently for my 32inch WS insignia. it wasnt the best quality, but i got it for less than $500. i was happy. the best time to buy a good hdtv is black friday. save your money and go early, really early.
 
[quote name='mbennum']This is the correct answer. I paid like $500 for my projector (only 480p but it still rocks. :D ) You can get a nice 720p for like 6-800 now.
You can say theres no difference in playing on SD or HD, but it's definitely a better experience playing Bioshock on a 96" HD screen with surround :lol:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view...d=5057468623324334849&iid=5072793080729037810
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view...d=5057468623324334849&iid=5058135773479325154[/QUOTE]

...if you like having the lights off all the time.... the only reason I wont get a projector
 
Hmmmm, I got married, have 2 kids and just bought an 07 Honda Pilot. If you have great credit, you can definately use Best Buys 0% until 09. Depending on what TV you get, you could pay like $100 a month and be alright and not worry about interest. Just don't fuck it up or you deal with messing up your credit. That's how I got my Sharp AQUOS 52" LCD TV. She's like my second wife.
 
[quote name='vasco']Hmmmm, I got married, have 2 kids and just bought an 07 Honda Pilot. If you have great credit, you can definately use Best Buys 0% until 09. Depending on what TV you get, you could pay like $100 a month and be alright and not worry about interest. Just don't fuck it up or you deal with messing up your credit. That's how I got my Sharp AQUOS 52" LCD TV. She's like my second wife.[/QUOTE]


I think as long as you have their credit card, you can take advantage of such deals, I used to have a BB card, but got rid of all store credit cards years ago to improve my credit (according to reasearch, alot of stores will give credit cards to just about anyone so having alot of those cards doesnt improve credit as much as standard bank issued credit cards)

If I were to have kept one store credit cards, it would have been that one, for the reasons you mentioned. Then again, I find better deals online.
 
Simple. Most Americans are either A)overpaid and love the capitalist system and thus pretty happy to pay way more then they should for silly luxuries despite how many people are starving, uninsured etc etc. Or B) Stupid fuckers who try to act like they are a member of category A even though their broke and digging themselves into horrible debt.

Dont get me wrong im not saying people shouldn't buy an HDTV or anything. Just that they are a big expensive purchase currently and most people that have one that I know are stupid as hell and should have either invested that money for their retirment or just paying the bills. And neither catagory do much to help others out with their money and that alone is a problem. Just stop for a second and look through this topic how many people are saying "buy it on credit" which is a HORRIBLE suggestion and just prooves my point.

/end preachy rant of the day

If you really want the 360 and can afford it buy it. And get an HDTV at the start of next year. Most people predict that retailers and manufacturers are both working very hard to keep prices from dropping too much right now knowing that people will buy them for Christmas. Right at the start of the next year they predict we will see huge drops on HDTV so you can probably grab one on sale for around $400 then which is much more reasonable. Just be responsible.
 
i got my current 32" CRT HDTV from walmart @ $298 not that expensive... if you want the flat panel and less quality you pay more...
 
I got my 42 inch Olevia 720p HDTV for $600 at Micro Center last Black Friday. $1000 - $200 rebate - $100 cashback for signing up for MC credit card - $100 cashback from my dad's MC credit card used to buy another TV for a friend who couldn't be there.

Advice to OP is to just hope for a similar deal this BF and camp out early.
 
[quote name='zman73']...if you like having the lights off all the time.... the only reason I wont get a projector[/QUOTE]

Yeah I wouldn't have it in my living room, but if you have a dedicated space its fine. :bouncy:
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Just stop for a second and look through this topic how many people are saying "buy it on credit" which is a HORRIBLE suggestion and just prooves my point.[/quote] What's so horrible about it? If you had $3,500 to spend on a TV back in May, you could've bought that TV with a 0% interest offer, made the minimum payments (making one big payment on the last 0% billing cycle), bought a share of BRK.B, and you'd have made about $800 since. If you had paid cash, all you'd have is a new TV. :(

Then again, most people might not have that kind of money readily available, which explains why they'd need to use credit to buy a TV, so I see your point.
 
[quote name='lmz00']What's so horrible about it? If you had $3,500 to spend on a TV back in May, you could've bought that TV with a 0% interest offer, made the minimum payments (making one big payment on the last 0% billing cycle), bought a share of BRK.B, and you'd have made about $800 since. If you had paid cash, all you'd have is a new TV. :(

Then again, most people might not have that kind of money readily available, which explains why they'd need to use credit to buy a TV, so I see your point.[/QUOTE]

If you have $1,000s laying around then no its really not that huge of a deal. However most of us dont have $1,000s laying around. Most Americans are in debt. I remember reading an article recently that said that the average American debt like 20 years ago of a male age 50 was 15k and today its like 45k or something crazy like that. People buy things they cant afford plain and simple and the biggest reason for this is because everyone think "O ill just buy it on credit".

If you have $1,000s laying around and are making a large income and not spending most of it maybe spending a grand or more on credit isnt such a horrible thing. But again the topic creator has specifically said how do you afford this...meaning he probally cant. Telling him to put it on credit is the same as handing him a loaded gun.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']The key word is CHEAP ASS.

I would rather pay full price for a game than full price for an HDTV.

And also being a cheap ass gamer also means being a cheap ass in ALL aspects in gaming. (ie: TVs to play them on)

Thread Over.[/quote]

I never said pay full price. Come the shaq-fu on. I said find a good deal. As its been stated many times, CAGS never pay retail.

Also - even if those of you with jobs have a hard time saving its that wonderful thing called an IRS income tax refund. YMMV of course, but it paid for my tv. (being a college student with a federal loan gets you awesome IRS refunds).
 
So many in this thread think that the rest of us sit there and watch hours upon hours of TV, when some of us(me) rarely watch anything outside of the occasional Discovery/History Channel/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim programming anymore.

And, many of those shows are available on the internet on either the channel specific sites or YouTube, so sometimes I even wonder WHY my family even pays for basic cable anymore(@ almost $60 a fuckin month with the ripoff artists known as Comcast).

If worse comes to worse, I'll buy a diff lcd monitor, one with speakers and use that for my tv, but a couple grand for a newer tv is a fuckin joke and this supposed 2009 'cutoff' date will be pushed up by another year or two again I predict.
 
[quote name='striker199']BB employee discount ftw!![/QUOTE]
How much can you usually expect to get discounted off of HDTV's? I've heard they have high markups... how high?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer'] So many in this thread think that the rest of us sit there and watch hours upon hours of TV, when some of us(me) rarely watch anything outside of the occasional Discovery/History Channel/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim programming anymore.

And, many of those shows are available on the internet on either the channel specific sites or YouTube, so sometimes I even wonder WHY my family even pays for basic cable anymore(@ almost $60 a fuckin month with the ripoff artists known as Comcast).

If worse comes to worse, I'll buy a diff lcd monitor, one with speakers and use that for my tv, but a couple grand for a newer tv is a fuckin joke and this supposed 2009 'cutoff' date will be pushed up by another year or two again I predict.[/QUOTE]

Me and my fiancee just got our own place. When we first moved in we agreed to not get cable for at least a month or two when we were sure that we were not just paying our bills but making progress(saving cash, paying bills ahead etc etc). Its been about 2 months now and we still agreed who freaking needs cable. Honestly 90% of what we want to watch we just download anyways. Most of the time the quality is almost as good as on TV and its now commercial free.

I honestly dont understand why anyone wastes money on cable TV anymore.
 
This is true and with YouTube, I've been able to watch almost the entire first season of Transformers G1 without commercials and that ridiculous computer animated 'break' they put in between segments in later airings of it.

Now, if the season box sets weren't so damned expensive and broken up into sections, I might just get those and have no need for the net even.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Me and my fiancee just got our own place. When we first moved in we agreed to not get cable for at least a month or two when we were sure that we were not just paying our bills but making progress(saving cash, paying bills ahead etc etc). Its been about 2 months now and we still agreed who freaking needs cable. Honestly 90% of what we want to watch we just download anyways. Most of the time the quality is almost as good as on TV and its now commercial free.

I honestly dont understand why anyone wastes money on cable TV anymore.[/QUOTE]

QFT. I'm canceling my cable at the end of this period.

I never really watch it anyway, and it will keep my roommate off my nice TV so that I can game at will more often. :D
 
if the OP is talking about large screen (46" and up) Sony Bravia XBR, 81 series Samsungs, Pioneer Elite, etc. then i can understand cuz those are pretty expensive.

but if we're talking entry level 26", 32" 720p lcds... they're really not that expensive compared to other electronics such as computers.
 
[quote name='tehweezner']if the OP is talking about large screen (46" and up) Sony Bravia XBR, 81 series Samsungs, Pioneer Elite, etc. then i can understand cuz those are pretty expensive.

but if we're talking entry level 26", 32" 720p lcds... they're really not that expensive compared to other electronics such as computers.[/QUOTE]

Not true. A Computer is used for work, school, looking things up, communicating lots of stuff. If not buying a gaming rig you can get a decent PC for less then a standard HDTV right now which is only good for TV and video games AND is $100s more then a standard TV. HDTV is spending $100s for a crisp picture....thats all thats special about buying one....its very American. Computers are tools. And besides can you get free porn on TV hehe.
 
[quote name='yellowcoward']My girlfriend of 7 years is the reason I can't drop multi grand on the TV of choice.[/QUOTE]

(whip goes) WAHPAAH!

most people don't know how to manage their money cause they're too excited that they have it and it burns a whole in their pocket; or they spend it on drugs and alcohol which can easily add up to $300/month for most ADICTS. going out and clubbing is fun but that can also add up to $300-$400/month, most married people will stop going out and that automatically saves them $$ that can be spent on say...a 360. then they can save up for a big screen. people with kids can still save money, may take longer, but it is possible - especially when uncle sam gives you all kinds of $$ for those little grunts.

point is - money management (more than just saving your money).
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Me and my fiancee just got our own place. When we first moved in we agreed to not get cable for at least a month or two when we were sure that we were not just paying our bills but making progress(saving cash, paying bills ahead etc etc). Its been about 2 months now and we still agreed who freaking needs cable. Honestly 90% of what we want to watch we just download anyways. Most of the time the quality is almost as good as on TV and its now commercial free.

I honestly dont understand why anyone wastes money on cable TV anymore.[/QUOTE]

also, if you have cable for internet access, you can easily split the line and run the other straight to the tv; the other end goes back to your cable modem. most lines already have your basic HD locals built in.

edit: btw - off-air HD is great. locals, plus the spanish, chinese, PBS, etc. probably depends on your local but its still free.
 
[quote name='minos1067'](whip goes) WAHPAAH!

most people don't know how to manage their money cause they're too excited that they have it and it burns a whole in their pocket; or they spend it on drugs and alcohol which can easily add up to $300/month for most ADICTS. going out and clubbing is fun but that can also add up to $300-$400/month, most married people will stop going out and that automatically saves them $$ that can be spent on say...a 360. then they can save up for a big screen. people with kids can still save money, may take longer, but it is possible - especially when uncle sam gives you all kinds of $$ for those little grunts.

point is - money management (more than just saving your money).[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I went on my rant but if your 42 and own your own home(or atleast pay off all your bills with a bunch left over) or live in an apartment because its cheaper then more power to you go ahead and drop whatever cash you want to on what ever you want to. But that aint most people. Most people dont prepare for retirment and just build more debt. People should be allowed to splurge now and then(im bad on doing it on food). Just dont bitch about being broke.
 
I look in a set price and tc size range. since im only in college im only lookin to get a 26 and ive fount quite a good amount of deals over the time. 300-400 and they can be used a computer monitor which helps me outa lot. Let's see if i'll be able to get those deals when I have the money.
 
We went with a 26" from Costco at first and then upgraded to a 32" from Target. Got a good deal on the TV and a free TiVo. We have no need to go bigger until the prices go down. It just takes a little patience.
 
current gen systems are really pushing it if you want to get the best out of PS3 or Xbox 360 but hey I still play the ps2 on a 20 inch with component inputs, won't be getting any current gen systems for a while
 
A decent paying job, a wife which adds in, a credit card with a low interest rate, and the will to never pay full price for anything.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']




Worth every penny. 60in 1080p goodness.[/quote]

Holly fuck me! That's a big TV. So many electronics and yet you leave a fucking pilates DVD dead center on the ground. :dunce: While I'm sure you can see the panty lines and everything else as clear as day, there's gotta be better porn you can watch in 1080p.
 
32" sanyo was 850 bones last year round this time. Socked away as much as I could every month and had it in no time. The key is to sock away everything you can right off the top of your pay check so then you don't expect that money. I shave 15% off the top automatically into a retirement fund. 10% automatically into an ING Savings account (my "treats" fund). My other loans my credit union shaves off every pay check before it hits my checking account. By the time I see my money my saving and loans have already been taken care of. A little financial planning goes a long long way to getting the things you want.

32" is fine for us right now, it seems a very sweet spot for tvs right now. Big enough to get all the detail you need at a reasonable price these days.
 
The key to success in this world is not buying what you can't afford and saving until you can. If you live paycheck to paycheck, you're doomed.

HDTV's are OBSCENELY Cheap these days compared to even 12 months ago.

DONT be so hell bent on 1080p......take the bigger 720 or 768p set if you can because frankly, having played games on both 720p and 1080p machines, the difference is **REALLY AND TRULY** not all that great, people.

Having that extra 1 million pixels doesn't mean much when 720p has such a tasty resolution to begin with...in fact most of the time when you compare 720p to 1080p on games, side by side, most people go "yeah I guess its a little bit better..I guess", and thats even if the game is rendered natively in 1080p.

At those resolutions you're talking about TINY stuff like "oh yeah, the gauges are a little bit clearer on the 1080p version" ,etc, etc........

You dont have to break the bank to get a decent gaming TV.

TigerDirect and ECost refurbs are your friend.
 
I bought mine on a "No Interest for 18 months" plan at CC.

They are a great way to buy things (blah, blah, credit cards are the devil, blah, blah... They can be but as long as you don't go crazy they are okay), as long as you pay it off in time.

I've been thinking about getting another, bigger one and I'd do it the same way.
 
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