Poll: Are you HDTV shopping with the lowered prices?

Now that big brands are hacking their MSRPs down to more manageable levels, are you suddenly forcing yourself into the market for a new set? Yeah, Black Friday 2008 is closing in by the minute, but waiting is tough, is it not? And heck, with a well received 32-inch plasma going for just north of five bills, it's a great time be a buyer. So, are you looking to take advantage of the lowered prices and snag a new / secondary HDTV, or are you waiting for one reason or another? Speak up!

[Image courtesy of StarTribune]

Are you HDTV shopping with the lowered prices?

Yep! I can't resist a discount!No, waiting for Black Friday here.No, simply don't need a set.No way, the economy is killing me right now!None of the above, vaquero.Vote

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 12:58PM]

I'm a college student in my fifth year. Impending student loans along with the car payments and rent... HDTV is not in my future unless they drop under $300... which we all know isn't coming anytime soon.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 7:35PM]

why is it that the average college student always complains about money? my 3 siblings all had the same problem, yes I was able to easily pay my way through college and buy a tv over $3000, all on a minimum wage salary. I guess I just know the value of a dollar, and dont buy random crap like the average person.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 7:42PM]

I'm glad you can make a complete assessment of my financial situation from this one blog comment.

In case you didn't notice, or don't really read a newspaper, higher education costs are through the roof. With books easily running me about $700 a semester, tuition somewhere between $7-10,000 depending on credits, cheapest rent in town at $399 a month, not to mention I like to feed myself twice a day, it takes damn near a low-level full time job just to pay for school, let alone the time I actually have to dedicate to school.

I know the value of a dollar, and it doesn't involve taking out student loans at prime plus 4%. I'd rather spend it on my education and hey, maybe take my girlfriend out to dinner once in a while, than blow it on an HDTV. Kindly take your opinion of my financial situation and shove it.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 21st 2008 10:01AM]

Big John - that's no excuse. Even homeless people should be able to manage money enough to buy themselves a giant, 60', HDTV (preferably 2160P120), together with a Blu-ray jukebox and subscription to a fiber-optic HD feed.

Remember folks, we EngadgetHD readers live in the real world, where people have no problems spending $1,000 on a TV, $400 on a next generation DVD player, and $600 on a fancy set of speakers and receiver set-up. ;-)

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 1:01PM]

But are prices really cheaper? My budget is $700 (without feeling guilty of spending more) so I thought a nice 32" LCD HDTV would do but I'm seeing $900-$1000 42" LCD and Plasma sets popping up from name brands and I'm wondering if I shouldn't wait for those instead...

[Garst Posted Jul 19th 2008 1:41PM]

I've been in the market for a HDTV to use as a bedroom TV and computer monitor. So, any discount I get will be a bonus, not the reason I'm shopping.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 3:01PM]

I am waiting for the Sony XBR8. Obviously, price is not my first issue.

[NGagen Posted Jul 19th 2008 5:59PM]

Aren't you cool

[Mitchell Posted Jul 19th 2008 2:28PM]

I already have my two HDTV's; one 1080p projector for the theater and a budget 32" Vizio for the living room...maybe ill be looking in 4 or so years when I buy a house but not anytime soon no matter what the price.

[Tyba Posted Jul 19th 2008 4:14PM]

When can we expect to see these "new and improved" MRSP at big box retailers? I can understand this being a recent development and all, but Best Buy hasn't updated their prices yet... and I'd really like to take advantage of their 2 years no interest on a cheaper TV.

[h0mi Posted Jul 19th 2008 6:58PM]

My 37" vizio is fine for my needs. I want a 1080p set that's 42+ but they are overpriced and being that I have no desire to put a tv in the bedroom, I have no good reason to upgrade.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2008 7:04PM]

I still have my sony 36 inch wega which is a hdtv crt set and my hd programming along with my blu ray player is just fine for now.

But someone please correct me if i'm wrong does crt sets carry a better picture than some dlp tvs if someone can please educate me on the difference because when i'm at best buy some of the dlp tvs i see when i try to compare my sony wega which is now a classic the picture on the wega looks better.

[JR007 Posted Jul 19th 2008 11:49PM]

I purchased a LCD already before the price drop, for fairly cheap, so its all good. Sometimes you just gotta find the right sales.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 20th 2008 1:44AM]

I've got a 71" Sammy DLP, so no new TV for me until I can afford a front projector with anamorphic lens, and a 2.35:1 screen. It might be awhile!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 20th 2008 6:13PM]

Why save now? As soon as I found out here on EngadgetHD that Black Friday was less than two months away, I decided that I could wait.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 21st 2008 10:04AM]

We wouldn't mind getting a flat screen for the bedroom, but even the smaller (sub-25") screens are ridiculously priced at the moment. And those aren't really the ones the price drops apply to.

I honestly think the TV industry doesn't "get it". We've got the most massive change to TVs in years - before the advent of HDTV and plasma/good LCD, we hadn't seen an improvement in image quality in around 50 years. Yet TV sales are pretty much static, the same as they were when most people bought TVs to replace broken sets, to buy one for a room that didn't have one, or to buy their first TV.

Prices need to come down, dramatically.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 21st 2008 2:58PM]

Guilty...last night I picked up a 40" Sammy on sale for just over $1K. Makes a nice replacement for an old SD 36XRB. I'm still waiting for something to replace my trusty 50XBR800.