Getting the best deal in television is not just about price. In our TV purchse evaluation guide we outlined the minimum quality and feature set you should aim for to ensure your television meets your current needs as well as those in the future.

By getting to know what is happening with television in the current year, you can get a better understanding of how television product technology will advance in the current year. For instance, check the review we did in 2006 for 2007.

Use these guidelines to time your television purchase and get in synch with the media channel technology. Making a wise TV purchase in 2007 can set up up for full HDTV capability in 2009

Value Based Deals

If you want the best deal in television, go for value, rather than price.

Price may not be a buying driver, if you are willing to wait a while. Prices on plasmas are dropping fast.

Understand The Price Lifecycle

If you are not in a hurry, you will get a better deal buying at a more value time in the product lifecycle.

Any new product will either launch at full price to capture that part of the market that just has to have the latest gear, as soon as it launches.

If you are willing to wait a few months, you will find that the launch phase has passes and prices start dropping.

The Samsung HPS4253 was $2500 when it first came out. A few months later, you could get it for $1799.

Also look for Bonus Upgrade Options - Upgrade to an HD box for $100 or get a wall mounting kit for $100 (Normally $500). The total package cost of $3100 3 months earlier is now $2000 out the door before tax. Other bonuses include 36 months no interest and free gift cards back in the mail.

End of Line Discounts

Wait a little longer, and you get real bargains with end of line discounts. Buying the last model in the store is often extremely good value, and you can compare the quality and features with the replacement models, right there in the store.

Search out bargains on the back shelves. Models displayed center front stage will be back shelf within 6-8 months and can often be well negotiated. This doesn’t mean settling for old technology. Why buy an outdated 720 set when you can buy top brand 1080 P sets for bargain prices, in just a few months.

Buy Only The Technology You Will Use

HD is now mainstream; in 2007 all broadcast will switch over to 1080i. If you only watch DVD’s no problem. In Walmart, you can select from rows of cheap off-brand televisions right next to the $5.00 DVD movies.

Go for value, not price. Weigh off the price: quality benefits. For instance:

At only $200 more the Philips provides a much better picture. That’s still $300 less than a Panasonic and $800 less than a Pioneer.
The Philips picture rivals the Panasonic, but is not as good as the Pioneer. But using a price:benefit comparison, it was easy to agree the picture quality is not $800 worse than the Pioneer.
A Vizio 47" LCD for $1650 (including coupon) at Costco is only half the price of a Sony Bravia, and if offers some features that Sony don’t. If these happen to be the features you want, then the bargain value is even greater than 2:1.

A typical complaint with Sony in both televisions and camcorders is it’s menu. With some many features, the detailed menu makes it complicated for the average user to access features they use day to day.

A name is not always a "Name". Westinghouse have been around a long time in household appliances. Polaroid also has a long history, but in cameras. That’s a long haul from television sets, albeit both are concerned with picture quality, but from totally different perspectives.

Both brands probably use the same technologies. Even the Vizio remote batteries have Toshiba written on them. The no-names of yesterday very quickly become the mainline product of today. Not too long ago, Panasonic was a second tier brand. Now it is leading the pack in many features of both television and camcorder.

Buy For Multi Purpose

Vizio 37" wide screen has a great picture, looks good and is easy to use. It even has a RGB plug in the back so you can use it as a computer monitor as well.

Total Cost of Ownership

Look at the total cost of ownership based upon service reviews. One example of high ongoing cost is with HDTV Bulbs

50" - 70" screens use the same two Lamp Lights. And check the price of replacement bulbs; it seems many purchasers have had to replace their Lamp bulbs every six months at $350+ a shot. NOTE: Circuit City and Best Buy have both withdrawn Replacement Lamps from their Warranty's. It seems too customers were replacing their expensive HDTV lamp bulbs within the warranty period.

Better lighting was found in smaller 50" & 55" screen's.

One customer found his Samsung DLP bulbs burning out after 140 hours! Second bulb in under 100 hours. Overall, the set is already signalling premature failure

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Getting The Best Television Technology Deal