Flat-Screen TV Prices Finally Coming Down

[Dover]

Flat-Screen TV Prices Finally Coming Down By GREG SANDOVAL, AP Technology Writer
Sat Aug 13, 7:38 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO - Bud Werner and his wife are longtime movie buffs. For more than a year, he pined for a flat-panel television, thrilled by 60-inch screens thin enough to hang on a wall and turn his living room into a mini-movie theater. But he couldn't overcome sticker shock: Some flat panels were selling for as much as $20,000 at first, as much as a new car. Like a lot of fans of flat-panel TVs, Werner, who owns a sign-making business, held off buying. Until now, that is.

Prices for flat panels have finally begun to tumble — by as much as 35 percent in the past year — as soaring demand for the two leading flat-panel technologies, plasma and liquid crystal display, or LCD, attracts a host of new competitors.

"I'm excited," said Werner, 54, whose patience was rewarded this month when he bought a 50-inch plasma television at Best Buy for $3,800. "We already have the wall picked out where it's going to hang."...cont'd

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050813/ap_on_hi_te/flatscreen_prices;_ylt=AgcNqQ05yCy2nvIHYZ90bNus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cjE0b2MwBHNlYwM3Mzg-

STILL WAAAAY TOO PRICEY FOR ME......particularly when you consider what's ON the tube to watch. Ick!

[Endangered Specie]

1. Sooo many things Id rather buy with $3800 than a telescreen.

[girl gone mad]

4. Yep.

I'd buy another telescope if I had the discretionary cash.

Plasma and LCD TVs are still inferior to tube televisions picture quality wise, and I've read Phillips is going to start selling thin tube TVs to compete with the flat panels now. I can't imagine ever paying more than a few hundred dollars for a television, now matter how shiny and thin it is or how much money I have burning a hole in my pocket.

[PassingFair]

40. Dig!

I could get braces for my kid!

[dweller]

2. waaay to flat for me

considering the rest of the world is ...well, round.

:)

dp

[Wetzelbill]

7. unless some fundies decide the world is flat

then that alternative theory would have to be taught in schools. :)

[Dover]

3. 90 percent of the world's LCD panels are supplied by 5 companies

...When it comes to performance among flat-panel makers, paying more doesn't necessarily mean a better picture, said Eric Haruki, an analyst for research firm IDC.

More than 90 percent of the world's LCD panels are supplied by five companies, so top-tier brands and generics often share the same components, according to Haruki.

"Some of these companies buy top-notch components from the big players and rebrand them," Haruki said. "The technology is pretty good across the board."

[daleo]

5. 3800 bucks to watch commercials

And that doesn't even include the cable bill.

[Mairead]

8. The same thought crossed my mind. So many people are so ennervated

that they'll pay a small fortune to watch commercials--and not even realise that that's what they're doing!!

[ET Awful]

11. It says they're movie buffs. That denotes using it for movies

and home theater.

Hell, I could put that thing to great use with no cable hook up at all, I'd use it for what my primary usage is for TV anyway, movies.

I don't see a problem with it.

[xxqqqzme]

6. That is waaaaaay toooooo much

2 spend on a TV. I doon't know any jones that I have 2 keep up with anyway.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. There is another thing to remember:

The large flatscreens use huge amounts of electricity. Massive.

Not very responsible, these days.

[johnfunk]

10. Plasma technology is not dependable

The screens have a major problem with "burn-in" -- leave it on one channel with a so-called "bug" logo in the lower right corner and the image will eventually burn into the picture -- and overall reliability.

LCD screens are cheaper and more reliable.

And whatever happened to Sharp's announcement of LEP screens? Light-emitting polymer technology is supposedly far cheaper to produce than plasma.

[NCPatriot]

12. Burn-in?

I thought you could just pull them off the wall - grab the sides firmly - and shake vigorously to clear any remaining images on the screen??

If all else failed - move the knobs in the lower left and right corners quickly to re-trace the screen.

:-)

[supernova]

13. Ha!

Welcome to DU NCPatriot! :hi:

[salin]

14. LOL

still chuckling per Etch n Sketch tv.

Welcome to DU!

[johnfunk]

33. ROTFL

Hey -- an Etch-a-sketch TV might not be a bad idea -- I'd love to "retouch" the Popular Wartime Preznit (heh-heh).

[Deja Q]

38. Don't forget STUCK PIXELS or DEAD PIXELS... And, LOL,

how LCD makers will not replace such a monitor until their criteria (which is typically highly unrealistic) is met.

[Blue Adept]

15. Wow...

Some of the responses in this thread are almost the same as the kind of research that gets done in mainstream newspapers... Nice an inaccurate and generally condescending at the same time.

Impressive.

[Judi Lynn]

16. You're a newcomer here at D. U., I see.

Let me be the first to extend an acknowledgement of your presence!

This is a big moment for us.



Edited to include, at no cost, a portrait of Elvis painted on velvet:

[NCPatriot]

22. Thanks for the welcome shake! N/T

[Judi Lynn]

30. A hearty greeting, NCPatriot!

Hope it's to your liking, wink wink! http://thumb4.shutterstock.com/thumb_large/3242/3242,1112459779,5.jpg

This is a tremendous place.

[Blue Adept]

35. Newcomer?

Since you replied to me I can assume you meant me... but no, not a newcomer. Been here since pretty much the site opened back in 2001. See my profile.

[Deja Q]

39. Uh, his bio says he's been here since Two thousand and ONE. 2001.

Or tell me how he could hack the "member since" parameter. :rofl:

[Bosso 63]

17. I thought flat screens use less energy than CRTs

What about toxic materials like lead used to shield CRTs. It seems like the phase out of the old could be good, but I don't know much about it, so whats the scoop?

[Swamp Rat]

23. Welcome to DU!

:D

[Judi Lynn]

26. That Republican tribute of yours is so moving.

I burst into tears of Freep joy every time I see it.

Thank you, in total humility.

[Swamp Rat]

29. That has to be the most unique compliment.

:hug: Thank you, in total HUMANITY. :D




Look for this poster at Camp Casey any time now: ;)

[Orangepeel]

25. you know, there is a big difference

between somebody posting an opinion on a discussion board and a "professional" being paid to inform the public.

If people are posting inaccuracies, either ignore them or correct them. :shrug:

[Judi Lynn]

31. Truly! n/t

[Ilsa]

18. My husband has been making noises about

a new projection tv, a big one, since they are looking better than ever before. He isn't thinking about tv, except for sports. He's also thinking more about movies. There are only a handful of tv shows he cares about.

[BiggJawn]

19. $3800? That'll buy 1000 gallons of gas by next spring...

Bud Werner ain't no "movie buff". You ought to SEE some of the "Home Theatres" movie buffs have in their homes. $20,000 screen aint nothing....

[Swamp Rat]

24. Or a hand-brazed frame with campy gear.

And LOTS of bells an whistles. :)

[DrZeeLit]

20. So weird on so many levels.

I suppose I have a completely different mindset when it comes to purchases of late.
I haven't been asked to sacrifice, yet I can't get it out of my mind that we're at war.
And life is dear. We have domestic issues -- civil rights, poverty, among many. And what are we asked to do when faced with so many challenges?

Go shopping.

Watch t.v.

Eat.

All of which involve a form of drugging ourselves, our nation, into a stupor so that we don't have to think, to really consider what is happening.

I don't know. Maybe spending a lot of money (and to me it's a lot because I teach for a whole semester and only make $2748 per course, with a cap of 3 courses) makes sense. And who's to say those people aren't donating to charities, walking picket lines, doing hours and hours of community service. I know, I know... I sound like Scrooge.

Still, doesn't this seem a waste to anyone?

I just don't think I'm going to be on my deathbed and say, "I wish I would have watched more t.v." To think of all the hours wasted when I could have done something that mattered.

And, btw, I do not have a t.v. Five years now and I can say that I'm the happiest I've ever been. I do not miss it at all -- the brainwashing and mind-numbing. Free at last.

Okay... end of rant. I 'm in that type of mood today. Oi.

[ckramer]

21. You guys still watch TV?

My 19 inch is fine.

[NCPatriot]

27. Plasma AND HD not there yet

I worked for a large PC company in the US for several years - Managed one of the "Country Stores" in NC. We were one of the first technology companies to go after the emerging plasma TV market with a low-cost variant of the 42" Plasma.

The pictures are stunning... ONLY when the feed is stunning! Garbage in - Garbage out comes to mind in this case.

The showrooms for these high definition monitors are always running the highest quality feed they can muster. (Usually HD Satellite, DVD, or HD Cable) Before you lay out $1 on a new set like this, do your research on channel availability, and ask your local TV shop to show you a regular channel!! (Non-HD)

[Orsino]

28. One good thing about plasmas...

...and that's that they drove down the prices on regular flat screens. Helped me out.

Plasmas look wonderful, but I'm not in the least tempted to get one.

[bikebloke]

32. I have a 20" in the closet

When I want to watch a film, I haul it out, along with the DVD player. Then haul it all back when the film's over. It must be good for me. The telly feels alot lighter now than when I first bought it. See, why spend money to belong to a poseur gym.

[miss_kitty]

34. $3800? That would pay for half the dental work I HAVE to have

Bummer.

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. When MrG gets a hankering to look at a Flat screen,we go down to

Circuit City where they have couches and everything...and watch it for FREE! :bounce: :hi:

[Deja Q]

37. I prefer living life with people than radiation-emitting mindrot boxes.

Sorry.