Message Forum: Re: TVs and model numbers

Re: TVs and model numbers

Posted By: Stephen, on host 70.181.157.149
Date: Monday, December 17, 2007, at 20:32:03
In Reply To: Re: It looks good, but is it? posted by Wedge on Monday, December 17, 2007, at 18:10:14:

> I don't know if this is exactly true, it could be a misprint, but I noticed that a 47" Westinghouse LCD HDTV that Best Buy carries shows that it has a 1000:1 contrast ratio on the Best Buy website. I then check it out on Westinghouse's webpage, and they say it has 5000:1 ratio. The set is cheaper at Best Buy than it is from the manufacturer. Surely this is just a misprint and I am going to look into it, I just thought it was kind of wild that I ran across that and this post today.

That BB is selling it cheaper than the manufacturer is not really a cause for concern; directly buying from the manufacturer is rarely going to be a good deal.

The one thing I would say is to be certain the model numbers are identical, and if so, assume that Best Buy is wrong.

I recently bought a new television after months of research, and it is simply insane how wide the product lines are. For reference, I bought a Panasonic plasma. For any given size, Panasonic has approximately 6 different models -- different resolutions, different anti-glare coating, different speakers, etc. It's just mind-boggling trying to keep it straight.

So it's possible that the model numbers are very similar and that BB is offering the slightly down model. E.g. Panasonic's 720p 50" is the TH-50PX77U while the 1080p is the TH-50PZ77U (though there's also the 700 series) -- a big string of digits and letters that differs by a single character, making it easy to confuse them.

If you are purchasing a new TV, I would recommend that you basically ignore anything any salespeople tell you and just stick to the Web as a resource. I was at BB once comparing models and told the woman working the floor that the tags on the display units were wrong. She asked why I thought that, and I pointed to the fact that the Samsung was labeled as a Sony.

By the way, probably the best introductory resource on the Internet for TV reviews and information is CNet at http://reviews.cnet.com/televisions/

If you want to get really techy, the forums at http://avsforum.com/ probably have more depth of information than anywhere else.

Stephen

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Message:	> > I don't know if this is exactly true, it could be a misprint, but I noticed that a 47" Westinghouse LCD HDTV that Best Buy carries shows that it has a 1000:1 contrast ratio on the Best Buy website. I then check it out on Westinghouse's webpage, and they say it has 5000:1 ratio. The set is cheaper at Best Buy than it is from the manufacturer. Surely this is just a misprint and I am going to look into it, I just thought it was kind of wild that I ran across that and this post today. > > That BB is selling it cheaper than the manufacturer is not really a cause for concern; directly buying from the manufacturer is rarely going to be a good deal. > > The one thing I would say is to be certain the model numbers are identical, and if so, assume that Best Buy is wrong. > > I recently bought a new television after months of research, and it is simply insane how wide the product lines are. For reference, I bought a Panasonic plasma. For any given size, Panasonic has approximately 6 different models -- different resolutions, different anti-glare coating, different speakers, etc. It's just mind-boggling trying to keep it straight. > > So it's possible that the model numbers are very similar and that BB is offering the slightly down model. E.g. Panasonic's 720p 50" is the TH-50PX77U while the 1080p is the TH-50PZ77U (though there's also the 700 series) -- a big string of digits and letters that differs by a single character, making it easy to confuse them. > > If you are purchasing a new TV, I would recommend that you basically ignore anything any salespeople tell you and just stick to the Web as a resource. I was at BB once comparing models and told the woman working the floor that the tags on the display units were wrong. She asked why I thought that, and I pointed to the fact that the Samsung was labeled as a Sony. > > By the way, probably the best introductory resource on the Internet for TV reviews and information is CNet at http://reviews.cnet.com/televisions/ > > If you want to get really techy, the forums at http://avsforum.com/ probably have more depth of information than anywhere else. > > Stephen
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