albrandwood
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Posts posted by albrandwood
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I have to agree with TvBob ...
1) if you are looking at 26" Widescreen (equivalent to approx 21" regular) then HDTV/EDTV will make no difference at 6' or more ...
2) Unless you predominantly watch HD channels, then you aren't going to benefit from HDTV ...
3) Most Cable/satelite programming is 480i, so a screen capable of 1080p is not relevent. the PS2 is definitely not going to matter either
I'd save the money, and get EDTV for now ... then in three years time, replace the 26" LCD with a 42" or bigger LCD or whatever then.
If you do get HDTV, don't forget to get your cable company to upgrade your decoder to HDTV capable ...
as for connections:
* HDTV Decoder to Screen: HDMI/DVI
* DVD Player to Screen : Component Video (Y/Cb/Cr)
* Playstation to Screen : SVideo
* VHS to Screen : Composite (RCA Video) or SVideo
All HDTV/EDTV are capable of recieving HDTV (1080i, 720p, 720i) and EDTV ( 480p) and STDV (480i) ... However, when comparing screens, the one that is closest to the VERTICAL resolution is the _best_ it can handle ... most LCD below 40" and Plasma below 50" are either EDTV or 720p HDTV ...
if size is not a critical factor, then look at DLP based projection TV's ... they are not that much bigger, and are significantly cheaper ...
the primary negatives in the different technologies ...
Plasma: Screen Burn in and Phosphur life are not great.
LCD : Contrast Ratio is often not good (less $ = less contrast)
DLP : not wall mountable.
the primary positives:
Plasma: Big screens, wall mountable
LCD : smaller screens, less $, wall mountable
DLP : Big screens, less $
Personal opinion : Priceless :-D
I've currently got Plasma's and LCD's ... (only one 13" CRT TV left)
42" HDTV Plasma is my preference for picture. but I dislike the burn in issues ... (Everything needs to be run in widescreen, to prevent the center square becoming dimmer) ... Learnt that with my 1st Plasma - replaced under waranty due to power supply failure.
36" HDTV LCD is a good performance/$ compromise ... the contrast ratio, and blacks aren't as good as with my plasma, but it was also only $1k not $3k.
20" SDTV LCD is a nice bedroom screen ... doesn't take up space, cleaner picture than the preceeding CRT. (blacks aren't very black - especially at night)
Since my plasma isn't wall mounted, if/when it dies, I'll probably replace it with a DLP rear projection (cheaper $) and use the spare $ to buy a DLP front projection system for 200" HDTV movies :-D
@shley
FYI KnightRid: the Westinghouse 26" LCD at BB is probably 1280x720 HDTV. (Westinghouse website doesn't mention a 26", only a 27" ... ) :-D
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AOL membership will be charged in monthly installments of $14.95 or $23.90, depending on selected price plan.
$23.90 = AOL Dialup
$14.95 = AOL via existing Broadband (ie, on top of Cable or DSL)
And AOL just requires a "major payment card". Either credit or debit card would do. I have a visa check card through my bank, so that'll work.
Personally, If you have a creditcard, I'd not use a checkcard for this kind of thing ... too great a risk of going overdrawn, then getting hit $30+ per transaction ... (#2 son just figured that the hard way after $400 in bank fees)
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I was wondering about Insignia too, after seeing the 20" TV for $58.99 after rebate, so I searched around and found a review of another one of their TVs on eOpinions. I don't have enough posts yet to post the link, but at eOpinions, just search for Insignia and scroll down to Electronics. One of the TVs (actually, I think the same TV that's being sold on BF) was reviewed.
Apparently, Insignia is just a Best Buy brand of TV that's built by other (reputable) companies and slapped with a different logo. I guess it's like the store brand food in supermarkets, where it's the same food, only cheaper.
I would think that it'd be okay to get the Insignia without any qualms whether it'd break down, but then, I won't know either until I get the 20" either. :-p
Not entirely sure that it's made by a "reputable" company ... its probably made by the lowest bidder in China or wherever ... But for the $$$ it's gonna be good value for money...
(same applies to Store brand food ... except the china bit :-D)
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Anyone know anythign abotu this monitor? is it worth it?
it looks to NOT be an early bird special so im assuming its one of those first come first serve kinda thing until they run out...
thanks
Given most CRT 19" are more than $169, yes it's worth it...
Will it be good for Doom3? Who cares ... never play games anyway :-)
@shley
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I believe I remember someone last year posting that their BB ad that came in their paper was different and didn't have the doorbusters. I believe this was someone who lived in Ohio. My memory of this is pretty vague, though. Anyone else remember this from last year?
Edit: OMG, I'm so proud of myself LOL. I searched and found this: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=4082&highlight=buy+doorbusters
Ohio is different from the rest of the country ... not sure if it is due laws regarding public holidays, rebates, or what, but you'll see most flyers show the offer and rebate dates that are different for Ohio than the rest of the country... (not sure if it is state or county laws either)
@shley
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Also i think 3 different lists is also wrong- no way that is possible because then they will ahve to have "hot deals" on lot more products than just 5-10 products otherwise.
Simonalex
Plenty of companies do ... OfficeMax does for sure.
And, come to think of it, when I bought my 1st Plasma TV (3 years ago) the BB flyers for NYC and for NH had different Plasma EDTV's shown as their door-busters (same spec, same price, different manufacturers) ... I'm guess the reason is availability of stock in the country ...
Staples varies the brand of bottled water (for example) depending on location ... (although they tend to cheat, and include pictures of all brands on their flyers)
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Just as a suggestion, I wouldn't worry too much ... the whole point of the BF websites, is to get an idea of what will be available... at the end of the day, most of the flyer will be correct... the door buster may change, but you'll know that the day before when the flyers come out...
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From what I gathered, the "early birds" are only the 1st page and the rest should be available online.
If that's true that would be sweet.
Looking at the bottom of page 1, it appears that online will also be having an earlybird special ... but that won't appear online till the day before ...
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From past experience, I'd say the chances are, you'll have around 2000 people lined up outside your BB...
BB will be sold out of the Laptops/Plasmas within the first 1/2 hour ... anybody who wants one, and stops to ask the opinion of the sales nerd, will loose out ...
If you want one, be there very early If you just want the 20" LCD etc, be there early, cos they aren't gonna last much longer :-D
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I'll probably be there on-line shopping on a PDA :-)
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Well 10 might be the minimum amount of new units the store would order for a new shipment, but usually for black friday, and when they know something will be a hot seller, they order more than usual in a fresh shipment. Of course they can't have that many of such a large item, sears may have room to keep more on hand depending on what type of store you go to.
No, 10 is the minimum of units that the store will have ... and in some cases, it's the maximum ...
For most big sales BB used to advertise computers etc at big loss leading discounts, working on the principle that people would come in for those deals, and that they can be up-sold to something twice the price ...
Then some smart manager figured that they didn't actually have to sell _any_ at the loss-leading price ...
Unfortunately Consumer Affairs pointed out that this was a bait-and-switch tactic. By Advertising a 10 unit minimum, they can avoid the bait-and-switch complaint, since they are advertising that there is a limited supply.
BB's other tactic is to advertise a bundle comprising of 4 or 5 components. they would then not carry enough of one of the smaller items ... (Last year for a Back-To-School sale, they advertised a notebook, printer, memory upgrade and notebook-bag ... buy all 4 together and get $400 rebate ... but each store I went to had significantly more notebooks available than printers, memory or bag. The only solution was to buy at full price, drive around the different stores, collect the components, and then go back to one store, and do a return/rebuy, thus making the bundle a single purchase, and get the rebate.)
(Still, at least they aren't doing loss-leading prices based on getting a $250 gift card for subscribing to AOL for a year (at a cost of $287.88) ...)
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I just built a computer for my daughter and the old monitor I gave her really sucks. Will there be any good deals on monitors?
Why wait till BF ...
CircuitCity.com has a 17" CRT for $69.99
CompUSA.com has a refurb 17" CRT for $99.99
Bestbuy.com has 2x 17" CRTs for $99.99
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I was just wondering, do Super centers that are open 24 hrs close and then re open for early bird? I live near Butler, PA and I was there last year but don't remember them kicking us out. Just wondering. Thanks
Why can't you use the search ... this question has been asked at least TWICE a day, for the past week ...
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Either:Which items are considered door busters?
The ones with extremely limited availabilitya) The ones that cause people to stampede into the store trampling over the staff (and old ladies) in a rush to be one of 10 people in your city to get the object of your desire at a price that's more expensive that shopping on-line would have been by the time you include sales-tax.
c) The ones that make you want to line up outside the store for 4 hours, only to find that the item you wanted is OOS, and now you're SOL, so you go home, wait till the Presidents day sales, and find the same stuff is on sale again, but at a lower price ... :-D
examples include :
$999 42" Plasma EDTV
$399 Laptops that actually cos $549 unless you want AOL
etc
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Before you go, make sure what you want from CompUSA is not available online (starting midnight) ... most of their stuff will be ... so why drive an hour, line up for 3 hours, when you can do it all online in 5 minutes ...
Also, make sure that the deal you want is actually in the door-buster category ...
(and if last year is anything to go by, go back to the store 30 minutes before the earlybird special expires to ensure that they are actually out of stock, and not holding stock back for the afternoon ........ ooops, sorry ... thats a trick my BestBuy does, not CompUSA)
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The one on their site right now, which I am sure is the one in this ad if it turns out to be true is a monitor, no TV tuner built in.
From the BB site:
"Note: ED-ready TV monitor only; external tuner required for ED and conventional TV viewing"
and
"ED-ready: Capable of displaying enhanced-definition (480p) signals from an optional digital source. Displays high-definition digital content at reduced (480p EDTV) resolution."
Just a heads up.
This is normal ... (and what you'd expect for $1k) ...
If you want SDTV OTA signals, then use your VCR as a Tuner ...
If you want HDTV OTA signals, then buy a tuner ... and find that maybe 10 channels at max are HDTV ...
Remember, DVD is EDTV ... While most Cable/Satelite channels are digital, they aren't HDTV.
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(Just realised, I paid $3k for an EDTV Plasma Monitor 3 years ago ... Doh! should have waited)
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Hi all,
Just trying to compare the specs on the cheap CompUSA laptop and the walmart laptop but I cannot tell from the scan the specs for CompUSA. Can anyone help?
Well, the first thing you do, is use the search...
the second is that you read: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=18209
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In my experience, (and according to their posted policies) BB will match WM
BUT:
1) WM has to have stock at the time
2) WM flyer must specify the $$$ not the %%%
3) PM is 100% if done before you leave the store ...
4) PM is 110% if you leave the store, and come back in ...
But, since anything worth having at WM will be out of stock before BB even opens their doors, I wouldn't hold my breath on BB being particularly helpful (and that doesn't include the 2+ hrs standing in line for the CS desk.)
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The Celeron is more of a business processor - it's not quite as good with gaming or CPU-intensive tasks (of course, the graphics in both those laptops won't get you very far with gaming. But the Sempron has more raw horsepower than the Celeron). If I had to choose, I'd go HP first, and then Toshiba.
Since the HP has a slower harddrive, and a smaller L2 cache, the faster processor (a whole, 8%) will make very little difference.
If (like the vast majority of laptop buyers) you are basically after a web/email machine that can be put away when not required, and are not planning to play games ... then both will do the job ...
Which would I get? the Toshiba ... why? see my previous postings ... even HP don't use them ... I haven't seen a new HP in a corporate office in a long time ... most are Dell, IBM or Toshiba.
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more like1) Toshiba
2) HP
1) Toshiba
2) ..
3) ..
..
97)..
98)..
99) HP
HP are so good that the HP employees I know are issued Dell Laptops!
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comp usa ad
in 2005
Chances are 1st list is the BF early bird list, the 2nd list (some of which is current prices) is probably for the rest of the weekend.Wow 2 different ads. Wondering which one if either is correct.
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comp usa ad
in 2005
too bad CompUSA isn't really near me, DVD+R and wireless keyboard and mouse are nice!
Last year all BF stuff was available on their website (shipping sucks, unless you go over $150, then it's only $0.01 per item)
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I think they are like .69 a pound. I never pay for a turkey. In shoprite if you spend $300 from Oct to Dec.2 You can get a free turkey or use the coupon to get 10% off your order. i already have 2 coupons so I am using one for a turkey and the other to buy the rest of the stuff I need.
Wow ... $300 ??? I believe around this part of Long Island its around $125 ...
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The ones with extremely limited availability
*** GottaDeal.com Exclusive: Best Buy BF Ad Scans Posted! ***
in 2005
Posted
My guess is that they feel that the Ohio AG has cost them too much money to risk running afoul of the Rain-Check or Bait-n-Switch or Rebate laws ...(they were sued in August 04 at $25000 per complaint .... )
But as for why central Ohio and not the entire state ... maybe they don't like Central Ohio ... or maybe there is a county law that prohibits ... or a town by-law or whatever ... go ask your local BB manager why...
Maybe they are afraid that the Carrying Concealed Weapons lobby members will get upset that the door busters aren't available, and will start shooting up the store (since they had to stop banning concealed weapons)
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