November 22nd, 2009

Poll: Where will you shop for an HDTV on Black Friday?

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 9:44 am

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: HDTV, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Home Entertainment, Personal Technology, Sean Portnoy

There’s still time for a few last-minute surprise deals, but we’ve already seen the Black Friday ads from Best Buy, Newegg, Target, and Wal-Mart leak online. Now, the big question is: Where will you go shopping for HDTVs, Blu-ray players and home theater gear when the holiday shopping season begins next weekend? Vote in our poll below to let everyone know where you’re heading (or not) for Black Friday.

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November 21st, 2009

California adopts tough new requirements on HDTV energy use: Visionary or draconian?

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 8:02 am

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: California, HDTV, Standards, Quality, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Business Operations, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Sean Portnoy

For years, California has had the nation’s toughest emissions standards to counter the pollution from its massive volume of cars and trucks. Now it’s turned its sites on the energy consumption coming from its residents’ HDTVs. The result? Earlier this week, the California Energy Commission unanimously passed new standards to mandate new HDTVs sold in the state be 30- to 50-percent more efficient—the most stringest standards in the world to date.

Proponents claim that the new standards would save California residents $1 billion annually in energy costs. Starting on January 1, 2011, HDTVs up to 58 inches in screen size will need to meet Tier 1 standards, while tougher Tier 2 standards will go into effect 2013. There are already 1,000 sets available that are Tier 1 ready, with 300 of today’s sets could qualify for the Tier 2 requirements.

With the public far more aware of so-called green issues than even a few years ago, and new requirements in place for a Energy Star rating, companies like Sony have already responded by churning out sets that have reduced their power-sipping ways. You can either argue that California’s new restrictions will help push manufacturers to even new energy breakthroughs or that throwing up more regulations when the industry has already been making market improvements in efficiency is overkill. While additional Energy Star guidelines for upcoming years are even more stringent than California’s restrictions, the Energy Star rating is voluntary, so big plasmas wouldn’t have to meet those Energy Star benchmarks to be on sale. However, they essentially will have to meet them to be sold in the most populous state in the country come 2011. Will there be separate versions of TV models that will be sold in California and the rest of the nation, as there are with cars?

Our poll a few weeks ago found that a vast majority of people weren’t interested in regulating away power-hungry sets. Now that the possibility is more likely to happen in the Golden State, do you feel the same? Let us know in our TalkBack section.

November 19th, 2009

Vizio announces Black Friday deals on its LCD HDTVs, Blu-ray player

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 4:36 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Costco, HDTV, LCD, 1080p, Blu-ray, Vizio, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment

You may have noticed that Vizio hasn’t been prominent in the Black Friday ads leaked online from Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart (save for a 26-inch LCD HDTV early special through Wal-Mart). But that doesn’t mean the company, which has remained the number-one shipper of HDTVs in the U.S. for another quarter, is ignoring the days after Thanksgiving. Instead Vizio’s Black Friday sales will mostly be consigned to the big warehouse chains, Costco and Sam’s Club.

Of the two, Costco is getting many more deals, including Vizio’s first Blu-ray player (the VBR110) for $99.99 (with a free HDMI cable thrown in) and a sound bar home theater system with wireless subwoofer (VSB210WS) for $199.99. In addition, it’s lowering the price for the 55-inch 1080p VF550M LCD by $300 to $1,199.99, the price for the 40-inch 1080p VO400E by $100 to $599.99, and the price for the 32-inch 1080p VL320M by $50 to $399.99. While most of these deals are good over the Black Friday weekend, the VO400E special runs from December 3 to December 20. Costco and Sam’s Club share one deal on the 32-inch VO320E, a 720p set whose price has also been chopped by $50 to $339.99.

November 18th, 2009

Full Wal-Mart Black Friday ad hits Internet, complete with Samsung, Sony HDTV deals

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 5:11 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Sony Corp., Home Theater, Advertisement, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Internet, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., HDTV, LCD, 1080p, Home Entertainment

If you read yesterday’s post, you already know about a few of Wal-Mart’s Black Friday home theater deals, including a $78 Blu-ray player. At long last, Wal-Mart’s full Black Friday ad has hit the Web, and it includes some of those brand names that the earlier deals lacked.

The HDTV “doorbuster” of note is a 46-inch 1080p Sony LCD (the KDL465504) for just $798. (In comparison, it’s $852.99 at Best Buy.) Other Sony LCD deals include a $378 32-inch 720p model and a 40-inch 1080p set priced at $598. Samsung is well-represented as well, though those deals are all available on Saturday instead of Friday. These include two 720p plasmas—the PN42B400 for $548 and the PN50B400 for $698—and three LCDs. While the $398 32-inch LN328360 is a 720p set, both the $598 42-inch LN40B500 and the $848 46-inch LN46B500 are 1080p models (each are $1.99 less than at Sears).

In terms of Blu-ray, Samsung and Sony each have a sale unit, though the $148 price is nearly double the Magnavox one that’s the doorbuster. The big difference is that Samsung’s BD-P1950 can stream Netflix and Pandora’s online services, while the Sony BDP-S369 cannot. No home theater system deals appear to be in the cards, though. Nor are there other popular brands like Panasonic, Sharp, and Vizio on sale.

And don’t expect to comparison shop online for these products; as is often the case with Black Friday electronics, most of these seem to be created just for the occasion. Still, they’re Samsungs and Sonys instead of Emersons and Sanyos. Is that enough to get you excited (and ready to line up)? Let us know in the TalkBack section.

November 17th, 2009

Wal-mart Black Friday deals on HDTVs, Blu-ray players begin to leak online

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 4:44 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Plasma, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., HDTV, Blu-ray, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Sean Portnoy

As the 800-pound gorilla of retailing, Wal-mart can get away with teasing consumers before Black Friday, offering some early deals a couple of weeks ago, as well as even releasing some more today, like a 26-inch 720p Vizio LCD HDTV for $248 that will be available starting Saturday. Even worse, its Black Friday ad hasn’t made it online yet, though today a few of the deals have been confirmed. If you like bargain brands at bargain prices, then get yourself ready for the following deals:

• A Sanyo 50-inch 720p plasma HDTV for $598
• An Emerson 42-inch 720p plasma for $448
• An Emerson 32-inch 720p LCD HDTV for $248
• A Magnavox Blu-ray player for $78

Of those four, the Magnavox price is the most eye-opening, as $99 has been the usual low-end “doorbuster” price for Blu-ray players in the past. The 32-inch Emerson is priced almost exactly the same as Target is offering a Westinghouse 32-inch LCD for ($246), though the Westinghouse brand has a higher visibility. Would you jump at that Emerson plasma when you can get a 42-inch 720p Panasonic plasma right now at JR.com for $499? Or for an extra $100 you can grab a Samsung 42-inch 720p plasma on Black Friday at Best Buy instead of the Sanyo, which isn’t well known for its plasmas.

Of course, many people shopping at Wal-mart can’t spend anything extra and for them, these could look like great deals. And these are the first leaks, so there may be more name-brand HDTV deals from Wal-mart still to be disclosed. At least you gotta hope so.

November 16th, 2009

Newegg offers some early Black Friday deals on LCD HDTVs

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 5:50 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Newegg.com, HDTV, LCD, Monitors & Displays, Hardware, Components, Sean Portnoy

Online retailer Newegg got its start (and still does a great business in) selling computer components to DIYers, but it’s expanded its reach and revenue by selling all sorts of electronics—even some small kitchen appliances. Of course, that roster of products includes HDTVs, and Newegg, like Wal-mart before it, is jumping the gun on Black Friday with a few deals on LCDs that are available right now.

A pair of Toshibas are on that slate, including the 32-inch 720p 32AV502R for $329.99, which isn’t as low priced as the $246 Westinghouse 32-inch LCD at Target on Black Friday, but lower than the Samsung and Sony models that will be available at Best Buy. A more enticing buy could be the 46-inch 1080p 46RV525U for just $799.99, including free shipping. Like other most Black Friday LCD specials, these are 60Hz HDTVs, but appear to be decently reviewed by Newegg buyers. If you need something in the middle, Newegg is also offering a 37-inch 1080p LG LCD, the 37LH30, for $529.99, also with free shipping.

Another special is the Yamaha DVX-700 2.1 home theater system with DVD player for $279.99. While Newegg advertises its original cost as $999.99, there doesn’t appear to be any other online retailer selling this system, which suggests it could be a closeout. Nonetheless, you can wait until the day after Thanksgiving and grab a Samsung 5.1 system with Blu-ray player for $399.99 at Best Buy—yes, more of a splurge, but probably a better deal.

November 14th, 2009

Best Buy Black Friday ad leaks online. Here are the HDTV and Blu-ray deals.

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 6:50 am

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Sony Corp., Best Buy Co. Inc., Advertisement, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., HDTV, Blu-ray, Home Entertainment, Tv & Home Theater, Managed Hosting, TVs

For electronics fans, the Holy Grail of Black Friday ads is the one from Best Buy, which can list more deals on laptops and home theater stuff than general retailers like Wal-mart and Target can squeeze into their circulars. Unfortunately, those deals are never as good as you hope—is this year an exception?

The 2009 Best Buy Black Friday ad has just emerged on the Internet, and, as usual, it lists a number of HDTV deals, though they may not be anything to warrant jumping in line as soon as the last piece of turkey has been eaten. On the low end of the cost spectrum, amid brands like Dynex, are a couple of decent prices on top-tier-brand 32-inch 720p LCD sets: Sony’s KDL32L504 will sell for $379.99 and Samsung’s LN32B360C5D is priced at $399.99. Neither is priced as enticingly as Target’s 32-inch Westinghouse for $246, but the Sony is priced a full $100 lower than it’s currently offered at Best Buy.

In the plasma department, a Samsung 50-inch 720p model, the PN50B430P2D, is $697.99, while you can take your pick of a deal for a 50-inch 1080p plasma: either the Samsung PN50B530S2F for $897.99 or the Panasonic TC-P50U1—with a Blu-ray player included in the bargain—for $999.98. The highest-priced “special” is a 46-inch LED-backlit Samsung set (the UN4686000VF) for $1,599.99, which will be $250 off its current price.

Best Buy is hitting the magic price point with its house brand Blu-ray player. The Insignia NS-BRDVD3 will be just $99.99, while the company, like many competitors, is offering a Sony Blu-ray unit for $149.99. If you want a stylish model that offers streaming online services like Netflix’s on-demand video, the Samsung BD-P4600 will be $279.99. Alternatively, the Samsung HT-BD1250 5.1 home theater system (with a similarly “connected” Blu-ray player) is $399.99.

Just how good are these deals? While many items are $75 or $100 less than their current Best Buy price, the Samsung 720p plasma is a mere $13 less than it is currently priced. On the other hand, the Panasonic TC-P50U1 is normally $1,300 and roughly the same price via many online retailers. In addition, Samsung sets offered during Black Friday tend to be exclusive models for Best Buy that make it difficult to comparison shop. And the same Sony 32-inch LCD set is available at Kmart for the same price on Black Friday.

Ultimately, it will be up to consumers to decide whether these prices are good enough to queue up all night after a big Thanksgiving feast. What do you think of these Black Friday HDTV deals? Let us know in the TalkBack section.

November 11th, 2009

Target Black Friday HDTV deal: Westinghouse 32-inch LCD for $246

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 3:50 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., LCD, Blu-ray, Monitors & Displays, Hardware, Components, Sean Portnoy

More Black Friday deals are trickling onto the Web, and while we still don’t have info on Best Buy’s yet, Target’s have leaked, and include a very enticing HDTV deal. You’ll be able (if you’re an early bird) to snare a Westinghouse 32-inch LCD for just $246.

While Westinghouse isn’t a top-tier vendor, it’s more well-known than the manufacturer of Target’s other TV deal: an Apex 40-inch 1080p LCD for $449. And don’t expect top specs from the Westinghouse set, which is 720p and offers just 60Hz refresh rates. Still, it does come with a pair of HDMI ports, and, well, it’s only $246! Like Wal-mart offered last weekend during its pre-Black Friday one-day special, Target will also have a Sony Blu-ray player available for $149.99, though it also adds a $20 gift card.

Speaking of Wal-mart, its warehouse chain Sam’s Club is offering a JVC Blu-ray player for $129 on Black Friday. Hopefully, Wal-mart’s actual Black Friday deals will be more exciting than the ones at Sam’s Club, but we’ll still need to wait a bit longer until its ad finds its way onto the Internet.

November 10th, 2009

Moxi introduces three-tuner HD DVR, reduces prices on dual-tuner version

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 6:39 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: TiVo Inc., Moxi, DVR, Digital Video, Development Tools, Network Technology, Wi-Fi, Wireless And Mobility, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment

TiVo isn’t the only company trying to entice people to choose its DVR solution over one you can get bundled with your cable or satellite programming. Moxi is going the extra step with the latest version of its HD DVR, unleashing a new model that incorporate three HD tuners instead of the dual-tuner setup introduced earlier this year (and at which TiVo’s HD DVR also maxes out). Three tuners means you can record three different programs at the same time while watching a fourth program that’s already been recorded.

You’ll pay a lot for that privilege, more than the top-of-the-line TiVo—$799. But that price includes a Moxi Mate, which allows you to watch recorded content on a TV in a different room. You can also get a pair of Moxi Mates with the three-tuner HD DVR for $999. The price to buy a Moxi Mate separately has been reduced from $399 to $299. Also slashed is the cost of a dual-tuner HD DVR, from its $799 price down to $499. One key area in which Moxi differentiates itself is by not charging a monthly fee for its programming guide and other features; TiVo charges $12.95 per month.

Another way that Moxi could distinguish itself from TiVo is offering a HD DVR with built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. Currently, all Moxi hardware features an Ethernet port, just like TiVo devices. TiVo at least offers a wireless adapter you can buy (which is free for the moment when you buy an HD DVR), but Moxi’s ability to offer online services like Netflix, Hulu and Rhapsody, access files on your home network, and stream content to Moxi Mates makes a wireless connection highly desirable. Considering the difficulty gaining traction against cable and satellite DVR boxes, Moxi needs all the advantages it can muster in comparison.

November 9th, 2009

Sony to charge $24.95 for Bravia owners to rent "Chance of Meatballs" before DVD release

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 6:42 pm

Categories: Home Theater

Tags: Sony Corp., Movie, Pricing Strategy, DVD, Pricing, Marketing Research, Marketing, Sean Portnoy

Leveraging some synergy between its electronics arm and its movie studio, Sony announced today that it’s going to offer its hit kiddies flick “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” to owners of select Bravia home theater gear a full month before it’s released on DVD. The price for this privilege—and there sure is a price for it—is $24.95.

Since this is an online rental, you’ll need to have a Bravia HDTV with networking capability, either built in or thanks to being attached to the Bravia Internet Video Link, or the BDP-N460 Network Blu-ray player. People who buy one of these devices between now and January 4 will get a break, scoring the rental for free—so much for long-time loyalty.

The pricing model here is what will draw the most attention. Sony would no doubt argue the high price for the rental is not only related to its early access, but also because it’s less than the cost of taking the whole family to the theater (and most renters of this film will be families). But in this economy, is being able to rent this successful movie a few weeks ahead of the masses really worth an extra $20? In fact, if you’re using Netflix or renting at $1 per night through Redbox, the pricing difference is even starker. Setting that type of price for a brand-new movie is one thing (since the studio would want to recoup the money it wouldn’t get from the box office), but does a movie that was just in theaters for several weeks, giving people ample time to view it, really warrant a rental price that is comparable to the cost of buying a DVD or Blu-ray version?

Is this type of rental offer going to work? Would the pricing make more sense if you could download a new film instead? Let us know your thoughts in the TalkBack section.