An FYI for all considering buying a nice HDTV in the near future.

[85Sooner]

We just got notice that Sony will begin unilateral pricing on their better models starting June 1. That means that they will have to sell for MSRP. No discounts, freebees allowed period . A three strike rule applys. Anyone who violates the rule 3 times will cease to be able to get Sony TV's.

Additional word is that the other majors are getting ready to follow suit.

Remember, this is for the better sets not the bad ones.
Japans fiscal year ended March 31 and it seems that they are a little sick and tired of their products prices being driven down so radically.

Hope this helps.

[colleyvillesooner]

can you give me an example of this new practice compared to before?

[soonerboomer93]

what would you recommend in the 42" range? The toshiba still?

maybe 10-15' from couch to tv, so is 42" too small?

[soonerboomer93]

oh, and what deal can you make, i'll be in houston, if i can fit it in my car (accord) i'll come to austin to get it.

[85Sooner]

can you give me an example of this new practice compared to before?
IE:
KDL46XBR5 NOW 2497.00- JUNE 1 3399.00

[85Sooner]

what would you recommend in the 42" range? The toshiba still?

maybe 10-15' from couch to tv, so is 42" too small?

42" would generally be regarded as a little small from that distance.

46 or 50 would be better. Right now we are having a great deal on the Pioneer Pro1150HD for2297.00.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

46 or 50 would be better.

I just bought a 50".

Samsung is making a DLP with an LED instead of a bulb. 20,000 hours of life according to the manufacturer. They've got it in a 50, 56, and 60" model, but I'm poor and had to rob a bum to get the cash. But it wasn't much, thanks to some internet shopping. I bought it from Vanns.com for just under $1400 with free shipping. Closest price I could find in Tulsa was $1800 at Ultimate, AND I would've took it in the pooper on sales tax to boot.

Full 1080, 3 HDMI inputs, BEAUTIFUL picture, with the only negative I've read on the reviews being the bezel is thin, making it where if you put any weight on top of the TV it'll warp the screen. But the top of the screen is so thin anyway, I don't see how you could put anything up there.

Great buy. Dirt cheap. Bitchin' picture. I highly recommend it.

[Frozen Sooner]

I thought the Justice Department put the kibosh on unilateral pricing last year.

[sooneron]

42" would generally be regarded as a little small from that distance.

46 or 50 would be better. Right now we are having a great deal on the Pioneer Pro1150HD for2297.00.
That is awesome.

[85Sooner]

I thought the Justice Department put the kibosh on unilateral pricing last year.

I am sure they all find ways around it/ Bose has done it for decades. (its how we lost bose) THANK GOODNESS

[bluedogok]

I am sure they all find ways around it/ Bose has done it for decades. (its how we lost bose) THANK GOODNESS
Apple and HP have had this practice for years, if you notice the ads they are almost always within about $1.00-2.00 per $100 of value for everything. They control pricing by not offering as much markup on the products as some others and do penalize for going below a certain small threshold. I know that Arai pulled motorcycle and auto racing helmets from online resellers for awhile because of advertising pricing below MSRP. It is a very common practice.

[Frozen Sooner]

I'm aware that it has been a common practice in the past.

My mistake, it wasn't the Justice Department, it was the Supreme Court in Leegin Creative Leather Prods., Inc. v. PSKS, Inc.. Also, I misremembered the verdict: the opinion of the court wasn't that unilateral pricing was per se illegal, only that it must not be anti-competitive in nature or increase monopoly profits. If a retailer really wanted to go after Sony on this one, I bet they could win.

[BigRedJed]

Here's MY FYI for all considering buying a nice HDTV in the near future: avoid Sharp at all costs.

I bought a top-of-the-line Aquos LCD two years ago (beautiful picture, I'll admit), and right after the warranty expired, so did the power supply. $450 dollars later, I had a factory authorized replacement installed (there's only one factory authorized repair center in the metro, and I believe the entire state, BTW). Within a couple of weeks, the new one was going out. Took it back and had it replaced under the part warranty (free, thank goodness). Less than a month later, same thing.

This time, the original replacement part warranty is still good, but the labor warranty has run out. So it will cost me another $160 to have THAT replaced. All in a TV that cost nearly $2500 at the time. Of course, now I could replace it for around $1500.

Currently, I have to go through a routine whereby I turn the cable box on, then the TV, then wait until it tries twice to start itself before an LED starts blinking red. At this point, I have to unplug the set end of the power cord from the set itself, wait a few seconds, plug it back in, and then presto, the TV comes on. Apparently this is a widespread problem with that model Aquos.

:mad:

**** Sharp.

[Mjcpr]

I bought a cheap Westinghouse flat screen for my bedroom....I don't even have HD service to it but I wanted a flat screen TV. Every 4-5 times that I turn it on, it doesn't come on at all and goes through what I can only describe as some kind of "re-boot". But the pic is nice enough. If it stops working, then I might have a problem.

[OU4LIFE]

thanks for adding to the discussion Pat.

[sooneron]

heh

[85Sooner]

I bought a cheap Westinghouse flat screen for my bedroom....I don't even have HD service to it but I wanted a flat screen TV. Every 4-5 times that I turn it on, it doesn't come on at all and goes through what I can only describe as some kind of "re-boot". But the pic is nice enough. If it stops working, then I might have a problem.

Yeah we are starting to see problems with the backlight in some of the Aquas and westinghouse sets.

[JohnnyMack]

Aren't prices being forced down because the technology is struggling to advance?

[85Sooner]

Aren't prices being forced down because the technology is struggling to advance?

Nope, Prices have been forced down due to competition and too wide of a distribution. Places like frys etc.....have been taking premium models and doing one day sales for near cost to get people in and then they make their money off of the addons and endcaps. THat has forced others to follow suit. The Jaanese are not like the chinese, they have a certin pride about their stuff and don't take kindly to their products being sold like that.

Right now our 32" tvs are 699-1200.00 Some of the new models getting ready to come out will be starting out over 2k. Of course they will be 1.5" thick. I know everyone wants to pay more for a thinner tv. NOT

[JohnnyMack]

Nope, Prices have been forced down due to competition and too wide of a distribution. Places like frys etc.....have been taking premium models and doing one day sales for near cost to get people in and then they make their money off of the addons and endcaps. THat has forced others to follow suit. The Jaanese are not like the chinese, they have a certin pride about their stuff and don't take kindly to their products being sold like that.

Right now our 32" tvs are 699-1200.00 Some of the new models getting ready to come out will be starting out over 2k. Of course they will be 1.5" thick. I know everyone wants to pay more for a thinner tv. NOT

Too wide of a distribution? What does that mean?

If they want to net price their product that's their prerogative, but it was OK for them to make money off Best Buy et al to a point but now they have a moral opposition to it? Doesn't make much sense to me.

And competition (in terms of development of the actual hardware) is what I was referring to in regards to technology struggling to advance. Outside of 120hz, what major technological breakthrough have we seen of late in terms of HDTVs?

[OU4LIFE]

what major technological breakthrough have we seen of late in terms of HDTVs?

I'm about to get a breakthrough on my living room wall.

a bing one.

[JohnnyMack]

Kinky.

[OUDoc]

I'm about to get a breakthrough on my living room wall.

a bing one.

That'll look nice.

http://www.radioarchives.org/pictures/Bing%20Crosby%201949.jpg

[Mjcpr]

I agree. We have the one where all the old actors are sitting around the diner.

And the dogs playing poker.

[JohnnyMack]

That'll look nice.

http://www.radioarchives.org/pictures/Bing%20Crosby%201949.jpg

I didn't know they made a Fathead - Gay Line. Leave it to Hairy to find it.

[sooneron]

Too wide of a distribution? What does that mean?

If they want to net price their product that's their prerogative, but it was OK for them to make money off Best Buy et al to a point but now they have a moral opposition to it? Doesn't make much sense to me.

And competition (in terms of development of the actual hardware) is what I was referring to in regards to technology struggling to advance. Outside of 120hz, what major technological breakthrough have we seen of late in terms of HDTVs?

The same thing is going on in the world of clothing . Ralph is tired of Dillard's and the lower end dept stores selling his stuff for next to nothing during their sales. I have heard that they would like to set prices like Tommy Bahama. Not that this is entirely the same thing, but it is.

[JohnnyMack]

The same thing is going on in the world of clothing . Ralph is tired of Dillard's and the lower end dept stores selling his stuff for next to nothing during their sales. I have heard that they would like to set prices like Tommy Bahama. Not that this is entirely the same thing, but it is.

Again, they control their own distribution. I just think them getting all pious about it after the fact is funny. Unless these companies are violating the agreement they entered into in the first place, what do the distributors care? If it's about exclusivity and not making money, then pull the **** off the shelves and sell it yourself or renegotiate your deal. But don't hate on the company you sell your product through for being aggressive in trying to move things.

[OU4LIFE]

I didn't know they made a Fathead - Gay Line. Leave it to Hairy to find it.

you're just mad that you can't sing like Bing, who now has wings. He was the king, you're a ding a ling.

ring.

ping.

[85Sooner]

Too wide of a distribution? What does that mean?

If they want to net price their product that's their prerogative, but it was OK for them to make money off Best Buy et al to a point but now they have a moral opposition to it? Doesn't make much sense to me.

And competition (in terms of development of the actual hardware) is what I was referring to in regards to technology struggling to advance. Outside of 120hz, what major technological breakthrough have we seen of late in terms of HDTVs?

OK Lets say your a major manufacturer. You have had projections on how many of each model you need to produce. So there they are sitting in your warehouses. Now along comes some company that you sell to IE: Frys etc. and they buy the TV and put it at a price that they make no or very little money on it.

Now take into account everyone wants the lowest price thus if Best buy, Circuit city, Us etc.... want to get the business, we have to sell a TV below the level that we can make enough money to stay in business.

Now your rep comes to us for an order. We say, No Thanks on those particular models. Now you can't do anything with your warehouse of electronics. So your stuck, either lower the price where the retailer can sell it and make some money or start protecting your brand.

Nowadays you can buy tvs just about everywhere. Office depot, office max, home depot, lowes, the local grocery store etc..... That is too many to be able to control the management of your product.

Probably won't see much in the way of new technology in the near future. more aesthetics and "thinness".

[85Sooner]

Again, they control their own distribution. I just think them getting all pious about it after the fact is funny. Unless these companies are violating the agreement they entered into in the first place, what do the distributors care? If it's about exclusivity and not making money, then pull the **** off the shelves and sell it yourself or renegotiate your deal. But don't hate on the company you sell your product through for being aggressive in trying to move things.

The pious after the fact is that for that past years, executives for the companies in the US were wheeling and dealing all over the place without regard to the thoughts of their Japanese bosses. Now the Bosses are ****ed and have taken their bargaining rights away from them. Maybe someone here can explain the differences in American vs Japanese corporate thinking.

P.S. that is the one way a little guy can kill an entire market for a certain brand so the manufacturers have to be careful not to **** the little guy off too bad especially if they have alot of advertising dollars. IE; If XYZ corp treats us bad, we can advertise their items at cost, which in turn following the model above kills the market for that brand.

[sooneron]

Yeah, so STFU, Johnny Mack!!
















;)

[JohnnyMack]

The pious after the fact is that for that past years, executives for the companies in the US were wheeling and dealing all over the place without regard to the thoughts of their Japanese bosses. Now the Bosses are ****ed and have taken their bargaining rights away from them. Maybe someone here can explain the differences in American vs Japanese corporate thinking.

P.S. that is the one way a little guy can kill an entire market for a certain brand so the manufacturers have to be careful not to **** the little guy off too bad especially if they have alot of advertising dollars. IE; If XYZ corp treats us bad, we can advertise their items at cost, which in turn following the model above kills the market for that brand.

So you contend that the U.S. execs acted without their higher ups in Japan noticing what was going on? I call shenanigans.

This is simply the Wal-Mart-ization of the electronics industry. The Big Box retailers have taken the Wal-Mart playbook and are running with it. As someone who spent a good deal of time and money buying my stuff from places like K-Labs and Phonograph here in Tulsa I hate that it's happening, but the little guy is going to lose this war. The guys at the Phonograph realized this years ago and shut down their retail front and are now doing installs / new construction almost exclusively. They simply couldn't compete on the buying end. They couldn't buy in the quantity necessary to get the attention of the larger producers of electronics. Smaller boutique stores will continue to thrive as there will be enough early adopters and people who have the cash to spend on McIntosh tube amps and Paradigm Reference speakers, but in general, the big box stores will wrestle control of the mainstream electronics away from smaller guys like you. It's the new American way. God Bless America? I got nuthin'.

[85Sooner]

Klabs and phonograch did not have a half million plus advertising budget. The Japanese execs are far different for the chinese from what I have heard from our manufacturers. Keep in mind many of the speaker and electronic manufacturers in the sound end of the electronics world have managed to protect their products very well and it seems many of the TV manufacturers are going to go two ways. Mass distribution for lower quality stuff to wal mart etc...... and keep their nicer products protected. Now, that said, we will see how it will pan out.

[BudSooner]

Well that sucks.

[OU4LIFE]

Not really, just buy one up before June 1st.

that's my plan anyway.

[Mixer!]

So where's the demarcation line between the better models and lesser models? (e.g. Wal-Mart offers more models online than what they carry in their brick & mortar locations.)

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Not really, just buy one up before June 1st.

that's my plan anyway.

Or buy a different brand

[OU4LIFE]

I don't think it will be just one manufacturer, especially if it works.

[frankensooner]

With the way the high-end stuff seems to blow up two or three years out, I am considering going low-end from now on! ;)

[stoops the eternal pimp]

My thinking is that Sony has been able to sell their products at a higher price for years and so its not so much a big deal for them. But I doubt that the others will go that route especially since their selling points are that they are much less expensive than the power brands