Home cinema - Is this a good time to buy DLP/LCD?

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- - Is this a good time to buy DLP/LCD? (http://www.homecinemabanter.com/showthread.php?t=8408)

"Steve" wrote in news:[email protected]:

If you have to finance a TV you don't need it. Debt is for homes,
maybe a car or medical emergencies. Anything beyond that is for
losers.

I have the money now, but why not take advantage of the opportunity to
pay over 24-months with no interest? Seems like a more wise use of
finances to me, everything else being equal.

First it goes against your credit line. Second you must be approved for
credit to get 0%. Only people with great credit scores will get
approved for this 0% interest plan. Now keep in mind if you have bad
credit, you'll NEVER EVER see 0% interest for two years. You must apply
for credit from the store, just like getting a credit card. If you get
turned down for credit cards, you'll get turned down from Tweeters they
run the same credit report on you that the credit card companies do.
The next catch is you better read the fine print associated with that
contract. Nearly all stores with "No interest payments until..." ads
have fine print that says this: "If the item is not paid off in the
alloted time, interest will accrue from the date of delivery." That
interest rate is usually 21-25% APR! Let's face it if you don't have the
money to pay for that item today and you're swimming in debt, it's
highly unlikely you'll pay it off in the alloted time. So if you don't,
you'll get slammed with 21% interest, not the free 0% interest you
thought you were going to get. So if you sign up to this, you better
make sure you can pay this off in 23 months. Notice I said 23 months
instead of 24, so they cannot try to claim you sent in your twentyfourth
payment late! Don't lie about your credit either, because they do run
your credit report. Make sure you get your own credit report before you
apply for credit so you can clean up any issues or errors on your credit
file.

Third, a TV is about the last thing you have to have in this world. Save
your credit for more worthy things in life. People in this country are
swimming in debt, pay day is coming soon for many of them.

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 19:51:45 GMT, LivingReminder
wrote:

"Steve" wrote in news:[email protected]:

If you have to finance a TV you don't need it. Debt is for homes,
maybe a car or medical emergencies. Anything beyond that is for
losers.

I have the money now, but why not take advantage of the opportunity to
pay over 24-months with no interest? Seems like a more wise use of
finances to me, everything else being equal.

First it goes against your credit line. Second you must be approved for
credit to get 0%. Only people with great credit scores will get
approved for this 0% interest plan. Now keep in mind if you have bad
credit, you'll NEVER EVER see 0% interest for two years. You must apply
for credit from the store, just like getting a credit card. If you get
turned down for credit cards, you'll get turned down from Tweeters they
run the same credit report on you that the credit card companies do.
The next catch is you better read the fine print associated with that
contract. Nearly all stores with "No interest payments until..." ads
have fine print that says this: "If the item is not paid off in the
alloted time, interest will accrue from the date of delivery." That
interest rate is usually 21-25% APR! Let's face it if you don't have the
money to pay for that item today and you're swimming in debt, it's
highly unlikely you'll pay it off in the alloted time.

Why do you assume that people that wish to take advantage of zero
interest are "swimming in dept?" If you pay the same for the item as
you could have gotten it in cash it can be an excellent deal for the
consumer. Stores offer this to generate sales and to reduce the
interest they pay to carry the items in their stores. Do you think
that all that stuff that you see at Circuit City is already paid for?
CC is paying interest to stock their stores. There is nothing wrong
with the careful use of debt.
Thumper

So if you don't,
you'll get slammed with 21% interest, not the free 0% interest you
thought you were going to get. So if you sign up to this, you better
make sure you can pay this off in 23 months. Notice I said 23 months
instead of 24, so they cannot try to claim you sent in your twentyfourth
payment late! Don't lie about your credit either, because they do run
your credit report. Make sure you get your own credit report before you
apply for credit so you can clean up any issues or errors on your credit
file.

Third, a TV is about the last thing you have to have in this world. Save
your credit for more worthy things in life. People in this country are
swimming in debt, pay day is coming soon for many of them.

To reply drop XYZ in address

You make some good points, especially the need to pay the entire balance
before the special interest rate expiration date. However, I have excellent
credit and already have a Tweeter card--so there's nothing to apply for.

Steve wrote:

What about the EDTVs they are promoting at the stores? What are they?

Marketing.

Matthew

--
Thermodynamics and/or Golf for dummies: There is a game
You can't win
You can't break even
You can't get out of the game

LivingReminder wrote:
"Steve" wrote in news:[email protected]:

If you have to finance a TV you don't need it. Debt is for homes,
maybe a car or medical emergencies. Anything beyond that is for
losers.

I have the money now, but why not take advantage of the opportunity
to pay over 24-months with no interest? Seems like a more wise use of
finances to me, everything else being equal.

First it goes against your credit line.

Big whup. Any idea how easy it is to get credit? I could get a scary amount
of credit within an hour or so.

Second you must be approved
for credit to get 0%.

No ****? They're not just handing this out like cash in the welfare line?

Only people with great credit scores will get
approved for this 0% interest plan. Now keep in mind if you have bad
credit, you'll NEVER EVER see 0% interest for two years. You must
apply for credit from the store, just like getting a credit card. If
you get turned down for credit cards, you'll get turned down from
Tweeters they run the same credit report on you that the credit card
companies do.

Again, no ****? That's not much of a problem for those of us that have
something of a financial plan.

The next catch is you better read the fine print
associated with that contract. Nearly all stores with "No interest
payments until..." ads have fine print that says this: "If the item
is not paid off in the alloted time, interest will accrue from the
date of delivery." That interest rate is usually 21-25% APR!

That's why you pay it off in the allotted timeframe, moron. Anyway,
Mitsubish doesn't do it like that, IIRC. They only charge interest for the
balance after the promotion period.

Let's
face it if you don't have the money to pay for that item today and
you're swimming in debt, it's highly unlikely you'll pay it off in
the alloted time. So if you don't, you'll get slammed with 21%
interest, not the free 0% interest you thought you were going to get.
So if you sign up to this, you better make sure you can pay this off
in 23 months. Notice I said 23 months instead of 24, so they cannot
try to claim you sent in your twentyfourth payment late!

There's no reason to assume that someone that takes advantage of thousands
of dollars in free money for several years is "swimming in debt".

Don't lie
about your credit either, because they do run your credit report.
Make sure you get your own credit report before you apply for credit
so you can clean up any issues or errors on your credit file.

No ****? I can't just ask for this line of credit? You trying to tell me
that they're going to actually *check* to see if I have a history of bad
financial decisions before they let me charge thousands of dollars?

Third, a TV is about the last thing you have to have in this world.
Save your credit for more worthy things in life. People in this
country are swimming in debt, pay day is coming soon for many of them.

Sounds to me like you got denied for the top tier credit program. Growing
up, I was taught that credit cards were to be feared and that the only thing
you should get a loan on was a house and maybe a car. I learned on my own
how to use other people's money for free while I invested my own, earning a
higher percentage on my money and paying a lower percentage on theirs. Would
you believe that it can actually be advantageous to take out a cash advance
on a credit card? Any idea how banks *really* work, lending your money out
and borrowing from other banks?

Anyway, I guess the point is that the only idiots here are the ones that
have ruined their credit to the point that they can't get approved for deals
like this that cost them nothing to use someone else's money for years at a
time.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

BTW, there is no such thing as "edtv". Just Sdtv and hdtv. Both the
480's are 'standard", and 720 and 1080 are considered HD.

What about the EDTVs they are promoting at the stores? What are they?

Extended Definition (EDTV) is slang for 480p wide screen....

High Definition (HDTV) is 720p wide OR 1080i wide screen.....

where p is Progressive (Full frame every 1/60th second)

where i is Interlaced ([odd or even] Half frame every 1/60th second)

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 17:53:01 GMT, Steve wrote:
I think you're dead wrong about digital tv NOT being more established in 5
years. I wouldnt be at all surprised if Congress mandated 2007 or 2008 for
the death of analog broadcasting. They want that spectrum back and the
dollars it will bring at auction! Their formula didn't work for 2006, so
they will change the formula.

I hope you are right. I based my comment on an article I came across a few
days ago at http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/1...ness/49828.htm.
It made the comment: "..."There's not a prayer" that deadline will be met,
Leichtman said. "Unless the government forces consumers to pay tens of
billions for new television sets, it won't happen until 2009 at the
earliest. They (Congress and the FCC) are going to have to rethink this
because there are 300 million television sets out there. While we expect the
digital sales to take off, it will take awhile before we have 20 to 25
million households."

A new TV is not "necessary" to get digital reception, just a set top box.
So people do not necessarily need to spend 10X or more than they did for
their previous TV if it is not worn out yet. Although, they may wish for
a new one as more content is either distorted or letterboxed on a 4:3
screen.

Also I think they were originally only counting broadcast users in
percentages. If they count cable/satellite users, they can reach their
percentage of digital users sooner. I don't know how they guestimate
percentages though. How would they know that I have an OTA digital tuner
or HDTV?

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 19:12:09 -0600, Dennis Mayer
wrote:

BTW, there is no such thing as "edtv". Just Sdtv and hdtv. Both the
480's are 'standard", and 720 and 1080 are considered HD.

What about the EDTVs they are promoting at the stores? What are they?

Extended Definition (EDTV) is slang for 480p wide screen....

Which is what most people want in a non-HDTV set.
Progressive scan capability and widescreen format for DVDs.
Decent picture for analog cable TV.

Not everyone cares about HDTV football and network primetime schlock
and commercials.

If you are asking from a technical point of view, no. The new backlit
ultra bright LEDs will be much longer lasting and cheaper to operate
than the present $300 light bulb. The chips themselves will get
better. OTOH, as others will no doubt repeat, you can wait forever for
never ending technical improvements. I think those two however ustify
a small delay.

If you are asking about price, keep in mind your government has
"stolen" about 30% of your purchasing power from your bank account as
the euro, among other currencies, has gone from 82 cents to $1.33. The
US powers that be intend to let the dollar fall another 20 cents or
so, and it could free fall out of control, rendering imports - and all
offshore products become too expensive to buy. OTOH, there will be
small decrements in prices due to mass production. On another hand,
buy it now with a mortgage and pay it off in depreciated dollars.

Or on the rest of your hands, if you just want one, its the right
time to buy it.

Dave

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 04:41:06 GMT, "Steve" wrote:

Just got back from checking out DLP and LCD TVs as a local higher-end
electronics store--Tweeter. They have 24-months no-interest financing--as
well as good prices (as low as CC and BB)--through the end of the weekend.

I'm wondering if this is a good time to buy. While no one knows for sure,
what is the general consensus on pricing and financing? Will prices drop
further before Christmas or perhaps soon afterward? Or are prices likely to
stay where they are? In either case, are inventories likely to be depleted?
Also, are these extended finance specials likely to continue or will they
disappear as Christmas approaches?

Naturally, the salespeople tell you that neither the price nor the financing
will be this low again any time soon. The truth is probably somewhere in the
middle. What do you think?

The salesperson I spoke said he thinks LCD and DLP prices will drop as
plasma becomes more affordable. It's his opinion, however, that this won't
affect DLP and LCD prices any time soon.