How to buy a discounted LCD TV?

Due to the increasing popularity of LCD TVs, the cost is dropping & there is now more opportunity for you, the consumer, to find a bargain.

There are still numerous things to take into consideration when buying your new LCD TV, and there are features that you must never scrimp on, but there are deals to be found, and here’s what to do to find them;

Picture quality is something that you must take very seriously when buying your television & never consider compromising on. Great picture is why you want to upgrade from your old CRT TV in the first place, now isn’t it?!

Colour rendition is so obviously important due to the fact that correct colour information reproduces images as the show director intended. Have you ever seen a picture with oversaturated colour information? In this case, colour in images appears psychedelic and unnatural. What we want with colour reproduction is natural realistic flesh tones, blues, greens and reds.

Viewing Angle is very important because viewers are not always seated directly in front of the television. With many discount second tier manufactured LCD TVs – off angle viewing is compromised and this causes a decrease in contrast which makes the picture appear hazy, reduces black levels, and generally degrades the picture image.

Deep Black Levels are critical for creating colours that pop and appear vibrant and realistic.

Poor Dark Shadow Detail, when this happens, the dark grey or dark coloured image material often turns to black. This decreases all those levels of grey that are supposed to appear in the picture to create detail in shades of colour.

Other things to look out for are;

Appearance. You don’t want to buy something that you aren’t going to like or that won’t fit into your home décor, you will only regret this in the end.

Audio Quality. Having a muffled sound and/or not being able to understand what the people are saying in your favourite movie will quickly become old. Audio is extremely important, especially when watching Top Gun with THX sound, there nothing like the feeling of fighter planes right in your living room.

Input capability. What will you be hooking up to your new television? DVD? Surround sound? Video games? Make sure that the LCD you choose can easily & efficiently accommodate all of your entertainment equipment.

Now that you know where you can & can’t pinch your pennies, we can move on to what else to look for & where to look.

1. When looking for a deal, make sure that you have the time to shop around. Don’t just visit one store & think that because they have a “Super Sale” going on that that will be your best deal. If one store has a sale going on, you can bet that the competition has one as well.

2. Take a look at the retailers that have a price match guarantee. Many places have a policy to match and beat the competitions price; this is a fantastic way to get an even cheaper price than the sale price.

3. Take a look on line, but be sure to use a reputable site if you plan to purchase this way. The Internet often has the best deals on electronics & at the right time of year, shipping is often free. Having said that, make sure that the shipping costs are included before putting down the credit card or you could find yourself paying a hefty delivery fee.

4. Know the return policy before buying. Any good retailer, on or off line, will take back your television, no questions asked, within 30 days. If they do not have this policy, I would recommend that you keep searching.

5. One last thing to take a look at is an extended warranty. Since you have saved so much on the actual price of your LCD TV, this might be somewhere that you will want to invest a little. Extended warranties offer a longer period of repair costs being covered, as well as some added coverage.

Go over all of your options before purchasing, doing this will ensure that you are satisfied with your new addition.