Debt Free

Here's why I said to hold off on flat screen TV purchases for a while. According to industry insiders, here are some of the deals that will be offered for the day after Thanksgiving sales. Now, some of these units are definitely not the best. In fact, they are pretty much the bottom of the barrel. Others, however are pretty screamin' good deals. To top it off, prices could get even better by the end of the year. With flat panel TVs, you usually want the latest model, because performance is making substantial leaps with each successive generation. For the privilege of the increased performance you end up paying the same as, or less than, the preceding model.

Here is what I've found for the specials next week. In the retail & consumer electronics industry, the day after TDay is known as “Black Friday” Here's why:

NOTE: These sale prices are UNVERIFIED and just rumors, albiet from knowledgeable sources.

Circuit City:
Olevia 32-inch LCD HDTV -- $499 - Good deal, pretty decent TV
Normal price: $854

Panasonic 52-inch LCD Projection -- $999 - I'm not a big fan of LCD RPTVs, but this is alot of Normal price: $1,699                        screen size for the money.


Polaroid 40-inch LCD HDTV -- $999
Normal price: $1,599

Best Buy:
Westinghouse 42-inch LCD HDTV -- $999
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Toshiba 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1,699 - Good deal, good TV
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Sam's Club:
Philips 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1,898 - Good deal, good TV
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Comp USA:
Olevia 32-inch LCD HDTV -- $549.99
Normal price: $699

Panasonic 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $2,499 - Good Deal, Great TV
Normal price: $2,999

Sears:
Toshiba 42-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1199 - Very good deal, really good TV
Normal price: $1,999

My ratings apply as long as the TVs are not some loss leader, stripper models, but at least the Toshiba and Panasonic models are probably not. New flat panel TV models will be shown soon at the Consumer Electronics Show, the consumer electronics industry trade show held early every January in Las Vegas. In recent years, the trade show dedicated to the custom electronics installation industry, the CEDIA Expo, held in September, has had some TV introductions as well.

So, if you want to surprise the family for Christmas and blow through a wee bit of your hard earned savings, you've never been able to get as much for your hard earned entertainment dollar as you can now.