Advice on buying TVs- what additional services should l pay for?

Question

'l priced a 22'' inch Samsung hi-def for $550 and a 26" inch for $700.- That's $1150 + 7% tax = $1230.

The total bill- with discounts galore came to $2423.20

This includes $200 for 4 year extended warrantees, 2 cables @ $80 each and 2 power centers @ $30 each, in-home delivery plus take away $80-

And 2 installations/calibrations @ $300 each.

This is Best Buys-

we know nothing about any of this or how to do it, or what's necessary, but our wallets are thin and double the price of the sets to get them working seems ridiculous.

What's best to do? Thanks for knowledgeable replies

Answer 1

First off, Best Buy's so-called "geek squad" is a rip off.  $600(!?) for "installation and calibration"?  That's more than what your TV cost!

Extended warranties are a waste of money.  If something will break on the TV, it'll usually be within the first few weeks.  After that, barring any disaster or mistreatment, you shouldn't have any problems for years - at least much longer than the 4 years they're offering.

Do not buy cables from Best Buy.  They only sell Monster, which is over priced, and in some cases, under performing.

If you have a Frys or a generic electronics store near you, you can get 6' HDMI cables for $8-10 EACH and they're just as good (if not better) than Monster.  Same with the so-called power centers.  A good quality power strip is all you really need and those are cheaper than $30 a piece.

Connecting everything up isn't really that hard to do yourself, and even calibration can be done with a single DVD and about 15 minutes of your time.

If you like the TVs and think the prices are OK, go ahead and get those from Best Buy, don't get the warranties, and buy  the cables from elsewhere.

Your new HDTVs,  may need some new cables.  For instance, if you have a DVD player, you'll definitely want to use a set of component video cables so the DVD player can use progressive scan (this gives you a much better picture.)  If you get an upscaling DVD player or a blu-ray player, you'll want a HDMI cable.

For calibration, get a DVD titled "Home theater essentials" or  something similar to that.  There's 2 or 3 different DVDs like this, but they all contain the same material.  These DVDs contain a series of video tests you can perform with your TVs to adjust their color, brightness and contrast settings properly, as well as some tests to help make sure your surround sound system (if you have one) is set up properly.

It really isn't that complicate to set all this up.  But if you still feel overwhelmed, keep posting questions here, or message me personally.  Also, if you have a friend who you think knows about this stuff, just get him to help you.  I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help set everything up in exchange for a nice dinner - and that's tons cheaper than paying Best Buy $600 to plug in some cables and put the batteries in your remote!

Answer 2

The other guy is correct about the hdmi cables---ebay $20-$30.  Never think about a calibration again.  If the TV wasn't calibrated at the factory then why buy it?  Any calibration that ANY of these lcd's need are in the customer menu----contrast, brightness, color and sharpness.  There are other features on some sets that I prefer to leave off for the most part.

Answer 3

STOP!!

Get the TVs and the .....well I WAS going to suggest the warrantys, but get it on the $700 one  ONLY...

DON'T get the cables....

http://www.monoprice.com

Don't get the power centers.....

Don't get the IN HOME Delivery, and setup and FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T do a calibration on an LCD TV SET !!!

And just break down the old TV set into pieces and save $80.00 too....put it in the trash can like they will....or I do.

Boy, they really Greased your Azz up with their Ooeey Gooey SALES PITCH didn't they ?!

Ooooooooh you NEED these POWER CENTERS....aren't they pretty?  And these Pretty pretty cables toooooo.....and you need  it......

Cal  --- IH ---- Brated     toooooooo....

You don't need any of that!!  I wouldn't sell it to you, because it doesn't NEED it....

And don't worry, you  can change your mind BEFORE DELIVERY....

So get on it.

And if you need to know why, just E-Mail me and I'll give you MORE DETAILS....

I just LOVE those slickster salesmen....they tried that on me, and when I said NO....they just oozed "scare tactics" out of their slimy pie-holes.....

And then, when I told them I was a service tech for their Warranty Contractor.....they did a little "monkey dance"  trying to back out of what they said.....

Dance Monkey Dance !!

It was the BEST Time I have ever had, watching those guys back out of their scare tactics !

"Humina humina humina, Welluh welluh welluh....You shoulda SAID you worked for NEW !"

I didn't.....and they shouldn't....

Answer 4

Please do not be fooled into buying those Monster HDMI cables that they're selling you at $80.00 a piece. Since HDMI is a digital connection...it's either on...or off, no in between. There will be absolutely no difference in picture quality or sound quality with a cheap $10 cable. (unless you need one that's 25ft+ in which case I would buy the expensive cable since their signal strength is usually higher). Check monoprice.com for those HDMI cables....that saves you $150.00 right there. The installation and calibration really is not needed, HDTVs are rather simple to install...and you can find tons of calibration tips online which you can do yourself, OR you can buy calibration DVDs for like $20...so...that's another $550.00 in savings...already it's $700 of stuff you dont' need. Best Buy will try to sell you the entire store, do not bite. You don't need certain things. Feel free to e-mail if you have any questions! I've helped a lot of people with similar stuff.

Answer 5

Listen to Wowbango; he's got it right. You do NOT need the expensive HDMI cables to transmit digital signals! You do NOT need the calibration services. What a waste! I see other BB employees on this site pushing the calibration as well!