TV dilemma - cheaper before Xmas, or after?

sunshinesadly

Hi all,

I've got my eye on a panasonic viera TV on Amazon. It's a Which best buy and Amazon is the cheapest place to get it right now.

My dilemma is this: to buy now or wait until just after Xmas. Are prices likely to go up or down? My concern is that the price will go up after Xmas. I don't need it for Xmas by the way.

Any thoughts or advice please?

Many thanks :T

Matt.D

In the same position. Looking to buy my Grandmother a new 26" LCD TV, prefferably with a 5 year warranty (so that's John Lewis or Panasonic) and I'm thinking the best bet is to wait until after xmas, but before Jan 1st (VAT rise). Last year I was looking through loads of web sites with my father-in-law when they were looking for a new TV. Argos, Curries, Comet, John Lewis ect. ect. had several full page and double page adverts with slashed prices, so I'm tempted to wait it out and see what deals are around.

sunshinesadly

Oooh, the VAT increase! I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. So we need to buy before 31st December definitely.

romeo47

I,like you am in the same boat.
Going giddy looking at panasonic plasma tv's, do i commit, don't i ????
I find it incredibly hard to justify spending £600 plus on a tv.
After a 1080 with a minimum of 42" screen and at least 100hz.
What's all that about???
I'm also dubious about buying at the moment because manufacturers will start rolling out the new 3-D lines next year, so in my opinion, whats hot now won't be for very long, they will be wanting to push the 3-D.
Good luck to all and festive greetings :beer:

Matt.D

3D? As in 3D specs? Or am I completely wide of the mark

Princess_Vix

I work in an electrical shop and in my experience this is the general rule - SMALL TV's (like what you would buy for a kid's room) are cheaper BEFORE Christmas but BIG TV's are cheaper AFTER Christmas. To get the best deals though you really need to be there first thing on Boxing Day as generally the really, really good deals sell out by about 3pm!
If you've seen it cheaper on the internet it's always worth printing the page out and taking it into the store, I work for a company that 'doesn't price match the internet' but we nearly always do!
And as someone has already mentioned - definitely buy before the VAT increase!
Hope this helps
xxx

sunshinesadly

Thanks for your posting Princess Vix. Let me quiz you a bit! What does small and big mean in the context of TVs???!!! I'm looking at either a 26" or 32". Am I right in thinking that's small?

Will probably not be buying from a shop as I just hate crowds and shopping. Even a trip to Richer Sounds is fairly traumatic! Will be buying on the internet or if feeling brave from Richer Sounds if they stock the Panasonic Viera model I'm after (good thought, I haven't checked that).

:j

Rev

I was in the same position last year, and after much umming and ahhing I went to richer sound and got a TV on december 23rd. 5 year warranty costs 10% of price, so not rip off like pc world, currys etc.

The way I looked at it was, technology moves so fast with new upgrades/versions released so quickly these days that whenever you buy the tv, it's going to be cheaper in a month. Yes, it'll irk if/when you see it cheaper in January, but if you wait till January, it'll be cheaper again in the easter sale, and so on and so on.

pete323

Yeh whatever happens you know it`s going to go down just after you buy it,But lmfao when it actually goes up before you buy it.This happened once to me,Waited too long and price went back up

Wirral_guy

Can I echo Rev above. Have a look at the prices on Richer sounds. Whilst they are not always the cheapest, sometimes they will pricematch but where they do score is that the 5 year warranty is only 10% of the purchase price which very often makes them cheaper overall. On a £600 TV that works out at £60 which is way way less than most other stores and it's quite comprehensive.

HTH

Dave

sunshinesadly

Quick question - is it really necessary to take out a 5 year warranty on a TV. I'd expect a TV to last 5 years anyway.