Now's the worst time in history to buy a new TV

Wilynn · May 17, 2008

I have an old school CRT television made in 1995. I'm remodeling my place and it's time to buy a new tv. When buying a new television the question used to be do you buy a new plasma tv or a new LCD tv, which one? Decisions, decisions! But now that large screen OLED tv's are about a year from being marketed (not the small 11 inch screen you can run out and buy today) buying a new plasma or a new LCD tv doesn't make a bit of sense.

A year or two from now you won't be able to give a plasma/LCD tv away to a homeless person. They might feel insulted. So it looks as if I'll have to keep watching my old CRT tv for at least another year or, worse, longer.

If you're wondering what an OLED tv is, to summarize: they are much thinner than an LCD/plasma tv, aproximately 3mm, with a much better quality of picture. OLED screens are brighter than LCD panels and also have better contrast ratio - resulting in sharper pictures. Oy vey! Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-emitting_diode

Rhys · May 17, 2008

Best time to get an LCD TV is next year then - when the new technology comes online and drives the prices through the floor.

It'll be a few years before OLED come down to a sensible price though. Plus you never want new technology until all the issues have been resolved.

lostprophet · May 17, 2008

The 9th century wasn't a good time to buy one either what with all the power cuts and low exchange rate on goats

Corry · May 17, 2008

Who has time for TV anyway?

Wilynn · May 17, 2008

Rhys said:
Best time to get an LCD TV is next year then - when the new technology comes online and drives the prices through the floor.

Excellent point.

Rhys · May 17, 2008

And the TV we're watching Raiders of the Lost Parka on at the moment is the one my wife had when she lived in Alaska. She's been back from Alaska for more than 10 years. It's old and it's CRT. It works so why upgrade?

Wilynn · May 17, 2008

Rhys said:
It'll be a few years before OLED come down to a sensible price though. Plus you never want new technology until all the issues have been resolved.

Maybe, sounds plausible on the surface, and that's very sound reasoning. But when it comes to OLED tv's I can't buy into 100% of that theory. Not when we consider that the picture of the Samsung 40 inch OLED pictured below was taken in 2005.

Rhys · May 17, 2008

I buy on price. My wife wants an LCD TV but over the months she's wanted one they have dropped from $1400 to about $800. I reckon wait until next year and they'll be $200ish.

Garbz · May 17, 2008

Wilynn now's the best time to buy a tv. If you buy a toshiba you get a free HD-DVD player :thumbup:

Oh wait....

Either way that supposed picture from 2005 I find very questionable. Working in a photonics lab at uni my thesis advisor is heavily ontop of all this research, and the problem of making a blue OLED that was actually blue and even remotely as bright as the red and green was only fixed early last year by sony which is why only now the OLED screens are being properly marketed at the trade shows.

So they get released to mass next year. They will be unaffordably expensive for a year, they will suffer any number of bugs for about a year and a half (what technology wasn't).

If I were you I'd buy a TV now. In 4 years the OLEDs will be reasonable and mainstream and they may even have the rotting problems solved which gives those TVs such a short lifespan. Short even compared to plasma.

nealjpage · May 17, 2008

Corry said:
Who has time for TV anyway?

I do!

But I use a hand-me-down tube television without cable. And I get two channels: FOX and Jesus. And even those'll be gone come February with the new digital changeover crap. :x

Rhys · May 17, 2008

nealjpage said:
I do!

But I use a hand-me-down tube television without cable. And I get two channels: FOX and Jesus. And even those'll be gone come February with the new digital changeover crap. :x

No great loss, IMHO.

nealjpage · May 18, 2008

Rhys said:
No great loss, IMHO.

Well, it's not a HUGE loss, but I'll miss The Simpsons. Plus, if I had a better antenna now I might get the Big 3 networks.

Alex_B · May 18, 2008

MY current TV is also from the 90ies, and I will keep it until it breaks since at the moment there is so much nre tefchnology, which will get much cheaper ion coming years.

Rhys · May 18, 2008

Alex_B said:
MY current TV is also from the 90ies, and I will keep it until it breaks since at the moment there is so much nre tefchnology, which will get much cheaper ion coming years.

Exactly. My business model is - I wait for the dSLR I'm using to break then buy the cheapest Canon dSLR I can find new and use that. So... if I were to buy now I'd probably get a 30D for about $800. Next year it'd be the 40D for about $800. If I were to get an amateur dSLR then now's a great time to buy the XT.

Alex_B · May 18, 2008

Rhys said:
Exactly. My business model is - I wait for the dSLR I'm using to break then buy the cheapest Canon dSLR I can find new and use that. So... if I were to buy now I'd probably get a 30D for about $800. Next year it'd be the 40D for about $800. If I were to get an amateur dSLR then now's a great time to buy the XT.

I so much wish I was like you with respect to photographic gear

Unfortunately I am always tempted to update there