Super Bowl HDTV sales may not be spectacular, but great deals abound

Along with the usual fare of chicken wings, chips and guacamole, some of this week’s Super Bowl viewers may swallowing a dish less satisfying: regret, for bypassing incredible Black Friday HDTV deals with the thought that Super Bowl “specials” would yield even greater savings. Based on our informal surveys of retailer circulars and online advertising, many dealers — whose third-quarter profits took a hit when flat-panel prices fell faster than the playoff hopes of Detroit Lions fans — are attempting to hold the line during this key TV buying time, and are instead offering more deals on “bundled” systems that pair a big-screen TV purchase with installation, a surround-sound system, a DirecTV installation or upgrade, or even a high-def DVD player. The good news is that while HDTV prices, in general, have stabilized since Black Friday (and in some cases, such as with Panasonic’s popular TH-42PX60U, pictured, have actually risen), they haven’t climbed back up to pre-Black Friday levels. That means there are any number of great deals available, but we're not seeing the same kind of dramatic, one-week price drops that occurred back in November, when a perfect-storm combination of manufacturers grabbing for market share and predatory retail competition resulted in shocking price cuts.

Certainly, interest in watching the Super Bowl in all its high-def glory remains high. The National Retail Federation, for example, recently cited a report by market research firm BigResearch that said interest in HDTV is higher for this year’s game than it was a year ago, when 1.7 million people said they were looking to buy a high-def set. And the Consumer Electronics Association’s recent “Inside the Mind of an HD Sports Fan” survey showed that nearly 50% of sports fans purchased an HDTV for a specific sporting event, with the Super Bowl being cited twice as often as any other sporting event as the reason for buying. The CEA predicts that about 16 million HDTVs will be sold this year, up from 13.5 million in 2006. One additional attraction: CBS will be using 47 HD cameras for its broadcast, meaning that many of us at home will have a better view than those watching the game through binoculars from the nosebleed seats.

While the Super Bowl hasn’t generated the kind of feeding frenzy we saw during the Black Friday buying, prices are down significantly since last year’s event. Research firm iSupply, for example, says that key HDTV price points for the Super Bowl this year are:

• $2,000 for 56-inch rear-projection DLP HDTVs
• $2,500 for a 50-inch HD plasma (after rebate)
• $1,000 for a 42-inch HD plasma
• $1,500 for a 42-inch 1080p HD LCD
• $600 (or less) for a 32-inch HD LCD

While price cuts have certainly been made, some dealers — and manufacturers — are instead serving up bundle deals that offer savings for multiple purchases. For example, Toshiba has a $200 instant Super Bowl rebate for those buying a Toshiba HDTV 40 inches and larger along with one of its HD DVD high-def DVD players. This week, Best Buy is offering a $300 instant savings for those purchasing any HDTV 37 inches and above, and who sign-up for or upgrade DirecTV service. Those buying a JVC D-ILA projection TV can get a free stand, and a $100-off deal is available on Samsung TVs 40 inches and above when purchased with Magnolia “premium” home-theater installation. The chain also has a very long “no interest” program — it runs until January 2010 — for TVs priced $999 and above. Straight deals include a 50-inch Toshiba plasma (50HP66) for $1,699, a $999 42-inch Westinghouse 720p LCD (W4207) and a Maxent 42-inch plasma (42HPM20) for $999.

Circuit City is offering the same DirecTV purchase/upgrade deal, except the HDTV needs to be just 30 inches or larger. The company is also offering a Panasonic bundle that packages the company’s 50-inch TH-50PX60U 50-inch plasma with a 5.1-channel 5-disc DVD home theater system for a combined price of $2,499. You can also get “up to 10 percent” on all TVs $499 and above, and with no interest for 24 months. Promotionally priced sets include a $999 42-inch Sylvania (a brand now used by manufacturer SVA) plasma TV, and a $1,499 (after $200 mail-in rebate) 50-inch Vizio plasma (P50HDTV10A). Panasonic’s ever-popular TH50PX60U is $1,999.

In addition to offering the same Panasonic 50-inch plasma for $1,999 (after $800 instant savings), and 42-inch Sylvania plasma (6842PF) for $999, Sears seemed to have great deals on two other plasmas: a 42-inch Samsung and a 42-inch Panasonic, both for $1,299. However, on closer inspection we noticed these were EDTVs, not HDTV, models. Better deals included a Hitachi 55-inch plasma (55HDS69), for $2,299 – the set is one of the company’s unique “1080” (1024 x 1080i) models -- and a 46-inch Sony 1080p LCD (KDL-46S2010) for $1,999. The retailer has a no-interest program until February 2009 on all total electronics purchases over $799, and offers a $300 Sears gift card when you buy a Sony HDTV 40 inches or larger with a Sony home theater system.

While Wal-Mart didn’t shock the industry the way it did several weeks prior to Black Friday when it offered a blow-out price of $1,294 on Panasonic’s TH-42PX60U model (which had been selling almost everywhere for $1,799) and the industry’s first sub-$1,000 42-inch plasma, the chain’s website has several great deals for the Super Bowl. Examples include a 42-inch Hitachi plasma for $1,248 (42HDM12A), and a 50-inch Akai (PDP5073M) plasma for $1,694. A Panasonic 42-inch plasma (model TH-42PX6U, which may be a derivative of the 60U designated for mass-market and warehouse club channels) is priced at $1,497, while a 50-inch sibling (TH-50PX60U) is $2,398, almost $400 more than at Circuit. We also saw a 47-inch 1080p LCD, from a company called Eye-Fi (!), for $1,898.

Over at Costco, the club had the 42- and 50-inch Panasonic plasmas for $1,599 (TH-42PX6U) and $1,999 (TH-50PX6U), with another 42-inch Panasonic model (TH-42PH9UK) for $1,299. The store had sub-$1,000 prices for 42-inch plasmas from Maxent (referred to only as a “Thunder Panel”) and Envision (A42HD84), as well as a 50-inch Vizio (P50HDTV) for $1,699. LCD deals included a 37-inch Envision 768p model (X37SV-Kimodo) for $799, a 42-inch 768p Philips LCD (no model given) for $1,299, and a 42-inch Sceptre 1080p LCD TV (X42GV-NAGA) for $1,299.

For those thinking they missed out on great Black Friday deals, take heart: the TVs are now almost just as cheap. It's just that with prices settling into new low every-day levels, the cuts that are being made just don’t seem as dramatic.

—James K. Willcox

Comments

[DBM]

Most pre-2005 models apparently don't have HDCP and supposedly half the sets since then have the copy-protection implemented. There are third party plug-in devices that will allow you to play HDCP content on non-compliant displays. Also, you can still playback on component Hi-Def cabling (1080i resolution). However, if viewers are unable to watch HD 1080p content on their brand new $1~2K TVs then the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD camps are going to have a handfull of disks that they cannot sell since no will want them.

[jake]

Consumer Reports has just told everyone interested in buying an HDTV everything about HDMI, models, cables,etc.

But it has forgotten to tell consumers about the HDCP (go to Google) debacle taking place.

In a nutshell: that brand new HDTV that you bought is not going to allow you to see "real" high definition content if it does not have HDCP copy protection designed into it.
Here is the real bad news: TV manufacturers are unwilling to build this into their sets. This scheme is being coded into media such as movie and music with high definition content, but not been built into the components that will reproduce it.
For example, you might pop a high definition DVD movie, into your DVD player and get this on your TV screen: "Your TV does not support HDCP." No support; not picture.

Your TV has to have it built in; your DVD has to have it built in; your cable box has to have it built in. Are you getting the picture...
jm