Plasma TVs on Black Friday: How Low Can You Go?

A sneak preview of the Black Friday circulars from the largest electronics retailers shows that plasma TVs will once again be at the center of promotional activity this Thanksgiving weekend. And you won’t have to settle for a little-known off-brand to get a great deal: Leading the Black Friday charge are sub-$1,000 42-inch plasmas from Panasonic, consistently one of our top-rated brands.

Best Buy, for example, is offering Panasonic’s TH-42PE7U model at a doorbuster special price of only $900. We couldn’t find that model number within Panasonic’s model listings (apparently it’s a Black Friday special made especially for Best Buy), but Panasonic plasma TVs in our Ratings have been top-notch. If you venture to Circuit City for its six-hour special, you’ll see the TH-42PX75U—the smaller sibling of a CR Best Buy model—for $1,000.

If you want to buy either of these plasma sets, plan to be among the first in line when the stores open at 5:00 a.m. on Friday. Best Buy says it will have at least 15 sets per store, while Circuit only states that quantities are limited. Neither chain will offer rainchecks or substitutions on promotional items like these.

You won’t be disappointed if you’re looking for a bigger screen. At both Circuit City and Best Buy, the 50-inch Samsung HPT5044 plasma set will be $1,400, while a 50-inch Zenith (Z50P3) will be only $1,000. We haven’t tested this particular Samsung, but its plasma TVs have consistently done very well in our tests. We haven’t tested any Zenith plasmas.

LCD sets will be well-represented in the stores as well. Among the sale items you’ll find at Circuit City are the Sharp 46-inch LC-46D64U, a 720p set, for $1,300 and the 52-inch LC-52D64U with 1080p resolution for $2,200. (All TVs mentioned in this blog are 720p unless specified as 1080p.) Several LCD sets from Sharp, one of the biggest names in LCDs, have done very well in our recent Ratings, though others—especially older sets—have been middling.

[11.15.07 Update: As pointed out in the comments below, the Sharp LC-46D64U is a 1080p set.-Ed.]

Here are some additional HDTV deals at Circuit City for Black Friday:
• a 42-inch Sharp LCD (LC-42D43U, Sharp’s budget line) for $800
• a 32-inch Sharp LCD HDTV (LC-32SH12U) for $600
• a 40-inch Polaroid LCD (PLD 4011-TLXB) $700 (Polaroid has been a lower-rated brand in our tests)
• a 32-inch Element LCD TV, $400
• a 50-inch Samsung SlimDLP rear-projection HDTV (HL-T5075S), $800 (Samsung has been one of the better-rated rear-projection TV brands)
• a 65-inch Toshiba rear-projection DLP set for $1,500 (Toshiba has been a top-rated rear-projection brand in our tests)

In other deals, Circuit City will be offering a Samsung Blu-ray player (BDP-1400) for $378, a $180 JVC MiniDV camcorder, a $100 Mio portable GPS, and $300 Compaq Pentium notebook PC with 1GB of RAM and a free printer and router, and $230 Acer Pentium D desktop PC with a 17-inch LCD.

Here are some additional Black Friday HDTV deals being offered at Best Buy:

• a 47-inch Westinghouse 1080p LCD (TX-47F430S) for $1,300 (a CR-tested model, this one has very good overall picture quality)
• a 42-inch HP 1080p LCD (LC4276N) for $997 (a low-rated CR model)
• a 37-inch Dynex LCD for $630
• a 32-inch Philips LCD (32PFL5332D) for $600
• a 26-inch Magnavox LCD TV/DVD combo $480
• a 65-inch Mitsubishi 1080p DLP rear-projection HDTV (WD-65733) for $1,500 (we recently tested a step-up model, the WD-65734, which did very well).

Other electronics deals include:
• a $200 Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player (with 7 free movies)
• a $400 Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player (with 7 free movies)
• a $150 Panasonic MiniDV camcorder (PV-GS80)
• a $400 Sony notebook computer with a 15.3-inch screen, 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive
• a $200 eMachines Celeron desktop PC with a 17-inch monitor, 1GB of RAM and a free a Canon all-in-one color printer
• a $400 Compaq Pentium desktop computer with a 17-inch widescreen monitor and Canon all-in-one color printer
• a $120 TomTom One LE GPS
• a $75 Samsung 1080p upconverting DVD player
• a $99 500-watt 5.1-channel Sony receiver
• a $200 300-watt Harmon Kardon 5.1-channel 1080p receiver

As always, we’ll continue looking out for the best deals on our best-rated HDTVs.

—James K. Willcox

Comments

[DaveH]

I don't know what the big deal is. People get all moist in their pants about this stuff, but it's nothing but hype. That 46" Sharp TV can be purchased for less right now, including the shipping costs, on the Internet. Nobody has to wait in line at 5 A.M.

[Derrick Selph]

Has anyone purchased a Dynex LCD TV? If so, would you recommend buying one? Why or why not?
Thanks

[Becky]

I am looking for information on Element TV's
are they any good?

[joventino go]

I purchased a 46" Samsung LCD from Best Buy last July 4, 2007 and it broke down last Oct. 18, 2007. I reported it to Samsung on that same day and after countless calls, I was told that it would be replaced. Up until today, nothing happened. Does it really take this long to wait? This is my first time to experience a TV set breaking down in only a little over 3 months of use. I never had a problem with my Sony TV's; is Samsung really that unreliable? I Should have listened to my friend who said that Sony is still the most reliable and durable among all.

[Sam]

I was wondering if anybody can tell me about the Element TV. I was wondering if it is so cheap because it is not a good TV.

Thanks

Sam

[Fred]

Do not buy a Magellan GPS, their technical support is so hard to get through and end up with a person in India. I purchased a unit and it stopped working after just 3 months and have worked so hard to get support. Going on week #4 to get warranty service.

[Tom]

The Sharp 46" looks like a great deal but wondering if CC will hand over vouchers for this TV or I need to face a mini stampede ?

[Paul Eng]

To all:

Thanks for pointing out our slip-up on the Sharp LCD set. As you can see, we've corrected this post.

--Paul Eng, Web Sr. Editor

[Chris]

The 46" sharp set at CC is indeed a 1080p model (not 720p as you have listed). The add scan from CC not only says 1080p right on it, but the model number is LC-46D64U which is a 1080p set. Sharp made this series (all 1080p) in 3 sizes: a 42", a 46", and a 52". They all have this format for their model number: LC-XXD64U. In this case, the XX is the size of the TV (either 42, 46, or 52). The CC add shows the 52 and 46 right next to each other... these are the same series TVs just different sizes.

[HDTV Fan]

According to Sharp's web site, the LC-46D64U is a 1080p set, not 720p. Even the scanned images of the circulars that have made their way around the Internet show the set as being 1080p.

[stallen]

The Sharp 46-inch LC-46D64U is not 720P as described. It is a 1080P display!