Good Flat-Panel TV Deals Still to Be Found Presidents Day Weekend
CE retailers jumped on the Presidents Day holiday weekend sale bandwagon to move big-screen flat-panel TV inventory, we found in a search for deals Friday. Best Buy offered free shipping on all sets and discounts range from 5 to 25 percent from everyday prices, according to the website. Among the better deals on big-screen models was a Samsung 55-inch UN55D7000L LED-lit LCD 3D TV down from $3,099 to $2,399. The LG 55-inch 55LV5500 smart TV was cut from $2,099 to $1,399 at Best Buy.
Not all the Best Buy deals were as impressive as advertised, though, as Best Buy showed a higher “regular” price than some companies showed on their websites for virtually identical products with slightly modified model numbers. Samsung listed the UN55D7000L for $3,099, while Best Buy showed the regular price of the UN55D7000LF to be $3,199. Sony’s 55-inch KDL55EX723 was discounted $900 at Best Buy from $2,499 regular price to $1,599, while the Sonystyle.com site showed the virtually identical KDL-55EX720 to be $1,599 down from $2,399. When we plugged in the KDL55EX723 at sonystyle.com, our search was “corrected” to model KDL55EX720.
Sears dropped the 55-inch Sony KDL-55NX720 from $2,899 to $1,398 for its 3-day sale, compared with the sale price at sonystyle.com of $1,999. Sears advertised the Samsung UN55D6400 for $1,799 with free delivery, a savings of $600.11 over the regular price of $2,399, the same regular price Samsung listed on its website for the comparable UN55D6420UF. In plasma TV, Sears chopped $400 off the regular $1,599 price of Panasonic’s 3D Viera ST30, which was discounted at the Panasonic site by $140.
At hhgregg, plasma and large-size LCD TV deals were big. Shoppers could apply a 10 percent off coupon to purchases to bring the sale prices down further. A circular for the chain’s Pittsburgh stores showed the Samsung 51-inch PN51D450 720p plasma model shaved by $150 to $599. Sharp 60-, 70- and 80-inch Aquos and Quattron models saw chops between $600-$800, with the 60-inch Quattron LC60LE835U premium model pricing out at the same $2,199 as the 70-inch LC70LE632U non-Quattron model. The retailer continued its strategy to bring online customers into stores with a banner ad touting free in-store delivery.
Walmart dropped the price of the 55-inch LG 55LK520 by $400 to $1,099 online but noted that the price may vary in stores. Walmart beat Amazon by more than $200 on price with the $898 55-inch Vizio E552VL LCD TV. The higher end Vizio 240Hz LED-based M550SV connected LCD TV sold for $1,248 at Walmart on Friday, but was out of stock at the Vizio site where list price was $1,379.99.