Who is the best retailer from whom to buy an LCD HDTV and extended warranty?

I have had good experiences with Best Buy as well!

I will stick with Tiger Direct Great Experience, and no product issues as of yet. Highly Recommend them.

I hear the TV with the highest markup is Samsung....Great picture but extremely slow LCD panel compared to Toshiba or LG which incorporate a better video processor. If you buy an AKAI it is a Samsung product.

This weekend ShopKo had a 40 inch SONY 1080p LCD on sale for $788. I was gonna jump on it but decided to wait a bit yet.

I work for a Best Buy store and I firmly stand behind our extended plans, and not just because I work there (I don't see that money anyway). Accidental plans on cameras and laptops are amazing along with extended plans on TV's. I'll admit the price on these plans are high, but it is true that you get what you pay for. Plans on TV's will allow you to have a local technician come to your home and repair your television on site as long as it is 32" or greater. Other televisions can be brought in and repaired by getting shipped to a service center. Best Buy also does repairs on products only under Manufacturer's Warranty and you can get support from the store's personnel. How many times have you called Wal-Mart or another big box store and asked them in depth questions on a specific product? How many times have you contacted the manufacturer and sat on hold to get someone from another country?

I don't believe in the upsell arguments since Best Buy is often making the same amount of money on most of the products and I often see many products leave at near-employee discount prices. If you want to hold your upsell argument true then I ask why I see many more Samsung televisions being sold over Insignia or Dynex? Best Buy makes much more money on Insignia and Dynex since they are all owned and manufactured specifically by Best Buy. The employees will recommend something in your price range and lifestyle, not how much the company is going to make on the product. We're often forced to sell other products since our ads are sometimes legitimately mistaken, but that's not something against the protection plans and is a discussion for a different time.

I just want to know if anybody mentioned or thought about including SQUARE-TRADE Warrenties, I have used them and I swear by them 100% blows everone elseo ut of the water!

www.squaretrade.com/

Disclaimer: I'm a supervisor over the Electronics department at Sam's Club.

Having said that, anyone that's in the market for a TV really owes it to themselves to check Sam's. We almost always have the best price. I regularly see $50-$200 savings on the exact same TV compared to other stores. Our extended warranties are better than anywhere else. Besides physical damage inflicted on the TV by the purchaser, our extended warranties cover everything. And our return policy is "100% Member satisfaction".

I bought my Aquos from Sam's and have no regrets.

Spend time and do research on the TV and your extended coverage. There is a big difference between an extended warranty and a protection plan and thats why Wal-Mart's and Targets are so cheap. Manufactures and extended warrenties really only cover product defects. Have a power surge and your TV gets hit, they won't cover it because it's your fault you didn't have a surge protector on it. Your bulb goes out behind your LCD, they will cover the labor to put one in but you have to pay for the bulb $100-$200. Also your TV won't be fixed localy, they'll send it out and stick you with the shipping and handling. Request the terms and conditions from the retailer, you can listen to the associate but check their words in the brochure. You'll find out soon enough that Wal-Mart and Targets plans aren't worth it. Circuit City's were expensive but they were pretty comprehensive, Best Buy recently introduced new more comprehensive coverage at good prices. Also everybody price matches now, so it doesn't matter where you go, you should get the lowest price. Also look into the other offers that the retailers offer. Price may be the same but you might be able to finance your purchase for no interest for 18 or 36 months. Check the other offers, that might make a differnce too.

If you're going to spend a decent amount of money on a tv, for heaven's sake don't go to Walmart. They have VERY low end tv's with very poor contrast ratios, and response time. Best Buy is overpriced but has better quality products.

I just purchased a Panny 46" plasma from B & H Photo out of New York. Brand new, delivered to my door for $1,100. Price at Best Buy was $1,899. After much searching, I purchased my extended warrenty from DTV Express, a company strictly in the warrenty business. $185 for 5 years of inhome service.

To be honest I really don't know which one is the best because thankfully I've never had to use it when I have bought them so I guess in reality the best one is the one you don't have to use. I did buy a LCD tv from Target and like the fact that theirs was only 79$ much cheaper than what you'd pay for it at sears or best buy. Also remember many credit cards offer extended warranties that usually double the manufacturers length but at the same time they don't always cover as much as the store bought warranties.

Best Buy is terribly crooked. Their return policy is crap. Their bait and switch tactics and their "Oops, our advertizement had a price error" scams are legendary.

EVERY time I went to BB because of an advertized sale on something, they were out of stock. Then the upsell begins. This used to be illegal, but although BB has been fined over and over by the government for these types of practices, somehow, they are still allowed to do it again and again.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/best_buy_returns.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/best_buy_ohio.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/05/ct_bestbuy.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/search.html?cx=004616541639631650405%3Auoeingz5lo8&cof=FORID%3A11&q=best+buy#0

Bill

1 - Wal Mart

2 - Target

Best Buy is WAY too expensive for their extended warranty crap! I got a small 26 inch VIZIO from WalMart last year for about $500 and only paid like $39 for a 3 year extended warranty -

Was in Target tonight as a matter of fact and looked at a 46 inch Sony Bravia for $1299 and if I remember correctly the warranty was something like $79?

Circuit City is one of the worst for extended prices.... see why they went under? I just do not trust Best Buy enough to make a big purchase, they remind me of a bunch of crooks with their mail in rebate scams they pulled on my family and friends so I tend to stay away from giving them more than a small purchase.

I voted Wal Mart only because in this day and age you'll want to be sure and go with a company that you're confident will be around for the length our your extended warranty.

Target and Sam's might have been just as good of choices based on that criteria.

And I have a personal bias against radio shack based on them laughing at me when I went into buy a cheap AM radio last year (they don't sell them despite "radio" being a part of their name) and their cheap components no longer being cheap in price but being much cheaper in quality then they were 10 years ago.