Refurbished HDTVs?

[shockemags]

I am a college kid attempting to make a decent Home Theater for my apartment. I have been shopping various Home Theater aspects for a few months now and narrowed things down a lot.

My main question is a Refurb TV a good way to save a couple hundred dollars on a TV and still get good quality?

Would it be smart to add an extended warranty on the refurb? (Know any places other than the seller for warranty?)

Trust-worthy and Good quality/priced sites? i.e. TigerDirect?

I do not want to sacrifice quality but budget is tight. I would like to get at least a 42" (Bigger is fine ) LCD Flat Panel or Rear-Pro (DLP, LCoS, LCD), 720p with built in tuner (NTSC/ATSC/QAM) and HDMI. I have no brand loyalty; I just want the best for the money.

My price range for a Refurb is sub $800 (Tax & Shipping included; if its in the $1000 I'll just buy a new TV)

Thanks everyone.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I would never buy a refurbed tv....

my 2 cents

IMO... you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

There are 42" options for around $1,000.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11213783&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US

Another option is to buy a Projector and make a DIY screen Going that route, you can make the screen as big as you want, and do it on a tight budget. Nothing beats watching movies on an 8'-10' screen on the comfort of your own home

 

[shockemags]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3000999&Sku=V25-4210

This is what have sparked my interest...

 

[Duffinator]

Go For It

I'm a big fan of refurbished products and have purchased many in the past including CRT based computer monitors. But I have never bought a refurb LCD. As long as you are buying from a reputable reseller and it has a warranty I say go for it. Just make sure the reseller has a good return policy just in case there's a big scratch on the screen or something like that.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I wasn't too thrilled with Vizio products. I do like the Olevia sets. As far as refurbed, shipped sets, you can get yourself in a bind if you have to pay to ship the unit back because of scratches, etc... By that time, you'd have enough for a new one. I'd recommend paying the extra $200 and getting a new LCD with a full warranty.

 

[TimG517]

Bought 2 42" plasma Samsung refurbished TV's from Tigerdirect.com. One TV works great.
The other TV has a orange line and a black line down the center of the screen. I called Tigerdirect.com. They said to call Samsung since it was still under the 1 year warranty.
Samsung came out and said the TV is garbage. The guy said he would put a ticket in for a new TV.
So, now I am replacing the 2 year old 42" plasma (which I bought in March) with a 2007 model year 42" plasma. No charge! The old (my current model) tv was not is stock. The replacement for that (2007 MY) was also out of stock.
So, I am getting a 42" 1080P TV!
Basically paid $899 for a high end 42" plasma from Samsung.
I would recomend Tigerdirect.com if you are looking for a good deal on a TV. Then, if the TV doesn't work you have the mfg. warranty still!
I was very impressed with the fact that I am getting a brand new TV.

 

[Leprkon]

I've had pretty good luck with refurbed Phillips products:

http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/catalogForward.do?catalogEntry=true&shop=OUTLET

I've bought two 37 inch and a 30 inch LCD from them with no significant problems. One did not want to talk to Samsung DVD players, but had no issue with any other models. The other two had no Samsung issues.

 

[hemiram]

You can find some nice new, but discontinued LCD tvs in the size you want for a little over $800. Buying refurbs is never a sure thing. With something like a receiver, if it works and looks ok as soon as it comes out of the box, it's probably fine, and I have had refurbed stuff that was very nice, hard to tell it wasn't absolutely brand new, and some other stuff that was very rough looking and was returned.

Now for the horror story. My friend bought a refurb Samsung TV, it looked perfect, but about 2 hours after he turned it on, it got a green line down the screen. He called the place he bought it at, and ended up having to send it, and the replacement one back, the replacement had a partially dim backlight.
Both times, he had to pay to send them back. The third one was ok, but at this point, he had spent almost to the penny what a new Tv would have been anyway, with a 1 year warranty instead of 90 days.

What you might want to look for is what I did. Find the TV you really want, and wait for it to go on sale, and a lot of the time, you can get the one year same as cash deal, or like I did, 18 months with zero interest. Painless, and I got a great TV with a full warranty, and no shipping hassles if it did have a problem. I will have it paid for soon, and will probably buy another one for my family room when they offer the same financing deal.

 

[shockemags]

Thanks. I actually think I am going to so with the Vizio at Sam's. The dropped it down to $880 so for $40 more I can get a brand new TV and be able to return it to a physical store.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=535&item=367891&prDeTab=3&pCatg=5883#A

Just bc... How does that 0% financing work? Do they do it in house? or do you have to get a card?

 

[avaserfi]

I am going to have to agree with Buckeye on this one. The first flat panel I bought was a Vizio and I was far from thrilled with the performance. After about a month it also started making a horrible shrill sound and I exchanged it for another soon after the replacement was making the same sound so I returned it. Waited for a bit without a TV and bought a more expensive but better tv and have been happy since. I would suggest either looking into a refurb or saving up a little more and getting a TV that is worth the money. I ended up spending a bit more on the sharp I own vs the vizio and feel like the sharp is a way better deal.

 

[hemiram]

Thanks. I actually think I am going to so with the Vizio at Sam's. The dropped it down to $880 so for $40 more I can get a brand new TV and be able to return it to a physical store.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=535&item=367891&prDeTab=3&pCatg=5883#A

Just bc... How does that 0% financing work? Do they do it in house? or do you have to get a card?

Most always you have to put it on their store card. As long as you pay it off completely by the time the deal expires, there is no interest. If you don't pay it off by then, ALL the interest kicks in.

I bought my Laptop, TV, and a few other items for 0% interest for 6 months (laptop) to 18 months for the TV.