Would you guys buy an Open Box 55NX720 Wall display from Best Buy?

An open box can be a return or an item just opened, and maybe classified as less than used to used. The wall/floor display is definitely used. Personally I wouldn't buy a floor display because sets are left on all the time for X number of days or months. This can be especially bad for specific tvs with only a set number of hours of life in them. Unless they are practically giving away the tv, $800 or less, then no I wouldn't. Then again, the tv comes with a warranty. It's truly up to you, but spending that much already, $1K+, you might as well get a fresh one.

Yeah but this is a 2011 model, which has a price that's been dropping fast and has been no where near $2900 recently. You can get this set new for $1000 from Frys, if you are lucky enough to live near near one (I'm not). And there has been sales from other retailers from $1200 to $1400 recently. What is BB offering for it? This is a closeout clearance model for BB, so you could try wheeling and dealing. I would ask for price match to the lowest priced competitor + 10% off.

The best price other than Frys (which is $1099 btw) was Sears for $1399.88. They've also got a deal for an extra 5% off if you use the Sears credit card, and the Narnia 3D glasses bundle for ~$40 if you buy an NX720 (although BB has them for free with a TV, so maybe don't mention that! Just have them add the TV and the Narnia bundle separately and it should give you the promo at checkout.). That's what I ended up doing, although it was at a local retailer, not Best Buy.

Of course from there then I'd expect at least another 5% off (maybe 10%?) for it being a floor model.

I was originally looking at Plasmas, both the Panasonic and Samsungs. I really do like the picture on a Plasma better than an LCD, but what really got me looking at LED LCDs was that the TV was going into a bright living room and will be used quite a bit. The Sony is nice and bright (and should stay that way), uses considerably less power and is a lot lighter than a Plasma and the `monolithic' single pane of glass on the front looks incredible. The wife loves the way it looks too, which certainly helped sell it as a more expensive alternative. =) I wasn't sure about how reflections off the glass would affect the picture, but it's across from a large window and I don't really notice much of anything during the day and would say if anything it's better than the CRT (ah my poor old 34XBR960!) that it replaced.

I wouldn't really recommend buying it on the strength of the `smart' features though. I was hoping to switch over to just using it for Netflix and Hulu and giving the PS3 a rest (I had an old `fat' PS3 died due to being on so much watching Netflix!), but Sony really messed up the user interface! They tried to make them all look similar and just made them all pretty bad. The only smart app that we actually do use is Pandora, but that's mainly because nothing else hooked up to the receiver in the living room supports it.

Oh, or the 3D, which really isn't so great. I never really did check out the Plasma's 3D though, as it was never really a priority and only have been messing around with it on the Sony because I got a `free' set of glasses when I bought it.

I'd definitely recommend it though if neither of those things are a priority. The 2D picture quality really is great (close enough to the Plasmas; probably better in a bright room) and the set itself looks amazing.

As for buying a floor model, an LED backlit LCD is probably your safest bet; I wouldn't buy a floor model CCFL LCD or Plasma myself unless there were very few hours on it. The main issue (other than physical damage) is what's happened to the set being on constantly in `torch' mode at the store. CRTs (ok, nobody's really buying _them_ anymore!), Plasmas and CCFL LCDs will all dim and can change their color balance with use, but LED backlights don't really have that problem. As for the electronics, generally if there's some sort of a problem they're going to fail fairly quickly, so the fact that it's actually working after being on for so long is probably a good sign.

I was dead set on getting a top of the line Samsung a couple of months ago. That is, until I acutally saw them in person. Yes the PQ is pretty darn good, but the glossy screens, unnatural colors, and spider bezel base on these sets are unattractive.

The 2012 Samsung models may have more semi-matte screens, at least the HS4000 & HS6000s do.

After looking at a ton of sets and reading and comparing them for months, I finally decided on getting the 60" EX720. The 2011 Sony models have a better reputation of conistently producing working and similar sets. The sets aren't as bright, but they also don't look artificial or have colors that are unnaturally saturated.

I know in the long run, the glossy or reflective screens would have bothered me, so I went with the EX720. The gorrilla glass isn't as relflective as the glossy, but I don't exactly like it either.

My suggestion would be to decide for yourself. Go look at tvs and go look at them some more, and make sure you are aware of the possible problems with it before buying. I know the EX720 doesn't do 3D all that well, but I'm fine with that.

just for reference, a set operated 12hrs a day (9am to 9pm, for example) as a store demo accumulates 4380hrs in a year, usually with only one on/off cycle per day. With the exception of projector lamps in dlp rptvs this is really negligible compared to the estimated lifespans of most modern sets.