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Buying a floor model

post #1 of 11
8/10/07 at 6:37pm
Thread Starter 
I've been in the market for a Sony 60A2020 for the last week or so. I was going to buy it on Amazon, but today at Best Buy they had their last one on clearance, after taxes and even with delivery it was $120 cheaper than Amazon.

Only problem is that the thing has been on the floor for 2 or 3 months. I don't know anything about the durability or life of these things, so I don't know if this is a good deal or a terrible one. Thinking about it, this things been in there for 10 weeks, that's 70 days, so it's been turned on for I guess 900 hrs or so. I don't know if these things take any kind of abuse, it looked fine.

Good deal or bad deal? I'd almost rather buy from Best Buy because if something screws up they're easier to deal with in person than Amazon.
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post #2 of 11
8/10/07 at 6:57pm
Why was a 60a2020 on clearance? I was not aware they were replacing that model. Are you sure it wasn't an 60a2000? I've still seen in a rare few stores those still on clearance.

That's the only thing making sense, given Best Buy's typical clearance discount. I know we're not to quote prices, but what you are quoting is a significantly larger difference between amazon/BB than what their standard clearance discount is on such items, well before I added taxes/delivery.
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post #3 of 11
8/10/07 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by brophog View Post

Why was a 60a2020 on clearance? I was not aware they were replacing that model. Are you sure it wasn't an 60a2000? I've still seen in a rare few stores those still on clearance.

That's the only thing making sense, given Best Buy's typical clearance discount. I know we're not to quote prices, but what you are quoting is a significantly larger difference between amazon/BB than what their standard clearance discount is on such items, well before I added taxes/delivery.

OK, here's the exact situation, I'll assume they cut me some slack on the pricing thing since it's relevant here... BB is normally something like $2500 or $2600, amazon is $2k... this thing is on clearance here for $2040 or something like that. I'm sure it's the 60a2020, I've looked into it and even the clerk was surprised it was on clearance, he thought it was weird.

I said to the manager, I'll take it, go get me one, he went back to look and said, "Sorry, this is our last one, it's the floor model, I'll take 15% off this price to compensate." So now it's like $1750 or whatever, add in sales tax of 5% plus delivery fee and that's how I got the price.

But again, that's not really my question, my question is "Given this price difference, is this a good deal? Does the fact that it's a floor model mean the bulb is going to go dim really quickly?" The $100 isn't even THAT big a deal for me but the best buy thing is convenient and hey I don't mind saving 5%.
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post #4 of 11
8/10/07 at 8:01pm
Sorry to question you, I thought it was perhaps a typo. Seems too good to be true. Sounds like something you should jump on. Normally, even when clearancing last year's models, BB gives just a few hundred dollars....in store credit, at that.
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post #5 of 11
8/10/07 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by brophog View Post

Sorry to question you, I thought it was perhaps a typo. Seems too good to be true. Sounds like something you should jump on. Normally, even when clearancing last year's models, BB gives just a few hundred dollars....in store credit, at that.

So floor model is OK and the fact that the bulb's been running 900 hrs is no biggie?
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post #6 of 11
8/10/07 at 8:26pm
Bulb's replaceable, that's no biggie. The problem with most floor models is they don't give you a discount enough to even replace the bulb.
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post #7 of 11
8/10/07 at 9:13pm
Bulb life is usually 5000-6000 hours, possibly more, so its not like being all day for a few months has significantly eaten into the expected bulb lfe. Also, remember you get a year warranty thru Sony and that includes the bulb.
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post #8 of 11
8/10/07 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 
Well hey, I guess I got lucky then, I know nothing about these things I was really thinking I was probably halfway to getting screwed. I had the feeling at the time that the manager didn't know the TV was already discounted bc it was on clearance, it was really tiny print and he didn't mention it.... and maybe it was on clearance because it was their last one. Maybe that would explain everything?
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post #9 of 11
8/10/07 at 9:59pm
BB and CC are clearing out A2000s and A2020s because they are about to become obsolete with the pending introduction of the A3000. So, no store is going to want to sit on these for longer than they have to.
Its sounds like its not been abused with too many on/off cycles, probably only turned on in the morning and off at night.
$1750 sounds like a reasonably good price for a 2-3 month old 60A2020. Nevertheless, I would try and push for a lower price or even a gift card.
Make sure to ask, as its a display model, if you get the standard 30 day return period in case it turns out to be defective when you get it home.
Also, make sure it comes with the remote, etc.
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post #10 of 11
8/10/07 at 10:14pm
With a 10% coupon at CCity it's about $2070 with free shipping brand new. I guess at the used price you'd have enough left over to buy a new bulb compared to that new price.

Lets say they used the tv 11 hours a day during store hours. That's about 990 hours for 3 months. That's maybe 1/6th the life of the bulb, which isn't bad. And most those hours were long periods of time, putting less stress on the bulb (a guess) compared to normal viewing where it would have been turned on and off a lot more to get to that point, stressing the bulb more.

You know what would really sweeten the deal at that $1750 used price, is if they atleast threw in a 2 year warranty with bulb repalcement, that's about a $199 value. But at that price, they might not be willing to haggle since they know they can probable sell it in no time for that price.
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post #11 of 11
8/11/07 at 11:45am
That's $50 less than I paid for a new in-the-box 60A2000 last Black Friday (Although I did get an employe discount off the $1999 asking price.)

The A2020 was more of a continuation of the A2000 series than an all-new model, the all new A3000 models are already trickling in to a few retailers. A2020s are out of production now so it's not at all too soon for them to go on closeout, depending on the number of sets a given retailer has in their distribution chain.

A lamp-based rptv that's only seen 3 months of display duty wouldn't scare me at all-minimal on-off cycles mean that 660 hours on one of these is probably equivalent to 400 or so on an in-home set. Do make sure you get the original remote and an owner's manual.
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