[AFJsvt]

Here's my dilemma:


The Hitachi 51F59 went on sale last week for $599 at Sears. I waited too long to pull the trigger and all the stores were sold out. Manager put one on order for me at the sale price of $599. I received a call today stating this TV went on sale to clear inventory and will never be restocked. The manager said he would substitute this TV with a Magnavox 50ML6200D. I told him I wasn't sure and he said I need to get back with him by Wednesday.

The Magnavox is a DLP TV but has a native resolution of 720p. It's normally $1500 but is on sale at Sears for $1200. The manager is giving it to me for the $599 Hitachi price.


Basically, I need everyone's advice on what I should do. Take the Maggie??? I was considering trying to talk him into giving me teh Toshiba 50HM67 instead.


Here are the specs for the Hitachi 51F59 I really wanted:
http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/proj...al/51F59.shtml


Now here are specs to the Magnavox DLP:
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Magnavox...NlYwNzaWJzcGVj

http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/5/5...37_pss_aen.pdf

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...cemldffidfmg.0



Any advice is greatly appreciated!!



As a side note, this TV will be replacing a JVC I'ART AV-48wp30 TV. Which utilizes 1080i.

 

[AFJsvt]

Bump.

 

[jwebb1970]

As a happy F59 owner myself, it's a bummer that you can't get one.


However, if they're gonna give you a $1500 set for $599...well, I'd check that set out!

 

[Steve S]

I work in a store that sells Magnavox. That DLP is the only Magnavox display set we have that hasn't required any repairs. To put this in context none of our other display sets has ever required a repair except for a Sharp 32" crt whose power button broke when a customer's kid poked it with a pen. One of our sales associates flat refuses to sell anything with the Magnavox name on it.

 

[Livin]

the 720p DLP will not look as good as the Hitachi... I'd say get him to give you the $1500 credit towards a good TV, like a Sammy or Mits.

 

[jwebb1970]

Or is there still a Sears warehouse somewhere that still hass an F59 lying around?


Maybe Steve S can help us out here (I think he mentioned somewhere that he worked for them).


Then again, from his last post it sounds as if your local store is trying to "dump" a lesser (albeit pricer) TV on you instead.

 

[gisser]

Magnavox 50ML6200D 720p 50" DLP for $599? Wow. No worries about buyer's remorse when you've basically stolen the TV!


And, looking at the spec sheet, this isn't a stripped down entry level HDTV. I count 8 picture formats, 5 of them zoom modes...I've not seen another brand with that much flexibility. Virtual Dolby Surround, QAM tuner, HD5 chip, thin bezel...what more do you want for $599?!!

 

[AFJsvt]

I'm going in tomorrow and try to negotiate on a hitachi 57f59. I think I can handle the jump to 57".

 

[Steve S]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jwebb1970 /forum/post/0


Or is there still a Sears warehouse somewhere that still hass an F59 lying around?


Maybe Steve S can help us out here (I think he mentioned somewhere that he worked for them).


Then again, from his last post it sounds as if your local store is trying to "dump" a lesser (albeit pricer) TV on you instead.

I actually think they are trying to come as close as possible to the Hitachi with regard to size/price. The managers typically know little about electronics of any kind, and it's really not their job to. They are more skilled in customer relations and generally keeping the department running smoothly and profitably as a business.


That Magnavox is a fairly slow seller while the new Toshiba sets are sometimes temporarily sold out, so there's every possibility that the manager offered the Magnavox because it was available and the Toshiba was temporarily not available and he didn't want to irritate the customer further by making him wait for a replacement set.


There are regional warehouses that serve the stores in a given territory. I honestly don't know if it's even possible to have a set shipped from another region's warehouse. We sold something like a dozen of the Hitachis in the first 3 days or so of the current sale, and had to stop because they became not available for order. I seriously doubt if there's one of these available anywhere in the country.


None of these were sold to crt rptv enthusiasts, all went to folks who saw a chance to get a 51" HDTV incredibly cheap.


My guess is that within a week or so many will be returned because these bargain hunters were unwilling to spend the money to get decent sources, are not capable of adjusting them to get a decent picture, or suddenly discover they're too financially strapped to make the next car payment and decide to return the set to get more liquid.


We had one lady actually come into the store and spend a goodly amount of time looking at the set. She ordered one so it could be picked up at the store a few days later, came to pick it up and cancelled when she suddenly discovered it was an rptv, not a flat panel as she'd assumed. How she could have stared at the display set for a solid quarter hour and thought it was a flat panel eludes me. She cancelled on a Tuesday morning and the set she'd ordered was sold to another customer within 2 hours.

 

[AFJsvt]

Went into Sears today to try and negotiate a deal on a 57F59 and found out that the model number on the Magnavox the manager gave me was a mistake. It was actually 51MP6100D. The set was on sale for $950 but he was willing to give it to me at the $599 hitachi price. He was also unwilling to deal on any other set. So I just cancelled my order and bought the 57F59 from an online merchant.



Thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm eagerly awaiting my 57" Hitachi!!!