Best Buy owes you a 52" flatscreen television for $9.99

Perhaps it's me, but I expect that when a company makes an offer that I accept they are bound to the deal. IF I try to back out of it, they will sue me and/or get bill collectors bugging my every move. Basic economics right?

Well Best Buy seems to think otherwise.

Now I understand mistakes happen. And I feel really bad for the guy who used to be the webmaster for Best Buy. But an offer is an offer. And if you made a deal with the company, it's a contract.

In fact, I recall that back in the 1950's nearly the same exact problem happened. I believe it was Sears that had an ad for a Black and White television for $13.99 in Sunday papers. It was supposed to be $139 or something like that. They tried to back out of the offer, and got sued.

If I am recalling this correctly, the Courts found that Sears (if it was them) was in the wrong and was obligated to provide the televisions at the advertised price. I think it was called the truth in advertising case. (If anyone knows for sure, please correct me where needed). And it was this case that created all the little disclaimers you see in every printed and most televised ads.

The question here is if Best Buy had such a disclaimer on their site and/or online ad. And that disclaimer had to be on the site at the time of the promotion. If they did not, they don't get an option. Like in the 1950's case they will have to provide the televisions at the offered price until they sell out of them.

Because they made a contract with the public. And even in these days of the Government breaking contract law, Joe Average and regular businesses of all sizes are still bound by that.

If Best Buy continues to balk at living up to it's words, and they did not have the disclaimer (if anyone has proof of this please do let me know) they need to be sued and forced to live to their word. Making other deals and refunds or whatever just doesn't cut it. And they know it.

There are rules out there, and sometimes people try to take advantage of the younger computer savvy generation with old laws they do not know, or the older less savvy generations with their lack of knowhow with the internet. Which I find distasteful.

No wonder the stock price was down. I think Wall Street smells blood in the water.

Product review: Philips 19" Class LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner

I reviewed a flat screen television not too long ago, the Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV. This was a great purchase but it was not the only flat screen television I ever purchased. In fact I had a prior purchase that I want to discuss now.

The Philips 19" Class LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, 19PFL3403D/27 is available from Wal-Mart. It is priced at $347, which makes it a very reasonable purchase. It is capable of being used as a screen for the computer, or as a television. It is easy to hookup cable, video games, DVD players or most anything else you would consider.

Resolution can go up to 1440 x 900 pixels, though 720 is recommended. It has two 6-watt speakers. And with the conversion to HDTV (a real waste of money in my opinion, and a great way to pick up television sales) it has the ability to go to the new format immediately without any additions.

But the fact is that I find this LCD television inferior if not problematic. The television works fine, at least in the first year. But after that well there are problems.

Now I should mention that my use of a television is not exactly normal. In fact I exceed what most would call normal. I watch news about 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. That is well outside the norm of anyone. Thus I tend to stick with LCD televisions to help prevent any screen burning. That is important to remember if you consider plasma televisions, long term use – especially if you watch a single channel a lot, or play video games where the screen does not change often.

But the Phillips LCD is fine with those aspects. Honestly it’s reliable in the picture quality. The problem is with the sound, especially when the television is turned on.

After a year of use, which might equate to 2 years of use for most, the sound starts to get wonky. When the television is turned on the sound fails completely. No sound at all.

The way to get around that is to turn the set off, and then back on 2 or 3 times. You have to let the set stay off about 30 seconds each time it’s switched off. If you don’t do this the sound will come back and then cut off in about a minute.

If you do this too many times, or not enough, you will get scratchy sound for about 2 minutes, and they a horrible, loud tonal noise that sounds like a fire alarm just went off. The volume of the alarm will exceed the volume setting of the television.

I should note that the sound settings I prefer to use is about 30, which is just under 1/3 the total volume the television can deliver.

The problem with the sound is irritating at the least. Even when it is done properly the sound starts with huge static that fades over the first 5 – 10 minutes of use. Thus if you want to watch something suddenly, like say a news forecast about a tornado approaching, you are out of luck.

So is this a great television? For the first year the cost is worth the ease of use. But unless you like to replace televisions on an annual or bi-annual basis this is not the product you want.

Product Review: Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV

As I mentioned previously I recently bought a new house. So of course I’m in the process of trying out new products. One of the biggest expenses in a new home is the purchase of furniture, and electronics to fill a room. That is also true of my house.

Now I want to mention that I am 40. That means that I grew up with a 13” black and white television, that had a knob to turn the channels. I got that TV when I was about 12, after my mother got herself a color 20” TV. Throughout my life I don’t ever recall having ever owned a television set that was bigger. So I decided that it was about time to see what all the rage is about with the larger flat screen sets.

I purchased the Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV, model number 46rv530u. And it is big. Very big. In fact if you own a sub-compact car you better have it delivered. It won’t fit into a 2-door car, and it’s best if you NEVER lay the set on it’s back if possible. If you must lay it down, do so for a short a period of time as possible, and be very sure to have the TV lay on a couple of soft thick blankets. If not you will likely ruin the screen and will have wasted your time and money.

But once you get this over-sized TV into your home the next problem is where to put it. I decided that the idea of placing it on the wall neither fit with my room design, nor do I find that a comforting though. So I had it go on the entertainment stand I also bought. I think it looks great.


So you have the big monster now. Is it actually worth the equally large price? And by the way Toshiba has a msrp for this model of $1799. I have seen it priced as high as $2400. So keep an eye out, because I did find a deal and got mine for under msrp before taxes of course. And that is not a refurbished set, I mean new.

Well yes it is. The picture is crisp, even when the full screen setting is being used. And there is nothing like say V for Vendetta in a mini-silver screen let me tell you. The options for the color settings are pretty good too. The Sports setting seems to be most crisp, with a bit more red emphasis. The Personal setting is more emphasized to the blue spectrum, and the movie setting is an even balance but tends to look like a soft lens was placed over the entire screen – softening all the edges but also dulling the picture quality a bit. For my own taste the sports version seems best overall.

The sound on the system is fantastic. It’s loud and resonating without the tinish sound you may be used to now. The base is quite good as well. And this is all done without a single round speaker. Amazing.

Hooking up cable is simple as the system will automatically recognize and configure itself once you plug in the cable line. The remote control is likewise very intuitive. Without reading the extensive manual I was able to set up my dvd player (using a 3 prong red/yellow/white connecting cord). I didn’t hook up one of my computers as the hdmi – dvi connection cord cost $59 which I find to be outrageous.

Overall I am very pleased with the quality and ease of use. I find it to be worth the money, and difficulty to install. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.