Hot or Not??? Portable DVD Player at Target B&M for $250

[Taarna]

This is my first post, so cut me some slack.

Yesterday, I went into my local Target store and found the Panasonic DVD-LV57 portable DVD player on clearance for $249.94. The .94 makes me think the price is the lowest it is going to go. This unit is CDR/CDRW/MP3/VCD compatible, at least it says so on the box. It has a "wide" 5 inch screen, optical audio out and comes with remote and Li-Ion battery pack. Regular price was $499.99. There is no real sku, but the clearance tag has the following numbers: 008 06 0057. There is a tiny 15 above the 57. The UPC on the box is : 0 37988 40566 4.

This isn't available from target.com.

I heard a rumor that Costco stores have this for the same price after a Costco rebate. There are no Costcos near me right now, so I could not verify this to be true. Costco.com doesn't have it either.

Checking for info and reviews about it came up with very little. Those I did find confirmed the claim of 5 hr battery life to be true.
Something for my next plane trip.

 

[jtallon]

That's a pretty good deal. Best Buy had some specials on portable DVD players with 7" screens a few weeks back, and prices in general are coming down, but it seems like the lower priced units are perpetually sold out.

I'd go for it - RCA is a bit better name than the other lower price units - i.e. Audiovox. And the low-end Audiovox has a Ni-MH or Ni-CD battery, so it'll barely get through a movie on a single battery charge...

 

[Hork]

The little numbers in the upper right corner of the red clearance sticker is usually the percentage off, but 15 doesn't jibe with what you quoted as the original price and the markdown.

Target goes through several clearance stages, and marks things down 50%, 75%, and finally 90%. If you look on some other sites like aliendeals.com, they have the schedules for when certain deparments usually have their markdowns. Clearance prices vary from store to store, even within the same city.

If you wait, you might get it for less, but someone else might buy it first... that's the clearance shopper's gamble.

Last but certainly not least... always scan the bar code on the package. Clearance items often get marked down more in the computer before the clerks have a chance to update the clearance stickers.