Is it worth an extra $100 to buy a 40" LCD locally?

[Skeeedunt]

So BestBuy has the Samsung 4061f for $1300, or I can get it from Amazon for $1200 w/ free shipping. I don't anticipate returning it, but who knows I guess. It would be nice to be able to deal with it locally if anything goes wrong, but I'm not sure if it's worth an extra $100.

What happens when something breaks or is DOA? Do they usually send a tech out to fix it, or do you have to ship it back somehow? If anyone's bought something like this online before or has any input it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has any advice on that particular model (I'm also looking at the 4065/6) or anything else, let me know.

 

[Shawn]

For only $100 more I'd buy it locally. I just got my Sony Bravia 40" 1080p from Amazon for $1098 which was $300 cheaper than I could find locally. However it has 2 stuck pixels and I'm kinda pissed about it. One is dark and in the corner so it's not a big deal but the other one is bright white and in the lower middle of the screen. Even though you can't see it unless you are up close it still sucks because I just paid over a grand for this thing. It should be perfect. My cheap 32" Olevia LCD didn't have any stuck or dead pixels, but I guess with double the amount pixels it's more likely.

Anyway for $300 in savings I'd probably do it again, but for only $100 I'd shop locally.

 

[Auric]

BB offers reward zone credits which effectively lowers the price. A further 1% discount is available via ebates. So, the difference is more like $60 or less if additional RZ credits are available (birthday and special promos) plus if the price is reduced within 90 days, the difference will be refunded. Check if a 12% coupon is available too before making a decision. Also, if extendo warranties are your cuppa then compare terms as well.

 

[Skeeedunt]

Thanks guys, very helpful. I ended up stopping by BestBuy on the way home and got them to meet me half way ($1250) on a 4061. Picking it up on Saturday. Thanks again!

 

[Wuzup101]

Hehe... I bought 2 Samsung 4065Fs around thanksgiving time (one for me, one for my parents). I initially ordered both from Amazon within a week of each other. My parents display arrived in perfect condition (no dead pixels, no backlighting issues, etc...). It did take about 8 days to get there, and would have taken more but I called EAGLE in advance to set up a delivery (they had "lost" our phone number and sent us a post card to set up a delivery time).

My display took about 10 days to get to my apartment in State College, PA. It arrived broken (the outer case was physically cracked). I simply refused delivery. To put it bluntly, EAGLE is a piece of shit. It took them 10 days to ship that TV 60-70 miles (I live that close to the Amazon warehouse). The delivery company that they contracted out with to actually deliver it was great; however, the main company has no clue what's going on (they never know where anything is, they hold shipments for days to funnel them into their network, etc...). It took me about an hour of talking (actually talking not waiting) to explain to the Amazon CS agent that I refused the shipment because the TV was broken when I recieved it. It took another 3.5 weeks to get my money back... then it took another 2 weeks after that to get the full amount back. I say full amount because my TV was origionally $1350 w/ free shipping... however they originally only credited me back $1310 and kept $40 for shipping. I did get this sorted out eventually, but it took far too long.

In the end, I ordered the same TV for around the same price from www.beachcamera.com. Their physical store front is ~50 miles from my parents home, so I knew that if I had any major problems I could just throw it in the van and drive to jersey to get it taken care of. Despite weather delays and FexEx putting the package on the wrong truck (lol), the TV arrived in 3 days. It was carefully double boxed with lots of packing materials to insure safety.

Moral of the story: Beach will get my business again, Amazon can lick my balls. I still will use Amazon for small things, but I will never buy a TV there again (or anything delivered by EAGLE).

 

[destrekor]

This week at Best Buy, any purchase over $500 nets a free $50 BB giftcard. That should help.

I'm big about buying LCD monitors locally due to potential pixel issues. I'd always look at a dead pixel and be disappointed.