SamsClub - Akai 54" TV PT5492 - $873.76 - B&M

[ttalkman]

SamsClub is clearing out he Akai 54" Projection TV w/Dual Tuner PIP.
$873.76 - Model # PT5492
They had a half dozen boxes of these sets at the store this morning.

 

[SCTrojan]

Anyone know if it is a Samsung rebadge?

 

[loup garou]

Link You can try Click N Pull to see if you get the $873 price at your local store(s). I'd check, but my membership expired.

Anyways, the remote pictured looks like the remote that came with my 27" Akai, which is the same as the 27" Samsung's remote. Don't know if that means that this is a Samsung as well, though. Does Samsung make projection TVs?

 

[pigseye2]

OK, I give up. What does Click N Pull mean?

Thanks,
Pigseye

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: pigseye2
OK, I give up. What does Click N Pull mean?

Thanks,
Pigseye

"Click N Pull" means that you can check if the item is in stock at your local store and not the Sam's Club Web store.

 

[DavemanUT]

Originally posted by: werk
Link You can try Click N Pull to see if you get the $873 price at your local store(s). I'd check, but my membership expired.

Anyways, the remote pictured looks like the remote that came with my 27" Akai, which is the same as the 27" Samsung's remote. Don't know if that means that this is a Samsung as well, though. Does Samsung make projection TVs?

I don't know if Samsung or AKAI or someone else makes these, but I can verify that they are the same TV. I'd love to jump on this, but I'm not spending more than $500 (pawn shop baby!) unless I get an HD TV.

D.C.

 

[pigseye2]

Thanks wje!

Pigseye

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: wje

Originally posted by: pigseye2
OK, I give up. What does Click N Pull mean?

Thanks,
Pigseye

"Click N Pull" means that you can check if the item is in stock at your local store and not the Sam's Club Web store.

You can also place an order to pick up at your store. Especially handy for large items such as this TV. They'll have it on a dolly waiting for you.

 

[dafog]

This TV is $999 at every club in Virginia

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: dafog
This TV is $999 at every club in Virginia

Why are they discriminating against us Virginians?

 

[pigseye2]

I think there are 2 versions of this TV, 1 with a screen protector ($999) and one without ($873). I'll find out today. I'm going to pick up the $873 one.

But, do I really need a screen protector? Note, I do have 3 young children.

My expectatino is I'll have this tv for 4 to 5 years and then graduate to digital and HDTV. For $873 this will be great for the next few years. Thus If I take care of my screen I probably won't have much to worry about except for the kid factor. ;-)

Sure would like to hear other thoughts.

Thanks,
Pigseye

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: pigseye2
Sure would like to hear other thoughts.

Thanks,
Pigseye

Have you been able to see the two side-by-side? I wonder if the screen protected screen looks any different? The screen protection seems like the way to go with small children in the house - provided, it doesn't hurt the image.

 

[mboy]

Akai are rebadged Samsung usually for sale outside of the USA.
Not bad, but not 16x9 and not HDTV. I can get 55" top model Samsung rptv (hdtv capable) for $1600 delivered so I would check the TV out before I bought one and make sure I understood what I was getting

 

[ttalkman]

dafog: You can have your store check other stores for cheapest price.
They price match all their other stores.
So they should be able to find it for $873.76 if they check for you.
Sam's Club 6 digit Item number: 712119

 

[pigseye2]

Just got back from Sam's club and I didn't buy the TV. I was a little disappointed in the sharpness of the picture and am going to do more research before I make my purchase.

They didn't have another Akai tv there with the screen protector. However the Panasonic HDTV with a screen protector had a great picture.

Pigseye

 

[dafog]

Thanks for the pm info ttalkman

Now.. I am really interested in this set, but I don't want to get something that will be obsolete in a couple years. Could someone give me their opinions on whether or not it's worth it to spend the extra $400 on the HD verion of this set? The club had it for $1299. Also.. I'd like to know more about the diff. ratios as I have seen some folks say this ration is not recomended. Any help is appreciated. I'd rather get info from you guys instead of from a sales person.

 

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: pigseye2
Just got back from Sam's club and I didn't buy the TV. I was a little disappointed in the sharpness of the picture and am going to do more research before I make my purchase.

They didn't have another Akai tv there with the screen protector. However the Panasonic HDTV with a screen protector had a great picture.

Pigseye

That is the unfortunately thing with most display models, they look like crap in the store! Most stores use some type of amplifier to reproduce the signal to all screens. This makes the pictures look like crap.

What the Panasonic HDTV, running the same signal? I doubt it...

 

[dafog]

I just got off the phone with every Sam's Club in Virginia and not one club has the item number posted above. They all say the item number doesn't even come up in the db.

 

[pigseye2]

Jugernot,
Well, I went behind all the TVs to see if they all had the same signal. It was hard to tell since all the cables were bundeled together and then ran up a pole. All I know was they all were displaying the same picture but the Panasonic looked great in sharpness and color balance. Now what they were showing was a Sam's Club advertisement video clip which included commercial type promotion, ESPN as part of the backdrop, and music videos.

The Akai looked OK but certainly wasn't as sharp nor could I get the color to look "right." Of course that could be an artifact of being a store demo but I had no problem adjusting the color on the Pana and could make it look good and bad.

Please note that I'm a real newbie on this stuff and have no preconceived notion or preference of HD versus non-HD. Just stating what I saw. Also, my use of this tv will include a cheap ass cable company (poor signal) or DirecTV, VHS tapes, and some DVD movies. Primarily this set will be used for everyday TV (analog, non-HD) and the occasional DVD movie.

Any other insight would be appreciated. I'm trying to learn and if there is a good reason the color and sharpness didn't look "right" on the Akai but looked great on the Pana please let me know. I'd certainly like to spend less money.

Thanks,
Pigseye

 

[ir0nw0lf]

The Sams Club here in Pensacola, FL uses a video splitter for their computer monitors on display. It's really a crappy old splitter they are using for like 6 monitors and it really degrades the signal a LOT. Their $2000+ 24" widescreen 16:9 LCD looks like total a$$ because of that, as well as all the other LCD monitors. I keep telling them they need to get rid of that damn splitter becuase every time I go there to shop, someone is bitching about how craptastic the images look, lots of shadow on them. Oh well...

Hopefully they don't have the actual TV's on one.