Tips to save money on A/V gear this holiday season

by Geoffrey Morrison | 7 December 2011 12:10pm SGT

There are many great choices for new A/V gear this year, but it's also easy to get suckered into getting more than you need.

Tips to save money on A/V gear this holiday season

Check out these tips and tricks to save yourself some big money this holiday season.

Shop online

I know everyone loves waiting in line and dealing with holiday traffic and people's pleasant holiday demeanor, but if you skip the store, you can save some money. In most cases, online retailers will have lower prices on the same products.

Avoid expensive addons

No matter where you buy your new gear, chances are the retailer is going to try to get you to buy something else during checkout. This makes sense, as there is almost no markup on that new TV (even at over US$1,000, amazingly). The way stores make money is through addons like cables and extended warranties.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of extended warranties. LCDs and plasmas have been found to be extremely reliable. Receivers and speakers rarely break, unless your kids have a party. Blu-ray players are practically disposable at this point. Sure you'll hear stories like, "Well, I know someone who met a guy whose TV broke", but statistically speaking, your TV is likely to last you decades with no problems. So if you still want a warranty, go ahead, get the peace of mind, just know it's probably a waste of money.

Kramer flat HDMI cable.
(Credit: Kramer)

And don't buy cables at a store. HDMI cables shouldn't cost you more than US$20. Even the "cheap" HDMI cables in most stores are US$40, and this is way too much.

Avoid floor models and "doorbusters"

TVs in stores are left on all day, most all night as well. All TVs lose brightness over time, so if they've been on 24 hours a day for three months, that's years' worth of normal viewing. That means the TV will be dimmer, sooner, and will likely last less time. So are you really saving money?

Doorbusters, like US$200 TVs, are worth what you paid for them. They aren't going to have the picture quality of name-brand TVs. If your goal is to just get a TV, then go for it. If you're looking for something good, these aren't a good deal, they're just cheap.

LED vs. plasma

Most TV manufacturers are pushing their LED TVs, most of which are more expensive than their non-LED and plasma counterparts. It's worth noting that there's no such thing as an "LED TV", per se. This isn't a new type of television, it is an ordinary LCD TV that uses LEDs as its backlight instead of CCFLs.

LG 47LW6500.
(Credit: LG)

Generally, LED TVs are brighter and more energy-efficient than "regular" LCDs and plasmas, but rarely is this extra brightness needed in a home. They'll look amazing in the store, but when you get them home, they'll be far too bright until you turn down the backlight, and then they're no brighter than the other TVs.

And as far as energy efficiency goes, you'll never make up the price difference in energy savings. For a similarly sized LED and plasma TVs, the difference per year is just a few dollars.

Also, just because a TV uses LEDs doesn't mean it has good picture quality. In some ways it can actually be worse.

Blu-ray players

The three most common features that more expensive Blu-ray players have are built-in Wi-Fi, 3D, and Internet streaming.

Samsung BD-D7500.
(Credit: Samsung)

Built-in Wi-Fi is certainly convenient, but running a few feet of Ethernet cable from your router is probably worth the few minutes of labor. Or maybe not. It certainly depends on your room. What does having a Wi-Fi/Internet connection get you here? Well, easy firmware updates (regularly needed with Blu-ray players, sadly) and Internet streaming.

Internet-streaming services like YouTube give you access to nearly unlimited content. They're great, but if you're buying a new TV, it likely has the same services built in already. You certainly don't need them in both your TV and your Blu-ray player.

And 3D? If you're getting a new 3D TV, or are thinking of getting one in the future (hint, most TVs will be 3D-capable within the next few years), then it's probably worth getting a 3D Blu-ray player now. The feature won't add a ton to the price.

Internet-streaming boxes

Web streamers like the Aztech PlayXtreme and AC Ryan Veolo offer the potential of nearly unlimited content thanks to YouTube and other video-on-demand (VOD) services. I love these products, but they're not quite the value they first appear.

AC Ryan Veolo.
(Credit: AC Ryan)

You can find Blu-ray players that have the same or similar streaming services, plus they'll play discs. Many new HDTVs have these functions as well, so like I mentioned in the Blu-ray player section, there's no need to duplicate your streaming.

On the other hand, if you just want to add streaming to your current system, streaming boxes are really cool.

Lastly...

This goes for all product categories: If a deal seems too good to be true, or offers a product at a price way below its competition, there's a catch. There's always a catch. Look very closely at the fine print.

Rarely is a super special offer actually for a good product. It's just there to get you to come to the store so they can sell you something else. Just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it's a good value.