By Carl Laron on October 28, 2009 in
The first batch of TV deals for the holiday season comes courtesy of a leaked Sears Black Friday circular posted at Black-Friday.net and lots of similar sites. While there are some interesting "special purchase" plasma and LCD TVs that bear further investigation (watch for that post in the coming days), we did note at least one "doorbuster" TV deal that's not much of a deal at all in our opinion. Here are the details:
The TV: Samsung LN46B650
The Deal: $1309.99, 4 a.m. to noon only on Black Friday at Sears, while quantities last, minimum two per store, no rainchecks
The Reality: You can get it now for less, with no waiting, no limits, and no lost sleep
The Samsung LN46B650, part of the company's LNB650 series of LCD TVs, is a good performer that's just a small step below the very best. Picture quality is pretty good, with deeper blacks and better colors than most competitors. Features are generous, and include full 1080p resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate to reduce motion blur, dejudder circuitry to smooth out motion in movies, and Internet access via Yahoo Widgets. Styling is striking, though a few take shots at its red-tinged Touch of Color bezel. Energy efficiency is excellent. Some professional reviewers rate the LNB650 TVs higher than others, but all give it decent respect. Owner feedback is pretty plentiful, and most say they are happy. We like the Samsung LNB650 series enough to include the 40-inch Samsung LN40B650 among our Best Reviewed picks in our report on LCD TVs, and the performance of the 46-inch LN46B650 should be similar.
Our research shows that the Sears Black Friday price for the LN46B650 isn't terrible, and is even a bit below the current average price for the TV of around $1,450 (though that's a far cry from the $1,900 that Sears says is the "regular" price for the TV). However, we also see several retailers offering the Samsung LN46B650 for below $1,300 -- right now, with no need to stand in line or battle the Black Friday crowd. You can take a trip to the ConsumerSearch Where to Buy page for the LN46B650 for some examples.