Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
| AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan | AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci | Twitter
Sean Fallon | Twitter
Jack Loftus | Twitter
John Herrman | Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Chris Mascari
Kat Hannaford | Twitter
Rosa Golijan | Twitter
Chris Jacob
Hopefully people haven't started spending too much money. The current record deficits are being funded by a massive spike in household savings. If people start spending a bunch again, that'll have a deleterious impact on the US dollar, as the US government has to go off-shore for financing.
@jepzilla: Be careful talking sensibly about all this. I don't think the Fed is too worried about the dollar considering that core inflation measures have stayed low. Once those start to tick up then they'll be concerned with the direction of the dollar, but until then they'll let it go wherever.
Edit: I meant to say be careful talking sensibly about all this because few people will be able to draw the connections you're drawing, and you're liable to get trolled for it.
I am part of the trend, as Santa and I bought a new computer, which is more that I would spend on electronics for Christmas normally, but its replacing one I have had for nearly 5 years, so I was due. Monty will be glad to know it was purchased with money I had on hand and was not charged on a card. Mine has no running balance and I prefer to keep it that way.
Not to be Mister Pessimistic, but I do hope we are all spending money we have and not borrowing from our favorite plastic rectangle manufacturers. It is great to be spending money again, but I would hate for us to re-live the same mistakes. Not that history ever repeats itself, mind you.
@Monty: As I noted earlier, consumer debt has contracted somewhat this year, and not just due to write-offs. Whether that continues to be the case after the holiday spending binge that most of us go on is another story, but up to this point this year people have actually spent money they have and paid down their cards.
@RT100: No one can really say. The economics profession has been slapped down enough by it's terrible projections over the last decade to realize it can't predict the future. The real question is, will this increase in sales be accompanied by an increase in consumer debt?
If the answer is no, then yes this will be a solid positive with no side effects. If the answer is yes, then it depends on what happens to employment over the next several months.
Who knows what will happen? The best economists in the world aren't certain, so anyone commenting here one way or another better keep that in mind as they post their prognostications.
@NorwoodIsMyHero: and we can really only be responsible for ourselves, so people, pay off your credit cards each month. If you can't pay for it this month, you don't need it. Save up BEFORE you need to buy something. And if something better comes out in the meantime, well then you'll get a doubly good deal, better product + no debt!
The economy is not going to chug along at bubbly 2005 levels, let alone real, sustainable 1972 levels, with you and me buying the bread, milk, gas, cheese, and veggies we need. You have to get out there and buy stuff you don't really need. More TVs, more cheap plastic crap, more overpriced 7-11 snacks, more potato chips, more electronic pet hamsters.
High-profit, cheaply made, low-intrinsic-utility stuff. In fact, I'll venture to say that today's credit-dependent, Potemkin economy cannot flourish unless people buy junk they don't need. Because all essential demand has been met: nobody wants any more poor-quality crap, more granite countertops at bubble prices, more plasticware.
So they're doing what governments and centeral banks do best: pulling demand forward. Again and again, only now even forward demand had been satisfied. I don't know about you guys, but I regularly throw out broken cheap crappy housewares, plastic this-and-that, cheap particleboard furniture and broken toys, six-month-old unrepairable cheap appliances and I avoid buying this stuff wherever possible.
But it is REAL hard to find good quality anything, even at a high price, anymore: there isn't any profit for the manufacturer in it!
My best furniture? It's SOLID wood, Taiwan cedar or Spruce, refinished by me, which came from the DUMP. From the past.
@numike: 1972? That would be the year that everyone's favorite president Nixon instituted price controls if my recollection of economic history serves me correctly. Certainly it was helpful that year, but in the following years those same wage and price controls contributed to a massive disaster that never really got fixed until Paul Volcker crushed inflation in the early 1980's.
I've been holding off on getting an HDTV for quite a while. I currently don't have a TV. I watch all of my TV and play all of my games on a 24" 1920 x 1080 monitor. I watch all of my TV online currently.
I want an HDTV. But I don't want one too big. 40" looks just about right for what I want. I want to be able to watch some movies, TV and play some games. I do want it to be 1080p. Some people say you can't tell the difference, but I honestly can.
I know that as soon as I get one, though, the price will drop. :(
Regardless of these guides I like my way of purchasing a TV.
1. Define a max budget
2. Save money so you can pay for the entire TV at once.
3. While saving look into LCD vs Plasma and what TV you actually want.
4. Determine how much space you actually have for a TV, in my case it fits between two bookshelves so the largest I could go, regardless of room size was a 46" TV.
5. Convince the wife a new TV is a good idea.
6. Wait for the a good deal so that you can get the TV you want, but is normally out of your budget.
7. ...
8. PROFIT!!! ...........
oh sorry let's try that again
8. Enjoy new TV after calibrating it!
Point out how big 50" TV is to wife.
Have wife get excited about the prospect of 50" HD porn. (Yes, seriously)
Go buy 50" Plasma so that you can see screen well from, *cough* "All angles."
Question, how often would it be reasonable to replace a HDTV? I have a 50 inch Sony KF-50WE620, which I kinda want to replace but it feels wasteful (and wasteful I am not!), so what do you think?
In my case, I'm very glad I got a plasma. No matter where you put the furniture you still get a good picture and our room isn't so light that an LCD's brightness would be an advantage.
@oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...: Not at all - I just got my new 42" plasma last week and it weighed the same as my old (very old, so heavier than they are now) 36" LCD.
Picture is fantastic, especially considering I got it under $600 shipped. Thanks, Dell!
@oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...: There are pluses and minuses for each type. Burn in really isn't much of a problem anymore, but why worry about it if you like the LCD's picture well enough? I don't play games on that TV and mostly watch movies and TV so a plasma works for me.
@oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...: burn in was the case for 1st gen plasmas. I have a Panny Plasma and game MW2 all the time for hours at a time. Not a trace of burn in.
@oo: Now with fewer o's: They're heavy. My 50" weighs in at 70 lbs. But, I don't know about being super cautious moving it. I just bought a stand that it mounts directly to to stabalize the unit and voila.
@Bizdady: @Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: @mikecoscia: thanks guys I honestly had no idea. We are looking at new tv's for the living room. wont be buying till march or so but plasmas are back on the consideration list now.
@ooooo: You can get image persistence on lcd also. It happened to my monitor but it's not permanent like burn in and there are ways to correct it (which takes a while).
@ripfire: yeah I mention that in a previous comment, I was saying Id take persistence over burn in dollar for dollar. but if burn in really isn't an issue any longer. Does plasma only have weight as a con now? I may have to actually read this guide.
Really the only drawback I've seen from modern plasmas is they're power hungry compared to modern LCD's. But, you can get a good sized plasma for less than the equivalent LCD as well.
@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: yeah Im gonna go eye shopping. Honestly I may have to go cutting edge and get a super thin samsung. they are really pretty on a wall.
Back then, I remember recommending lcds to my friends and families. Then lately, I ended up with a plasma (Panny pz800). :P The quality is just too good for the price.
12/11/09
12/11/09
Edit: I meant to say be careful talking sensibly about all this because few people will be able to draw the connections you're drawing, and you're liable to get trolled for it.
12/11/09
12/11/09
Not to be Mister Pessimistic, but I do hope we are all spending money we have and not borrowing from our favorite plastic rectangle manufacturers. It is great to be spending money again, but I would hate for us to re-live the same mistakes. Not that history ever repeats itself, mind you.
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/11/09
What is better news is that consumer debt actually contracted this year, and not just due to writeoffs by major card companies.
12/11/09
12/11/09
If the answer is no, then yes this will be a solid positive with no side effects. If the answer is yes, then it depends on what happens to employment over the next several months.
Who knows what will happen? The best economists in the world aren't certain, so anyone commenting here one way or another better keep that in mind as they post their prognostications.
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/11/09
sorry buddy, but anyone who does stock analysis on the basis of moving averages and chartism is just as stone age as pre-wheel cavemen.
12/11/09
12/11/09
High-profit, cheaply made, low-intrinsic-utility stuff. In fact, I'll venture to say that today's credit-dependent, Potemkin economy cannot flourish unless people buy junk they don't need. Because all essential demand has been met: nobody wants any more poor-quality crap, more granite countertops at bubble prices, more plasticware.
So they're doing what governments and centeral banks do best: pulling demand forward. Again and again, only now even forward demand had been satisfied. I don't know about you guys, but I regularly throw out broken cheap crappy housewares, plastic this-and-that, cheap particleboard furniture and broken toys, six-month-old unrepairable cheap appliances and I avoid buying this stuff wherever possible.
But it is REAL hard to find good quality anything, even at a high price, anymore: there isn't any profit for the manufacturer in it!
My best furniture? It's SOLID wood, Taiwan cedar or Spruce, refinished by me, which came from the DUMP. From the past.
12/11/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
I want an HDTV. But I don't want one too big. 40" looks just about right for what I want. I want to be able to watch some movies, TV and play some games. I do want it to be 1080p. Some people say you can't tell the difference, but I honestly can.
I know that as soon as I get one, though, the price will drop. :(
11/18/09
1. Define a max budget
2. Save money so you can pay for the entire TV at once.
3. While saving look into LCD vs Plasma and what TV you actually want.
4. Determine how much space you actually have for a TV, in my case it fits between two bookshelves so the largest I could go, regardless of room size was a 46" TV.
5. Convince the wife a new TV is a good idea.
6. Wait for the a good deal so that you can get the TV you want, but is normally out of your budget.
7. ...
8. PROFIT!!! ...........
oh sorry let's try that again
8. Enjoy new TV after calibrating it!
11/18/09
Point out how big 50" TV is to wife.
Have wife get excited about the prospect of 50" HD porn. (Yes, seriously)
Go buy 50" Plasma so that you can see screen well from, *cough* "All angles."
11/19/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Of course, I bought a Samsung pn50b650 Plasma for $935... But, seriously, this would have been helpful!
11/18/09
I live in an apartment, so it's maybe a 20-step walk to my TV. I think I'll hold off on another TV for a while.
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Picture is fantastic, especially considering I got it under $600 shipped. Thanks, Dell!
11/18/09
11/18/09
#tips
11/18/09
#tips
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
#tips
11/18/09
11/18/09
#tips
11/18/09
Really the only drawback I've seen from modern plasmas is they're power hungry compared to modern LCD's. But, you can get a good sized plasma for less than the equivalent LCD as well.
11/18/09
#tips
11/18/09
Back then, I remember recommending lcds to my friends and families. Then lately, I ended up with a plasma (Panny pz800). :P The quality is just too good for the price.
11/18/09
11/16/09