Don't Be Misled By Best Buy's HDTV + PS3 Bundles

Below are the twelve PS3/TV packages along with the actual current Best Buy HDTV price. Regardless of the misleading savings, a number of the packages are sweet deals.

[Son0Fsocal]

I'm glad somebody pointed this out.. Thoes aren't
never good deals.. If you add everything up
you usualu pay the same.. Only stores like COSTCO
FRYS offer real discounts on bundles. Best buy takes
advantage of all thoes MAROON'S who have
I.Q's as low as house plants..

[TheColbertinator]

What the hell is a MAROON?

[qface64]

maroon lol that's my word for the day

[OhReginald]

Maroons are communities whom were faced with great odds to survive against white attackers, obtain food for subsistence living, and to reproduce and increase their numbers.

[KurdGamer]

LMFAO "maroons" LOL, well we know who the Moron is!!

[Obama]

Get a brain Morans. ;)

[Parapraxis]

So in the end the actual amount you save may not be as much as listed on the sticker, BUT, you are still saving a lot. The PS3, Game and movie in every case is basically FREE and the TV costs as much as it does at Amazon (the only site used to compare prices)

I suppose it may seem a bit misleading as you aren't saving as much as suggested, but since when is Amazon the standard rule of thumb when comparing TV prices?

Even if you were to buy the TVs at Amazon, often they are still more than you are paying in this Best Buy promotion and the do not come with the PS3 + game + movie.

The Best Buy deals are still some of the best around.

[DarkTower805]

if you ever have problems with your PS3/tv you can just take it right in to Best Buy. If you have problems with items you bought off of Amazon it's way more of a hassle.

Then...I am also a Best Buy reward zone member which means I earn money for purchases, so if I'm buying a TV/PS3 that alot of reward zone money I'm going to get back. Amazon doesn't offer that.

[f789790]

Seriously, the original prices on those TVs are ridiculous.

[Oner]

I posted this at the forum I moderate at just the other day ~

"Kind of a long story that I thought I should share,

I just bought a Townhouse and had to buy an LCD HDTV for my Master Bedroom as my old 34" Wega (Glass Tube 720p/1080i 200+ lbs) was just too big for the new room & placing it would have been a pain. So I bought a 40" Sony Bravia W Series on 11/1 but as the weeks went by I felt it was too small and went back to BestBuy to upgrade it to the 46" model before the 30 day exchange/return expired.

I managed to get there this past Sunday to do the whole deal and it actually worked out better than I thought as the 46" was on sale because of Black Friday! So I managed to upgrade it for like $160 bucks more...but here's the kicker - when I got back home and started browsing the net for a few minutes (I have had limited access because of all the work around the house I have been doing) I come across the new deal with BestBuy that Sony is offering where you can save like $798 - $1118 on the combo deal of select HDTV's, PS3 Slim 120gb + BD & a Game!

I immediately call up the BestBuy I just got back from to confirm they have the deal there and the CSR told me to just come in and they will handle everything. All I have to do is come in a pay the difference (I expected it to be about $150 more or so) & pick up my items, so I was like F that! I am not gonna pass up on a PS3 Slim with a game + movie for such a little price difference! But it was a bit late so I decided to do it the next day.

Anyway here is the REALLY SWEET part ~ I popped in there and grabbed a 120gb Slim plus The Taking of Pelham 123 on BD & a second copy of Uncharted 2 (that I am going to send as a gift to my Cuz in Cali) and jumped on the return/exchange line to tell the CSR the situation and hand over my receipt so she can do her thing in the computer...a minute goes by and I see/hear the register open and say to myself "That's weird, I didn't pay yet nor said it would be a cash payment so why is she 1 step ahead of me?", then I see her start grabbing cash and she says here is YOUR difference and starts to bag up the items!

They actually paid ME $46 bucks to pick up a PS3 Slim 120 + BD & Game! Hows that for an awesome deal!?!? So for those looking for an INCREDIBLE combo deal head on over to your Local (or even online) BestBuy!

Now I got a 3rd PS3 ~ basically for free ~ on top of the 2nd one that I won in a PSM contest! I think I may box up my launch model 20gb and put it away to add in my collection of consoles ;)!"

You can't beat that! This was one AWESOME Christmas present/deal for me!

[gamingisnotacrime]

That is the greatest story i have hears in a store.
You hit the jackpot buddy, what a time you choosed to upgrade your goodies, amazing

[Sarcasm]

Amazon has always sold TVs for very cheap while Best Buy usually sticking closer to the MSRP. This is not news.

[Sarick]

When I was younger I saw a sale for 50% off at a store and told my dad. "look a 50% off sale". He replied, something like "be careful about sales, they sometimes raise the prices 75% then put items on sale" He then said "Some people don't realize the original price was raised and are tricked into thinking they're getting a good deal."

After reading this, seeing the prices where increased then placed on sale for more or the same price I'm reminded of his comment.

[Anon1974]

Shopping from an online retailer is sometimes cheaper then buying from a big box store?

Thanks for that pearl of wisdom.

Above: "Some people don't realize the original price was raised and are tricked into thinking they're getting a good deal."
Not meaning to slight your father or anything, but yeah...the original prices are marked up. Then they go on sale and the markup is reduced. Hence the idea of items going on sale.

I guess I'm just not following. So, was your father trying to say that the "original" price quoted against the "sale" price isn't actually the original sale price but instead an inflated version of the original price to make the sale seem better?

I'm pretty sure that's illegal. I don't think stores like Best Buy would attempt such an obvious ploy considering the legal ramifications, and how easy it would be to catch them at this.

[Guido]

Sorry, but regardless of the amount they claim you save, the package deals are awesome. Even for the less expensive deal of 950 for a 46 inch TV, a PS3, a game, a movie and the BT Remote, you can't go wrong. I was at BB Friday and Saturday picking up my new Samy and I saw dozens of people buying that package. They were literally flying out the door.

[Oner]

@ gamingisnotacrime ~ Thanx man! I am lucky though as I might have missed it because of how busy I am/was with the whole "taking care of the house" thing... I should also have the mounts for the TV and the Cable Box/PS3 today (hopefully) from Monoprice, so I am ready (and anxious) to set everything up!

[unrealgamer58]

boom! that is all

[PixlSheX]

O_O

[unrealgamer58]

lol maroon

[LordMarius]

Don't Be Misled By http://www.n4g.com/industry...

[JonnyBigBoss]

The PS3, game and movie is free. This article is bogus.

[chrisulloa]

"free"

See how I put it in quotations there?

[skip2mylou]

and BOOM go the dynamites :)

[Spike47]

*dshhhhhhhh*....*BOOOM*

LOL

[skip2mylou]

boom boom boom boom. clean up on aisle ka-BOOMMM!!! XD

[i_am_interested]

save "up to"

[Hollowmancr]

in one bundle the ps3 price after savings equates to 1$ only.. so getting a 1$ ps3 + game + blu-ray movie is bogus and misleading? you sirs clearly have your heads up in a feces infested hole.

yes the savings don't amount to $1100 in all cases but still HUGE savings.

[04soldier]

Price check on aisle 'Boom'......

[proudly_X]

Gaming journalism has gone crazy,
this article is Dumb!

[SilverSlug]

Don't buy it, go somewhere else. It is like me complaining that the Toy 'R' US, buy 1 get 1 half off sale is not good because they still list inFamous for 60 bucks..

You are not forced to buy the bundle, consumers should research before they buy anything, especially from Best Buy.

[lordkemp007]

Best buy to run new bundle --- An xbox 360 with an Etch-A-Sketch.

[Ven1000]

Good one.

[elcompa425]

LORKemp...you're comments never cease to make me laugh.

Cheers

ARTICLE = FAIL.

[CrashFallen]

even then i couldnt care less, little workers at best buy making people believe that 360 can play blue ray n has wifi built in misleading people to believe its the same value as the ps3 is wat really needs to be brought up in these articles.

[Anorexorcist]

Best Buy workers have mislead people into thinking the 360 has Blu-Ray and built in WiFi?

Wow at the idiotic public who'll believe anything and don't do any independent research. So many idiots believed that MW2 was 360-exclusive just cause Microsoft gave Activision $50 million dollars for exclusive marketing rights.

[Anorexorcist]

Wow, apparently everyone these days are forgetting what the pretext "save UP TO X amount" means.

The best place to get great shopping price comparisons is shopzilla.com I recommend going there and doing research through shopzilla if you feel these HDTV/PS3 bundle deals are inadequate or "misleading" in some way.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

The deal is pretty weak since your force to buy a Sony tv. Their are many better options out there in the Samsung, Panasonic, or Pioneer.

[PirateThom]

Don't Sony and Samsung TVs use exactly the same screens?

[Anorexorcist]

"The deal is pretty weak since your force to buy a Sony tv. Their are many better options out there in the Samsung, Panasonic, or Pioneer."

Yeah, and with "Halo3" in his account name and an avatar with a silhouette of Master Cheif, you can take that opinion to the bank.../S

[cyborg6971]

Your right thom. There are only two LCD manufactures in the world and all those companies get them from the same place. Mlg us full of fail today.

[skip2mylou]

and what is exactly wrong with a sony bravia? i have Panasonic Viera, Sony Bravia, and a Samsung and i would rather take the samsung and sony over the panasonic

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

Sony is a ridiculously over priced LCD which is still a few steps behind in Plasma quality which you can get much cheaper. The Panasonic Viera plasma's are one of the best bang for you buck. Samsung's new tech LED is an awesome tv's. And Pioneer's are still the best tv out there. Sony's LCD is old tech.

[YoMeViet]

lay off him guys, hating anything "Sony" is his job

[Oner]

@ cyborg6971 ~ "Mlg us full of fail today"

MLG is full of fail EVERYDAY - fixed ;)

[gamingisnotacrime]

and still all he does is write giberish

@ Pirate Thorn

The panels might be simialr, but Sony uses Bravia engine chips on their TVs, and for me they are my personal choice in terms of vibrant colors and motion flow. Samsung is getting a lot of love, but i prefer Sony in the TVs (funny thing is that i currently own a Samsung lol)

[A LIVING LEGEND]

Yea,I agree.
So many people still don't know,for whatever reason.Some of them rather unscrupulous.It doesn't do 'everything' but it does a hell of a lot more than commonly perceived.
"Yes,but you cannot access your routers settings from a ps3,you need a pc or laptop"- Telus rep.Canada
"You need an hd reciever to view hd movies"-Starchoice
etc,etc.
Sony Bravia is a beautiful unit,more expensive but if you can afford it,well worth the money.I couldn't and opted for a 40" Toshiba 1080p for 630$ Cdn. before taxes.It seems very good so far.

[ForROME]

Blah reward zone talk at best buy, the amount of TAX i save out weighs the amount of lame 10 dollar coupons I get back on a reward zone card, give me a break

I get shipping and no tax? thats a savings in itself

[ForROME]

Obviously not all states save on tax, I live in Texas so I benefit from no tax

[A LIVING LEGEND]

I beg to differ.Pioneer is NOT the best tv.Plasma is NOT preferable for strictly gaming applications and the Sony Bravia is considered preferable by those who can readily afford them( especially the new model).A friend of mine who is VERY knowledgeable suggested the Toshiba before the Panasonic."picture wise,very comparable but the Toshiba has some of the best sound in that range,for the price you cannot go wrong"
He has high praise for certain models of Samsung as well and suggests avoiding LG.I took his advice.........over others.

[whothedog]

Best Buy sucks. I laugh when I see people buying computers from there.

Even though I got my PS3 from there :(

[gamingisnotacrime]

lol

[supremacy]

mr halo only if you knew half of what you are talking about than you would know that, as of last year pioneer sold their tech to panasonic, meaning they havent been making any plasmas in house see for yourself http://hd.engadget.com/2009... yes both Sony and samsung use pretty much the same tech.heck they created a plant for just that a few years ago here see for yourself http://news.zdnet.com/2100-... and more here http://www.forbes.com/2008/...

also to my knowledge the first thin tv which used led technology was a Sony prototype which was reveled back some time ago before any other company enter the realm.

right now they are working on numerous things such a 3d imagine television and a self powered tv witch doesn't need a wall jack homes.

for example look at the date of this article when it was posted and realized Sony was there before many even samsung started crafting these. http://www.embedded.com/und...

now check out the date of the world's thinnest http://www.engadget.com/200...

see Sony hasn't lost any ground anywhere its just there with the pack. if anything its involve with man y of its competitors. now please stop your hating.

[CaptainPunch]

Lol I just saw the commercial today,it was great. I love how Sony is taking the advertisement approach a lot better this time.

[TheTeam06]

Price with Value is always something that customers (at least SHOULD) look at. If they find what's a better deal in their mind, they should know what their money is going into.

........ hehe.......... maroons...

[ironmonkey]

acutally you go to any store people who work there themselves would tell you not to buy a plasma but an lcd so no panasonic plasma is not made for games neither is samsung they are software redered for gaming mode if you want true gaming tv look into toshiba lcd tv's that have true gaming engines in them and made specifically for just gaming if you just watch movies then get a samsung cause the colours are very vibrant but never go for plasma it loses its colour and brightness after using it for so long just like projection tv but those bulbs are replacable, plasma's arent xbox360 is doing the same thing with a 40 samsung tv bundled for 999$ didnt sell to well during the holidays thats just to bad.

[neogeo]

I sell TV's in the most busy store in the company. Store 465 concord pike Delaware. (tax free)

Anyway they are selling out fast! let them say what they want, but let me tell you, We have been selling this bundle like MAD!!! I personally sold 11 PS3's today with TV's!! we have over 350 PS3 in the back almost GONE! wait to you guys see the numbers for PS3 December! There are over 1300 bestbuy store and we can break 100 in a day!?!? do the math people!!

shame i only have 3 bubbles, I'm never wrong if you review my history and once again I'm telling you over 1.5 million PS3's for December. in America alone...

WATCH!!!

[FunAndGun]

I always like hearing stories from employees that see it first hand. Not sure if you are exaggerating at all, but I'm sure it is going well.

bubs up.

[opticnads]

I disagree. I worked at best buy and I also was one of the persons who changed the prices throughout the store. I can tell you by my personal experience that best buy will raise the price and say that very item is on sale. I have seen it so many times and no I do not think it is illegal.

[mcm]

No, it is not illegal. Maybe immoral, but when did that matter to big business.

Halo3 MLG Pro
He is right about the overpricing at Best Buy, but that has nothing to do with Sony. Sony doesn't dictate the prices to Best Buy. Now the comments about Sony's LCDs being inferior... that is 100% hate speech.
A good place to find info about anything related to home theater is AVS.com. Research there and ignore this fool. Sony LCDs are a good buy if you can catch a sale. They also have an outstanding warranty program too. The only current problem I see with Sony LCDs is the
70 inch Bravia that cost $19,000.00.

[UltimateSin]

The Bestbuy deals for Canada that i've seen look good. 40" Sony Bravia + PS3 Slim for $1000. That's an awesome deal.

[Nizzy79]

got my 46w5100 + ps3 + game + movie for less than the price of the tv alone... i'm a HAPPY CAMPER!

[Stevo35]

Useful article to open some peoples eyes. But, WTF, get a life! The only person that would have the numbers like this would be the person that does the pricing at BB. Aren't you worried about loosing your job?

[solid knight]

I hate to say, but Halo MLG is right about Sony's tvs being overpriced. Don't get me wrong there very good tvs but you can get much better picture quality for less, especially if you go with Panasonic viera, the best in the market since Pioneer is out of the tv market. Also I read people saying that LCD's are better for gaming, and that is a misconception, since Plasma motion resolution is way superior to LCD. Plasma FTW.