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Posted by Jeff Rife on 10/05/03 11:34
David Levy (d_levy@lifeisunfair.net) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> Jeff Rife wrote:
>
> > > Integrated analog tuners and speakers of average quality
> > > are dirt cheap, so it doesn't make sense to exclude them.
>
> > Oh, so now you get to change the rules.
>
> What rules?
No, the rules of why things should be excluded. Before, you were only
talking about "useless things". Now, they have to be "useless but not
dirt cheap". Also, if you had checked out the price of plastics lately,
you'd know that although speakers in a TV might be cheap, in any large
stereo TV, the additional plastic to keep them inside the set can add
$50-100 to the price of the set.
> From the manufactures' standpoint, the increased costs associated with
> producing and distributing these additional models likely would negate
> much of the already modest savings in raw component expenses.
OK, but since it's the same with ATSC tuners, where does your argument go?
Those $800 30" 16:9 HDTVs aren't $800 because the ATSC tuner costs a lot...
they are $800 because the display costs a lot to be able to handle HD.
The 27" RCA SD 4:3 sets with ATSC tuners have MSRPs of $549, which should
result in street prices of $500 at most (to compare apples to apples).
> Are you claiming that ATSC tuners cost the same amount to manufacture
> as NTSC tuners?
Not enough extra compared to the cost of an HDTV monitor to be significant.
The only reason people believe this is so is because many companies either
jack up the price for models with ATSC tuners, or models with ATSC tuners
have other extra features that the "monitor" models don't have.
> You know darn well that the prices of all HD displays (with or without
> ATSC tuners) have continually dropped, as is typical in the consumer
> electronics industry.
Actually, that's not completely true. I paid $1700 for a 38" 16:9 direct-
view CRT HDTV 4 years ago. Today, 34" 16:9 direct-view CRT HDTVs are
around $1600. That's essentially the same price as I paid, especially
when you factor in the size difference.
Prices for HDTVs have dropped in the sense that entry level is lower, but
equivalent sets haven't dropped as much as people believe, since most
current "equivalent" sets have more features than older sets.
> In my experience, the figure is closer to $100, but let's assume that
> it's dropped to $50. Why should I have been forced to pay an
> additional $50 for something entirely undesired?
So, we're back to talking about speakers, NTSC tuners, PIP circuitry, etc.
Many people find much of that "entirely undesired", but have to pay for it
because they want a 50" display.
BTW, try to find a cable-ready NTSC tuner for "dirt cheap" sometime...I
think you'll find that $25 is easily the least you'll pay.
> For someone spending
> $400 on an entry-level HD unit (as I did), $50 is 1/8 of the purchase
> price.
Since you can get a similar set from RCA but *with* ATSC tuner for MSRP
$549, compare that to the MSRP of the unit you bought, and you'll see that
when those RCA units hit the same "closeout deal" you got, it'll be the
same price. Heck, they might street at $400.
--
Jeff Rife |
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