Home audio & video forum: Buying TV from Costco???

I can't imagine, if you're a member, why you would not want to buy a big-ticket consumer electronics item from Costco. We got our 50" plasma from them in February. Let me run down the reasons why.

They had a coupon from their January "wallet" of savings for the plasma we got. Costco sends these coupon booklets out to their members every year right after Christmas to get people back into the stores. It so happens that this coupon was for the exact TV we wanted. Consumer Reports said that the Panasonic "TH" line - "Viera" is the product name on the upper left of the screen frame - was THE best TV they had ever tested. So this was a no-brainer for us. We saved several hundred dollars off the already-low price.

So yes, in answer to your question, you do get the high-end products at Costco.

The only hassle was getting it home ourselves, but that's worth it for the savings.

The other two major reasons we bought there have to do with service. Costco automatically extended the one-year manufacturer warranty to two years - no extra charge. They also give you access to their "concierge" service via a toll-free number. When I couldn't figure out why I could not get our TV to display closed captions, I called them. The tech I spoke with could not have been more helpful, courteous, or professional. When you drop $2K on a TV you want some security. We feel that we have that in abundance.

We also picked up a very nice steel and smoked glass table for the TV at the warehouse. It looks great in our living room and matches well with the plasma.

I can't guarantee you'll find the exact TV we got, but it's a Panasonic. They also carry Samsung, Vizio, Sony, and a couple of others I can't remember right now. They have plasmas, LCDs, and DLPs. But I highly recommend the Panasonic Viera line of plasmas. Ours is a 1080p model. You should spend the extra money for it since it will display Blu Ray video with the highest level of clarity.

Feel free to ask any other questions about our Costco experience. And I also encourage you to wait for the next coupon booklet to come out after Christmas. You'll save a bunch of money if you do.

The models in Costco are the same as the ones in stores like Best Buy, just the actual model numbers might be slightly different. If you want to rest absolutely easy, ask a Costco worker to see the user manual for the floor model and compare the specs in it to one from another store (or print from an online source).

Buying at Costco is actually ideal because they have a great return/exchange policy in case, heaven forbid, you get a defective TV and have to return it or exchange it. No hassling managers wanting to just give you store credit or forcing you to go through an 'authorized repair center'...just take the defective unit back to Costco in the box and they will give you a new one.

...which are worth their weight in gold as far as I'm concerned. Even the 720p models will blow your socks off(!) Simply amazing picture quality that really spoils you rotten. Obviously, these are going to be more expensive than the lower end Panny's that they tend to carry.

-Pedro