Hi Suzie

Right now there are some good rebates on the Blackberrys, $100.00 back.

As far as the televisions there would be a few things I would suggest, you learn by mistake, at least I did. The plasmas and LCD's are great if they are going in a fairly dark room, my family room is mostly glass and skylights.During the day you couldn't see the TV. So now the plasma is in my sons room to play video games.

The other thing which I learned later was that plasma tv's have a 20,000-30,000 hour life. For us that just doesn't cut it, I leave the television on at all times during the day for the parrots and the dogs. That works out to the tv lasting about 3 years.

The other thing that is difficult for me anyways, is when I watch the old tv which is 61" to go down to 42". Everything looks so little.

Peg

Peg has a good point about the type of room it is going in-not having the money to spend on a big TV now- I watch sometimes at a friend's house- she has a 60 something inch rear projection- they got it a couple of years ago and was talked out of a plasma tv because the salesperson (and this was at one of the most expensive/exclusive audio/video places in the area, probably the ones that do work for Bill Gates....) said they were still coming along as far as technology----

I personnally like the way the plasma screens have such a clear picture- my friend spent what I guess to be like $12,000+ on the whole set up with really great speakers and everything- but when I go over there to watch, since it is in such a light filled room, it is really hard to see the picure, and even at night it doesnt look GREAT to me(does sound great, though)- it is kind of hazy-it is one of those ones with the grey plastic for a screen. I would want one that was crisp and clear looking with that glossy screen.

I did not know about the lifespan issue for the plasma. You also should see about how your tv feed(cable or whatever) will look like- my friend's picture is much much better when you watch a DVD, but regular TV is pretty bad, and they also watch stuff taped from TiVo which isn't real high qualtiy either.

Let us know what you get- maybe I can put one of them on my next year's Christmas list....

-anne

I sent you a page on a Blackberry discussion, it's all Greek to me. I noticed this morning the discussion has continued and there are now a couple of pages about it on the site. Let me know if you want it mailed to you or want the site name and I'll mail that to you so you can ask your own questions regarding it.

Regarding TV's, prices are comming down really fast and if you can hold out a little longer I would. For now the best value seem's to be in flat screen HD ready TV's. I know they don't have the slim feature of the plasma or LCD's but for the price they are hard to beat. I'd just head to a big electronics store like Circuit City or Best Buy and see what you like. But again, if possible I'd hold off on the slim one's for as long as possible cause allready the price has came down at least half since they have been out.

Jamie

Hi Suzie...I would recommend Toshiba. I just got a 57" that is really great. They now come with the HDTV box inside the TV (last year was 500.00 extra) for around the $1700 mark. Not plasma/LCD...but it is large enough for big-screen thrills and still small enough that you don't need an entire wall to situate it. Toshiba is the only brand made in the U.S. (or that is what I was told anyway). I would assume you have Satellite T.V. With the HDTV most every channel will have DVD-like picture. Should be able to get some good deals now and after Christmas. Good luck and if you don't mind please keep that awful bug you had down south!! Happy Holidays, Duane.

Forgot to add to skip the plasma as I've heard that images can be "burned" into them, I could be wrong though as I don't really keep up an awful lot on such things. If your set on a slim tv get the LCD or is it LED don't know which but from my understanding they have a "life" of 100K plus hours for the screen.

Jamie

Just read yesterday in an electronics article in the Detroit Free Press the same thing Jamie said. WAIT! They said to not get plasma...wait for LCD. They are revamping their factories to get bigger screens...and the prices are going to drop eventually to something somewhat reasonable. Jamies said 100k hrs..the paper said something like 60k hours...but at that 6hrs of viewing each and every day for approx 27 years. What did you decide?

Duane, I was on my was to Circuit City last week to buy the Sony 50" WEGA (?) LCD HD...whatever. Stopped at a Verizon store first to get my son a cell phone, was talking with the sales rep about the TVs, and he told me to wait, also! He said after the first of the year Samsung is supposed to come out with the thinner models, wall mountable LCDs, with the large screens. Wall mounting is really important to us, so we decided to wait a little longer! Still kinda watching the Sony 50" at CC, and it seems to go down $100 every two or three days!

Thanks for the info...and if I don't talk to you again before the holdiays, have a blessed and very, very Merry Christmas!

Suzie