Entertainment System [Proposal]

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My family will be purchasing an entertainment system for our new house. I'm fairly certain that the $400 remote control isn't necessary and that I can find a cheaper/better television than the one this company is suggesting.

What are your recommendations? Thanks.

Family Room
1 each Mitsubishi LT-46153 Unisen LCD TV w/ Surround Bar $1,800.00
1 each Articulating Wall bracket for TV $149.00
1 each LG Bluray Player, Wireless Network for Netflix, Rhapsody, etc. $329.00
1 each Proficient Audio PS12 Subwoofer w/ 12" woofer, 250 Watt amplifier $550.00
1 each Harmony 900 RF remote control, custom programmed $400.00
1 each 110V receptacle addition for TV $0.00
misc HDMI cables and all other interconnects to complete system $100.00

Subtotal: $3,328.00

Tax: $266.24
Labor: $240.00
Total: $3,834.24

GreasyKidsStuff

Just throwing in my two cents, the Harmony remotes are pretty slick. I have one, and it works like a charm. But I can understand the desire for something cheaper.

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MH79 wrote: »

Just throwing in my two cents, the Harmony remotes are pretty slick. I have one, and it works like a charm. But I can understand the desire for something cheaper.

From what I understand, those remotes are only necessary if you have multiple devices, beyond the typical DVD/Receiver/TV devices, that you want to control.

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mcdermott wrote: »

Slider wrote: »

MH79 wrote: »

Just throwing in my two cents, the Harmony remotes are pretty slick. I have one, and it works like a charm. But I can understand the desire for something cheaper.

From what I understand, those remotes are only necessary if you have multiple devices, beyond the typical DVD/Receiver/TV devices, that you want to control.

Necessary, yeah. But they're fantastic even if all you have is a TV/Receiver/DVD/Cable setup.

But you can get some models for a lot less than $400 that will give you 99% of the Harmony Remote benefits. I think I picked mine up for like $60 on sale.

Wow! Would you mind linking it, please?

EggyToast

Do you need an articulating wall bracket? Typically these things seem to be used only to put a TV in an otherwise awkward place -- if you're simply mounting on a wall, they don't need to articulate.

In other words, for most people the articulation is only if you need to mount in one place but the TV needs to be angled another -- they aren't moved after they're set up.

And the cables are very expensive. You need.... wait... you're ordering a single subwoofer for your speakers?

Typically you need two HDMI cables (one from BD player to receiver, one from receiver to TV). That's maybe $15 from Monoprice. And then you need a bunch of audio speaker wire. Even if you need digital, it's certainly not over $50. Especially if you're only ordering one subwoofer ;P

2868

There is a 50 dollar Harmony Remote that is pretty baller. It doesn't have the LCD. The harmony 700 is pretty great for the low end.

travathian

My recommendation would be to not buy it from a company who charges $240/hr for installation of simple electronics. And one who likely marks all their shit up like crazy. Shop around, you don't have to buy it all at one time, and really, hooking this stuff up requires a 3rd grade education.

eternalbl

travathian wrote: »

My recommendation would be to not buy it from a company who charges $240/hr for installation of simple electronics. And one who likely marks all their shit up like crazy. Shop around, you don't have to buy it all at one time, and really, hooking this stuff up requires a 3rd grade education.

I didn't see where it was mentioned that install would be an hour, but I DID see where the company will be moving a power receptacle, which should require a licensed electrician to perform and running wires can be a huge bitch.

khain

I'm not sure if you considered it, but the PS3 may be a viable alternative to the bluray player and you get the added benefit go being able to play games. Also maybe I haven't looked at the price of subwoofers recently, but that seems like a really expensive sub and your pairing it with the built in sound on the tv. The TV thread should have some good recommendations for tvs and you really need to go look at them yourself before making a decision.

EskimoDave

That seems like a lot for a wall bracket.

Slider

I have considered a PS3, but nobody else is. That's out of the picture.

Yes, at least, two HDMI cables... I don't know. That stuff can get expensive. I might see if my friend at Best Buy can get them for me.

We only need one sub right now, but the bracket might be a good thing to have...just in case.

Overall, this company seems to have inflated the price of every product listed. I'll shop around indeed. Thanks.

MushroomStick

Buy your cables at monoprice.com. Their $3 cables are as good as the ones that go for $100 at bestbuy.

baudattitude

Phrases like "misc" and "custom" just scream out on that invoice. If you were still considering continuing with this company, I'd make them a) itemize those cables and define what "custom programming" meant and b) move any charge for the custom programming into labor so you're not paying sales tax on it.

Edit: dear god, that remote control actually does cost $400. Disregard most of the above; it sounds more like marketing speak than them trying to value-add you against your best interests.

Iceman.USAF

You're paying $330 for a blu-ray player when you can pay $300 for a Blu-ray player that ALSO plays kick ass games. It makes no sense to pay EXTRA for lack of features. If you had 2 identical blu-ray players, and one just happened to be 3D capable, which would you go with? The one with less, or more features?

Also, don't buy any 'accessories' at Best Buy. That's where 90% of their profit comes from. Cables especially. monoprice.com, even Amazon will do wonders. It's a digital signal, so if either gets to your system or not. Doesn't really 'degrade' like older cables do.

Also, are you paying someone else to do this? It's all rather simple.

MushroomStick

Just don't buy the 99 cent hdmi cables off amazon. The copper in those ones gets brittle and can snap inside the insulation. The $3-$4 at monoprice are ace though. Wall mounts have better prices at monoprice too.

Wezoin

Family Room
1 each Mitsubishi LT-46153 Unisen LCD TV w/ Surround Bar $1,800.00
1 each Articulating Wall bracket for TV $149.00
1 each LG Bluray Player, Wireless Network for Netflix, Rhapsody, etc. $329.00
1 each Proficient Audio PS12 Subwoofer w/ 12" woofer, 250 Watt amplifier $550.00
1 each Harmony 900 RF remote control, custom programmed $400.00
1 each 110V receptacle addition for TV $0.00
misc HDMI cables and all other interconnects to complete system $100.00

Subtotal: $3,328.00

Tax: $266.24
Labor: $240.00
Total: $3,834.24

Please note I'm from Canada, and therefore am limited in my ability to search for good deals in the US because I don't know all your stores. Shop around and see if you can find better deals on the parts I'm listing below.

My suggestion instead:
Television: Samsung UN46C6300SF - $1,529.99
Wall Bracket: Monoprice Adjustable Tilting/Swiveling Wall Mount Bracket for LCD Plasma (Max 110Lbs, 32~50inch) - $45.70
Soundbar: Boston Acoustics TVEEM20B-01 - $299.99
Blu-ray Player: Sony BDPN460 - $179.99
Remote: Logitech Harmony 700 - $149.99

Subtotal: $2205.66
Taxes: $176.46 (assuming 8% tax that was used in your example)
Total: $2382.12

This doesn't include the cost of getting an electrician to install a new outlet (wouldn't be THAT expensive) and would require you to set up the system yourself. I forgot to include HDMI cables in the price, but you can grab a bunch off monoprice on the cheap and it wouldn't cost more than $20 to outfit the whole system's cables. I'm not sure if that surround bar requires an amp, so might wanna look into that. Installation on this stuff is dead easy though and definitely not worth $240.

That company sure knows how to make things sound like you're getting a lot more than you actually are. "w/ surround bar" (alright, so the TV's speaker is a bit fancy, still wouldn't be as good as a dedicated one), "wireless network for netflix, rhapsody, etc" (Were they going to actually set up a wireless network for you? Also they're trying to make it sound like Netflix and Rhapsody are included in the cost but are separate from the bluray player), "custom programmed" (you plug it into your computer via usb cable and click the TV model you have and then its done...)

Even if you don't agree with the components I chose, you can see that you could save a lot of money doing this yourself. Also, why would anyone go for a Mitsubishi tv? I thought they'd been out of the consumer electronics industry for a long time.

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Iceman.USAF wrote: »

You're paying $330 for a blu-ray player when you can pay $300 for a Blu-ray player that ALSO plays kick ass games. It makes no sense to pay EXTRA for lack of features. If you had 2 identical blu-ray players, and one just happened to be 3D capable, which would you go with? The one with less, or more features?

Also, don't buy any 'accessories' at Best Buy. That's where 90% of their profit comes from. Cables especially. monoprice.com, even Amazon will do wonders. It's a digital signal, so if either gets to your system or not. Doesn't really 'degrade' like older cables do.

Also, are you paying someone else to do this? It's all rather simple.

I realize this, which is why I'd have my friend buy them for me. He gets everything at cost. It takes a $75 cable, down to about $6-8.