I visited Circuit City in Crossgates Commons this past Sunday and strolled over to the High Definition Televisions to perform our little "class experiment". The first thing that I noticed was a huge sign that read "HDTV IS HERE" from across the store, when I got over to the section where the signs were hanging I noticed that they had all of the HDTV's stacked up on the wall. As I was browsing around all of the different types a sales person approached me and asked if I needed any help. I told him that I was in the market for a brand new TV for a home theater system; he told me that I came to the right place. He went on to tell me all about all about HDTV and its benefits, along with some technical "mumbo jumbo" I couldn"t understand. He said something about making sure that if I did purchase a HDTV set, that I get one that has a progressive format and not an interlaced format (yes, that is what he said. I wrote it down when I got back into my car!). .
Then the unthinkable happened, the sales person did a complete "180" on me and went from telling me that High Definition Television was the greatest since sliced bread to telling me that Plasma Television Sets will have more impact on the United States than Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. When I saw the prices that Circuit City was asking for these Plasma TV's, I think that I understand why he was trying so hard to sell me on one commission. That has to be it, these televisions were beautiful - a lazy man's nirvana if you will - but they were costly, no RIDICULOUSLY expensive! Were talking $1,000 to $5,000, a tad too pricey for my liking. They were expensive, but definitely seemed to have a leg up on HDTV. The picture on the Plasma TV looked practically like a professional, crystal-clear, camera-taken picture. I was definitely impressed.
After I thanked the sales person for his time, and told him I"d consider (yeah right!), I left the store and on my way out I picked up some flyers.