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Camcorders For Graduation: Capturing The Angst Of The Newly Educated In Stunning High-Def
Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Apr 30, 08
The degree recipients of this year's graduation season enter a shaky economy in an unsettled, violent world – how 'bout recording those first hesitant steps with the latest in HD camcorder technology?
There's been a bit of price relief among the top camcorder models listed on this site, though we've also seen recent price hikes (some other tech categories have shown fairly firm pricing of late; see "Flat-Screen Prices Still, Well, Flat; Some Even Rise, "Digital Cameras Capture Picture Of Emerging Inflation?") For example, since the end of January the Sony HDR-SR11 High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 60GB Hard Disk has dropped from $1,200 to a lowest price of about $1,050 among vendors on this site, though the lowest offered price has risen from as little as $900 in recent days.
Time Period: 1/28/2008 through 4/28/2008
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Similarly, Canon’s VIXIA HV20 high-def miniDV Camcorder has fallen from around $1,100 last February to south of $800 right now, though it also has risen from under $600 recently.
Time Period: 2/5/2007 through 4/28/2008
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
So while camcorder prices have fallen over the last year, there are signs of price stabilization and even some price increases, as you can see from PriceSCAN's High Definition Digital Camcorder Index. Whether inflation will continue to reverse prior price drops is hard to predict, but after what you may have dropped on tuition, you might consider locking in some high-def savings while you can.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 8:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
LCD Prices Too High? Consider Some Upstart Brands
Electronics | Apr 18, 08
One way to save on flat-panel purchases might be to consider some brands now challenging the hegemony of the Sonys and Samsungs of the world.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal stated Vizio had 12.4% of the LCD television market in Q3 2007, while Samsung and Sony were at 14.2% and 12.5% respectively. The Journal notes that Vizio’s monitors are made by Taiwan-based AmTran, which has made screens for Sharp and Sony but gives advantageous terms to Vizio, in which it holds a 23% stake. This allows Vizio to pass on savings to consumers. For example, consider the Vizio VU42, a 1080p model offered at just under $1000. By contrast, the least expensive Sony 42 inch model on this site, the FWD-42LX1/B, is priced about $500 dollars more and has only 720 resolution. On a smaller scale, the pattern isn’t universal. The lowest non-refurbished price on the 32-inch Vizio VX32L is just under $630, and while Sony’s FWD-32LX1/B goes for less than $600, another 720 model, the Sony KDL-32M3000 32 inch BRAVIA M-Series, is just shy of $700.
There are other small brands to consider, including Westinghouse, Olevia, and ViewSonic, and I’ve noted some less expensive models from Sharp recently. With a weak dollar and other inflationary forces keeping flat-screen prices firm in recent days (see "Flat-Screen Prices Still, Well, Flat; Some Even Rise") it might well be worth exploring lesser-known alternatives. As Vizio and others are demonstrating, the ability to keep prices low may mean these players don’t stay obscure forever.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 6:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
