err.. the Costco $3900 special isn't some off-brand.. it's a Hitachi, it's HD, and it's a damned good unit...

Not as good as a Fujitsu, but still a damned good unit...

Well a little homework tells you that the Gateway is EDTV and only offers 480p native but everything has it's place. I had a customer that was looking for a plasma for the bedroom so his wife could watch I Love Lucy and the golden girls at night before she went to bed one of my competitors spec'd in a Fujistu Plasma and 5.1 receiver, etc. I actually "talked" to the customer (something so many people forget) and realized that he wasn't looking for HD in the bedroom or surround, he wanted sound (that could beheard from 2ft away at night) and a picture (mostly B+W) the fact that he was going to have to spend $6k+ on the screen alone didn't scare him, it annoyed him! So when I spec'd in the Gateway (and made up for buying at retail in labor) he was so impressed that I actually didn't push the best technology on him that now I got the bid on his media room.

Oh yeah and his wife.. loves it.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives, we don't pay the proper attention to our customers needs and we sell them the best technology for the sake of technology. Better customers are made with an open ear, not an open mouth.


Piece of crap? Not in my mind

Yes and No.

Yes, it is a piece of crap.

Does that mean that it doesn't have a place in the market? No.

Nearly everyone that I work with (including myself) hate the Klipsch speakers that we sell.

Do we still get people that come in asking for them? Sometimes.

But more often than that we get someone that comes in looking for a system that will blast his neighbors out of their pools from 3 blocks away. Who do we turn to? Klipsch of course.

I still hate them cause they sound like crap. Will I sell them to the right person? Yes. Cause they were built for certain situations.

I see this gateway in the same light. Crap, that I wouldn't be caught dead with in my own house, But might spec for someone if the situation was right.

I bought the Sampo 42S6 last June, and I'm an HD freak.! I was told the Costco/Gateway model is defeatured to get the cost down for mass merchandisers to sell, also heard Costco customers complain about loud humming, so I'm thinking my set may be different.
We bought a new house, and we didn't want a tank of a TV in our living room, with a 1 year old looking for all the cords.
A $350,000 mortgage and Pampers in my future, $3500 was WAY over our budget, but the "hang on the wall" concept is priceless, it makes our family room LARGER, and keeps the cords out of the way...now for the picture...
HD is STUNNING, much sharper, crisper than my new JVC Progressive Scan DVD.
CBS AFC playoffs made me cry, where FOX 480 WS sucked, HDNET wows all my guests.
Yes, it's an EDTV set, but after asking HDTV gurus, the downconverting process is excellent as ABC 720p Superbowl couldn't touch what the Raiders/Titans/Jets games looked like at 1080i.
We still question spending $3500 for a TV, now that we need cash for the house projects. So to each his own, I just know we needed the plasma when we moved last year, so I sold my 2000 35" Trinitron and got it in before the big move, and when average Joes come to the house, they wipe their drool and ask how much??
I WORSHIP the bigger plasmas, and wish I had Allan Iverson's cash flow.
My neighbor just bought a $4500 Mitsubishi WS HDTV, it's HUGE, and the HD PQ doesn't campare to my Crappy Sampo.!

This message was edited by gwicks on 03/14/03 09:46.