eBiz Tomorrow by Chris Salazar

All of us tech geeks know and understand how important it is to get the best gagdet for the price.  Perhaps one of the most important buying decisions I’ve made this year is my TV.  Where do you start?  Where do you begin? 

I needed something that fit my budget, but provided me with the best quality and size.  This post is not a comparison between dlp, lcd, or plasma, but rather a look at how much I value “your” voice over all them experts our there. 

So I ended up buying a 56 inch Samsung LED DLP.  It fit my budget, was the right size for my living room, and I had a big hunch. 

Yes, I looked at places like CNET and SAMSUNG.com, but I get the feeling that those places are paid to say what they say.  I need real reviews from people just like me.  The tools of social media allowed me to listen and talk with people who bought this tv. 

1. Forums:  AVS Forum - there’s a forum thread of about 400+ pages with current users of my exact tv posting their headaches and new finds.  I witnessed arguments about this product, saw people’s pictures, and read about what to stay away from.  Better yet, I got a feel for how it would be to own this exact TV
2. Blogs:  I used technorati to find resources to find information about the battle between DLP vs LCD vs PLASMA.  Of course I know the high level views, but I needed more real life info.  Information like, if I have a dark room will a DLP tv suffice?  Or should I spend more $$$$ and get an LCD? 
3. Friend recommendations:  I talked to friends who had dlps, lcds, and plasmas.  I explored all of these choices.  BUT, what really worked was listening to their advice, what they DONT like about their tvs and actually seeing them.

I turned a simple purchase into a whirlwind of exploring through my personal network, using social tools to my advantage, and contemplating what to do.  But if it wasnt for reaching out to current users, I don’t think I would have bought this tv.  I read their comments and understood what it means to own this tv.

All in all, Im 100% happy with my purchase.  Thanks for everyone’s help around the world!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Web 2.0 Explorations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.