Philips blowing out 50-inch plasmas for less than a grand

Philips is selling refurbished 50-inch plasmas at its outlet store.

(Credit: Philips)

Budget brands like Vizio are serving up 50-inch plasmas for around $1,500. But lo and behold, Philips has a deal running at its outlet store on a few 50-inchers, the lowest priced at $949.99 when you apply the $150 instant rebate coupon code. Impressively, shipping is only $29.99.

But there's a catch (isn't there always a catch on great deal?). The plasma models Philips is selling are refurbished units. Also--and not surprisingly--they're last year's models. Philips lists the eligible models as:

• 50PF9631D/37B
• 50PF9431D/37B
• 50PF7321D/37B

Amazon is selling a new 50PF7321D/37B for $350 more. The question is, would you take a chance on a refurb unit--or is a semi-used TV just a bad idea? Thoughts?

P.S. While we didn't review any of these models, we did review the 42-inch version in the 9431D line. It did OK.

[nimisis303]

Phillips = Bad idea

I have the Phillips 42PF9630A which is a 42 inch plasma with ambilight. Bought
it two years ago, died six months later, fixed under warranty, one year later it
sits dead on the wall. Researched the brand on various internet forums and
many people share the same concern, Phillips sucks! Dont buy the refurb! Dont
buy new!

Save yourself some sanity, buy a Panasonic, Samsung or Sony

[James Feinstein]

Phillips rto refurbish t.v. stinks

I bought a phillips product a few years ago to be accurate and RCA t.v. which they bought the company. six month later the sound went out, and it has never been right ever since. They also bought out Norelco razor company. I bought one and it flopped. When I sent them a letter their reply was to stall and say they did not understand. I drew them a picture of the problem and still have not heard from them. They are a cheap company and shold be put out of business. They never tell yo they own R.C.A., Norelco, Magnavox and who know s what else they screw up. To trust them is to let the fox in the hen house to do the guarding.

[therealcmj]

A positive comment about Philips outlet...

I bought 2 plasmas from the Philips outlet. One a 42 in for the bedroom (low usage) and one for the living room (moderate usage). The prices could NOT be beaten - more than 1/3 off the cheapest comparable sized plasmas elsewhere on sale. I figured that even if one of them died in the first year I'd still come out ahead. Why? TV prices keep dropping and today's TV is 1/3-1/2 of the price last year.

Anyway it's been more than a year since my purchase and I couldn't be happier.

I did have a problem with a speaker in one of the TVs, and Philips wouldn't simply ship me a replacement or the part. Instead they had a local service company come out and fix it. The local company was a bit of a pain and wasn't all that interested in the job (probably because it was so minor and not worth their time). It took 3 weeks, and 2 visits by them to my apartment but they did finally fix the problem.

Maybe it's all hit or miss, but I hit twice.