 This week, we're getting electronically specific because it's a great time to see what the best deals are for home theater shoppers and gifters this season. Robert Herron, nobody is better to talk about this than you. You always bring the knowledge. So where do we begin on the gift guide? I want to buy somebody a TV. Where do I start? Let's start with the very best in eye candy for 2023. And that really has become the OLED displays that are available right now, the organic light emitting diodes. These TVs deliver that perfect black, that incredible contrast that makes color pop, beautiful viewing angles. And there really is nothing better out there. Companies like LG, Samsung and Sony make the very best models. If the budget permits, and you just want to go right to the head of the line in terms of what it is, what is the best thing I could buy right now? That's the short story for that. Now if you want to save a little bit of money, are you talking about there's like what what is the average price of those? It depends on the screen size. Say for a typical 55 inch screen, you're talking about $1,500, maybe a little bit cheaper when it really gets down to the Black Friday pricing on up to a solid five figures if you want to go all the way up to say the 90 plus inch screen sizes, which are now available, which is kind of crazy. That is something to keep in mind. Let's bring it back down to earth then. They are beautiful screens though. In terms of eye candy, that's where you go. Oh, do I have to do I have to not send you the 90 inch screen, Tom? That's what it was going to be. You're going to buy it. I'm not going to turn it down. Yeah, you might have to turn it down a wall or two. Now for good value at good prices, LCD is still the the workhorse of the TV industry. And I was helping a friend shop for a sub $500 55 inch TV recently. We came across a wonderful LG that was available at local at our local Costco. They are 8000. This is a turned out to be a fantastically reviewed unit for currently at about $350, which is a wonderful price for that kind of a 4k screen at that at that price point, it fit their budget and their needs perfectly. However, if you had a little bit more money to spend something closer to that $500 budget or maybe just slightly above high sense and TCL are the ones I love the most high sense in terms of their UAK that's literally their flagship. That is competitive with even the very best LCDs out there today. They also have a step down version to use six, which is almost as good. And it will still provide that bright punchy picture. And likewise with TCL, they have the QM eight, which is just fantastic. I have previewed this at CES last January. It is an amazingly bright and detailed display with wicked contrast. I mean, just very, very good. And then they also have a step down version called the Q seven that provides good value in terms of picture performance and screen size options again up to up to 90 plus inches. If you really need something super sized. Now with Google TV operating system on these listings here, which is interesting to say they are a Roku more often. That is that is a choice. Granted, generally speaking, the more expensive TVs usually have better processors built into them. And they will provide a better app experience overall. I think Google TV is an okay app experience. I think Samsung's you version of their ties and operating system for their TVs is an okay option. I think LG does a pretty good job with their web OS option for that built in app experience as well. And we'll get into some additional streaming options here in a second. But one thing I wanted to mention is with all of these flat panel TVs is that the need for a good audio experience period. Soundbars are the simple way to do it beyond they're very popular and they're very easy to do. And a couple companies that are really worth mentioning are the the ones I love the most. And number one, I would put up there is Sonos in particular. I have done work for Sonos in the past, and I have given them lots of critical feedback on their products. That is just one of the easiest to use setups I've I've enjoyed. I love the sound quality. It's it's not exactly the cheapest option out there. But what you pay for you, I think you really get a good value in terms of just audio performance, room correction features, if you're an iOS user, and other features like that, that just I love the products in general. However, if you want to save a little money, and you just need something to help your current TV sound better period, Roku of all people makes a wonderful streaming bar, their Streambar Pro products, good prices, good performance for what it is, and it integrates their streaming products, which are fantastic. And it's available even very, very affordable pricing. That's also a Streambar, or I should say a soundbar product, I would even be comfortable using outdoors just for temporary use or semi permanent anyway. Now if the budget is really kind of like, okay, I want the absolute best, what is the craziest thing I could buy right now, that's going to drive a large room. Check out Nakamichi and what they're doing with the Nakamichi Dragon. This is a custom made system. They make a few of these every month, and they are well reviewed. Everyone seems to love them who gets their ears on them. It's kind of the ultimate high end. If you were going to spend something similar with Sonos, you'd be buying a pretty big kit. Nakamichi is kind of doing that all in one with that particular product. And it's just three bucks is a lot, but it's not, you know, it's not sky high really. No, and incorporates wireless quote unquote products. Generally, you have to plug these into a wall somewhere, but you don't need to connect them with individual wires for transmitting the sound to each speaker, which is really nice. Now, likewise, I was talking about streaming products. There are really only two that I recommend and one would be Roku and their streaming products. The Roku Express 4k plus is my low cost recommendation. They have an express version, just regular that isn't the 4k plus. I do not recommend that one. The 4k plus adds an actual power button and a volume control, which the regular and granted cheaper express version doesn't. And if you're trying to just have that all in one experience where it's like, Hey, I don't want to use two remotes at the same time. Stick with that 4k plus. That's a great way to do an inexpensive upgrade on a TV you may already have. And you just want to make sure that it's going to provide a good streaming experience with any service currently available. Now, likewise, if you are an Apple user iOS user, and that is your product, the Apple TV 4k 4k plus in particular is or I think it's just the 4k. That is the one to get. If you already are in the Apple ecosystem, stick with that product. And it is something that you will just learn. It will integrate seamlessly with everything you use. It provides terrific performance. It is built like a tank. It will last for years. And it's it's right up there with any of the very best streaming products currently. And they're not huge anymore either. They're they're getting to be hockey puck size. They're not as small as the Roku Express, of course, but you know, they're totally. Yeah. Yeah, they hide pretty well on a small console or even behind TV itself. I've been purchasing a bunch of these products recently. I helped a relative basically ditch cable television service. Their bill was over 300 bucks a month for cable and internet service. And they were paying for hardware they no longer even had. And there's a tip if I could just give one is take a look at your bills. If you if you're a long time cable or satellite subscriber, you'd be surprised at what they've been billing you for over the years. And they will never tell you it's like, Oh, by the way, you don't need this anymore, or here's a better option for less money. They'll never do that. And that's just something to keep in mind when you do that. Also, for any of the TVs I just mentioned, they're all internet enabled. If you didn't, if you absolutely wanted a dumb TV, you don't want a smart TV, you could just not connect them to the internet and say no to any of the terms and agreements that you have to click through in order to fire these TVs up. But for ease of use, have it connect to the TV or have it connect to your internet service automatically and do all those upgrades and firmware updates automatically. And that will make it so that every time you turn it on, the apps are ready to go. The TV is less buggy than it may have been when it first shipped. And I think for any product out there, even things like your streaming products, they provide regular updates as well. And it's good just to keep that kind of stuff updated. And finally, when you're shopping through the holiday season with either Black Friday coming up or any throughout the rest of the year, just realize that this is a good time to take a look at what the cheapest prices will be and realize those prices will come around again before soon, if you can't buy right now. And services like Amazon necessarily do not have the lowest prices that you're going to find. And do check other sources. It doesn't even matter what the product category is. I was shopping for Chromebooks recently and I realized that Best Buy had much better pricing for some of the devices I was looking for than Amazon or anyone else. And the same could be said for something like Walmart. Amazon isn't the be all and all. They're convenient as can be, no doubt. But look around when you're going to make the decision on what to buy. And then your sources like Costco, too, or your subscription or membership clubs, those things are wonderful for a reason in their own way. And they provide either. It sounds like it makes a lot of sense to figure out the model you want, then do a little price comparison rather than just see what one place like Amazon is going to offer you as their Black Friday deal. I agree 100 percent. And I'm always looking for like, what's my favorite TV of the year? What will be the lowest price on that? And when? And if right now through the holiday season isn't really going to do it for you, I'm thinking TV specific. Think about when, say, like the Super Bowl rolls rolls around in February, I guarantee you there'll be another big sale and it will match very closely with the current price is. Don't ever feel like you're you have to do it now. There's not going to be another opportunity again at this price point. It will always come around again. Don't don't fall for the panic. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Take your time and get what you want and and save some money. Don't pay full price.