Quote:
Originally Posted by nfotiu
The last tv I bought was for the porch, and it was a difference between $280 for the smart version vs $240 for the dumb version. An extra $40 is worth it to not have to deal with another box. There are a lot of nice things about having it built into the tv... Less wires, simpler installation if your putting the components out of sight, etc, and it is quicker to turn on vs starting up another box, and all that.
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The problem with this line of thinking is that the smart features didn't cost you $40 - the panel itself or some other components like the image processing chipset or the power supply cost you probably $60 less to hit that price point. Now on a $280 TV, I guess its a moot point, and I can see your logic (and I might bite on a similar setup for a second TV). But on a higher end unit, I want every dollar available on the purchase price going into the panel and image processing electronics, rather than lower quality anywhere else in the design subsidizing the price of the smart features.
Margins on electronics are so tight that unless the smart version of a unit is significantly more expensive (ie. the cost of the smart components is added to the price to create a premium priced product), you are sacrificing something, somewhere, every time they add a feature that only jacks the retail price a few dollars. The BOM costs on electronics are so tightly managed that subsidizing features can mean buying lower end resistors and capacitors for the logic board, or cheaper heatsinks, lower MTBF power supplies, etc - it's managed down to that fine a level to hit the margin at retail.