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End of an era: Philips sells out its HDTV division --

Philips has been a major player in the HDTV industry for awhile now, but it seems even that couldn’t save it or make it turn a profit. After 80 years, the new CEO has decreed that history will end as of very soon.

Philips stated that their HDTV division lost the company €87 million in the first quarter — Philips will be selling the majority stake in it to Hong Kong manufacturer TPV Technology, but keeping a 30 percent ownership part and royalty payments of €50 million per year from 2013 onwards, making it a win-win deal for Philips all the way around.

It’s a sad end to a era of solid quality HDTV units, but the economy has spoken and dictated a change in strategy, and we’re here to cover it, as usual. We’ll update this as it becomes final.

SB Follow-Up: Wal-Mart’s HDTV Super Bowl Madness begins --

Last article, we discussed Consumer Report’s picks for the best of the best among HDTV units, now we have Wal-Mart jumping in to offer great deals on HDTVs across the board. Here’s a preview of some great deals:

* Vizio 32″ LCD HDTV (720p, 60Hz, 31.5″ diagonal screen size) – $348
* Phillips 40″ LCD HDTV (1080p, 120Hz, 39.9″ diagonal screen size) – $498 ($100 savings)
* Vizio 42″ LCD HDTV (1080p, 60Hz, 42.0″ diagonal screen size) – $548
* Vizio 47″ HDTV (1080p, 120Hz, 46.1″ diagonal screen size) – $698

$698 for a 47″, 120Hz HDTV? Now that really is madness, and Vizio has established itself as a very decent brand nowadays. It’ll be interesting to see the sales totals after the Super Bowl is played, and we’ll truly hope that really helps to move units.

CES Madness: Philips Booth overview --

Another post, another CES 2011 booth coverage article. Philips was once considered a creaky, aging company that was fading away, but this CES proves that might not be the case. Read on:

And here we were worried that Funai’s takeover of the US arm would lead to a falloff. Whatever its name or corporate structure, Philips has brought plenty of US-bound heat to CES 2011, with none bigger than the news that we will see the company’s sweet 3D-capable 21:9 ultrawidescreen HDTV on this side of the Atlantic in the second half of 2011. Today it also announced plans for a Blu-ray player with wireless HDMI, the world’s first (meaning you’ll probably need a dongle on any TV to use it until compatible displays arrive later in the year) but no surprise for an outfit that’s been pushing HD streaming for some time. On a similar front its MediaConnect app on new TVs and Blu-ray players will let it stream anything playing on a PC to the TV screen WiDi-style.

Read more with pics here on the latest in HDTV from Philips.

Wednesday’s Wacky HDTV Deals --

Once again we present some of the finest HDTV offers anywhere on the web:

Buy.com – How about a solid Philips 47PFL6704D 47” 1080p LCD HDTV 240hz  for $999.00 with free shipping as well. Now that’s a few hundred less than even a few months ago. Check it out!

Sony has a Sony KDL-32EX308 BRAVIA 32″ Internet-ready 720p LCD HDTV for $432 with free shipping as well. Great deal! You can look at lots of net enabled functions like Netflix, etc pretty easily and makes this a heck of an entertainment device.

Thanks for joining us and see you all later!

Friday’s Freaky HDTV Deals --

It’s time for more HDTV bargains, and we start off with a very nice Dell deal:

Dell Home – How about a well-reviewed Philips 42PFL5704DF7 42” 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $999.00 – $300 off coupon code we’ve nicely provided for you: “T4ZRK53VK?KFFZ” (this coupon expires 05/20/2010) = $699.00 with free shipping too? Amazing.

Walmart.com has a nicely spec’ed Haier HL22XSL2 22” 1080p LED LCD HDTV – Black for $229.00 with free shipping as well. It’s raining bargains at SS! Sometimes non-big brands can be pretty awesome deals.

Thanks for joining us, and see you tomorrow for more HDTV madness.

Tuesday’s Tremendous HDTV Deals --

Deluxe HDTV deals are coming your way right now:

Newegg – Yes, the deals are really amazing these days at Newegg, witness this Sceptre 46″ X460BV-F120 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $650 (not a typo) with free shipping too. 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 1080p for 6 hundred+? Amazing, though a small caveat: Bear in mind QC is a bit hit and miss with these at times.

BestBuy has a very nice deal with a solid model: the Philips 42PFL5704DF7 42” 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $729.99 – and with free shipping. Deals galore, and this one is very cool indeed.

Thanks for reading, more deals and steals to come in the future.

Pro Definition: The Philips 9704 Pro Line LED LCD TV --

Philips hasn’t always been associated with extreme specs as far as their HDTVs have gone up until now. They’re reasonably priced, middle of the road equipment for the most part, and perhaps this new line bound for the UK first will change that perception.

Philips unveiled their new 9704 LED Pro line of TVs bound for the UK, coming with an eye-popping 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 200Hz refresh rate, and a ultra-quick 1-ms response time. Drool-worthy to be certain, but the next feature will make them even more attractive.

Philips claims that both models — the 40″ 40PFL9704 and the 46″ 46PFL9704 are 40-50% more energy-sipping than previous models with lower specs, another fact we very much appreciate. Get a load of the 5 HDMI ports too.

Philips Pro models will be available in early December, with the 40″ model going for around £1,799 (around $2,969 USD) and its big brother, the 46″ model will run you some coin: £2,499 (about $4,124 USD).

HDTV Deals for Thursday --

Sorry, no same-letter adverb in the title for today; our verb manager has the day off. To make up for this terrible deficit, we offer some great HDTV deals for your consideration:

Walmart is known for great prices, and this is a nice deal: The Philips 32PFL3504D/F7 32″ LCD HDTV for $398 + free In-Store Shipping. We love it, and you will too. Solid reviews so far.

BeachCamera.com has a very nice deal on the Panasonic Viera TCL37X1 37” 720p LCD HDTV for $749.95 – $230 Add to Cart discount given instantly with our link = $519.95 with free shipping as well. Hard to beat that for a very well regarded HDTV model.

Come back tomorrow for more amazing deals!

Monday’s Marvelous HDTV Deals --

It’s Monday, so we all need a boost to keep going. Here we are with our great HDTV deals for your enjoyment:

Walmart always has great deals, and this is a good example: The Philips 42PFL3704D/F7 1080P 42″ 60Hz LCD HDTV for $698 with free shipping too. Hard to beat that with the combo of the size and 1080p.

Newegg.com has a nice deal on a “non-name brand” model: the Auria 32” 16:9 8ms 720p LCD HDTV – Black for $409.99 with free shipping as well, which is quite a nice deal for the size. Good reviews so far.

Thanks for joining us today, and join us again tomorrow for more amazing deals!

Tuesday’s Thrilling HDTV Deals --

Here are yet more great deals on HDTV units:

Target - Here’s a great price on a good size HD monster: The Philips 47in 1080P LCD HDTV – 47PFL3603D for only $950, $150 off is always nice.

NewEgg - Yet another nice deal on a 47″: the LG 47in 16:9 2.7ms 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV 47LH50 for only $1199 + free shipping. Tough to beat that, especially for how great a TV LG makes.

Come back soon for more price-shattering deals on HDTVs.