LCD TVs

As I’ll be going home soon, I’ve been thinking about toys that I’d like to buy and keep in my living room. One of the very first things that I’m likely to get, is an LCD TV. This is because I’ll be building my own little media centre machine in the living room. I do not plan to subscribe to satellite TV (Arsetro) but will instead rely on the Internet and for all my entertainment needs.

So, just comparing the price of LCD TVs in the UK and Malaysia, I find a slight difference in the price. The present sweet spot for LCD TVs seems to be the 32″ HDTV models. If I’m going to splurge on a TV, I might as well splurge on a HD1080 one. So, I quickly googled up the prices. In Malaysia, I can buy one for just slightly under RM 2,500. In the UK, I can get one for slightly under £300 (RM 2,000) or about £250 (RM 1,600) ex VAT. If I choose to forego warranty, I might get it even cheaper!

It seems that it is actually significantly cheaper in the UK than Malaysia. You know what? This does not surprise me one bit because a HDTV is a “luxury” item. Over here in the UK, there is economies of scale because a majority of the people are able to afford a HDTV unlike in Malaysia, where most people still survive on standard TVs. So, the retailers are able to move more units here in the UK, resulting in more competition and lower prices.

The potential price difference of almost RM 1,000 is important as I can construct a high WAF media centre for around that price. The motherboard, CPU and RAM would cost just under RM 500. A 250Gb harddisk would cost less than RM 200, leaving another RM 300 to buy a chasis and accessories. Things are just so darn expensive in Malaysia!