My gadget addiction

They always say the first step in overcoming your addiction is to admit the fact that you are addicted so here I am admitting to the world that I am addicted to gadgets. However I have no need to overcome this addiction because one day I’ll be a millionaire, well that’s good in principle but as it stands today today I am not a millionaire and therefore do not have plenty of money to satisfy my addiction. Read on to find out what I purchased this time…

The problem with being addicted to gadgets is the manufacturers are always producing new stuff for you to buy. This time it was a 32″ Sony LCD television and the reason for buying was simply that I needed a better TV to justify the £500 I had spent earlier in the year on a PS3. Convincing myself of the need for a new television was easy, but my partner wasn’t going to be won over by 100Hz motionflow and 1080p so a different approach was required. After many hours of explaining that her films would look so much better with a new television she was in agreement and a budget of £600 was set. I then spent the next couple of weeks stalking online forums such as AV Forums ‘increasing’ my knowledge and setting my heart on the new D3000 range from Sony.

I knew the TV that I wanted but there was a problem… it was priced at over £1000 in the shops and on site’s that I would trust with my money. Fortunately both of us have birthdays in June so we could put some of our birthday money towards the new TV and stretch the budget to £800.

I had read about the price match promise that John Lewis  offered on AV Forums and they had a handy thread of successful price matches that other users had obtained. Basically all I had to do was find a physical store (i.e. not online) that sold the same TV for a lower price and then John Lewis would match this price. Several days of following this thread and a store in Scotland was found selling the TV for £799.99 so I sent in my price match request and several days later I got a phone call from John Lewis agreeing to sell me the TV for this price. Not only did I get the TV for this great price saving £300 on the in-store price at John Lewis but I also still got the 5 year warranty that comes with all TV’s they sell.

Although I saved £300 on the in-store price my budget was only £800 and I would never have bought the TV at the higher price so there wasn’t a saving for me to include in my millionaire adventure. But I did get the TV I wanted and at a price that suited me so I am still very happy. Oh yeah… and the TV is fantastic!