About two weeks ago we we went out to get a tv/dvd player. We found one at target that seemed perfect. Trutech 17" flat screen LCD TV with a built in DVD player. On sale from $239.99 to $199.99. We asked to get it but were told that it was out of stock and should be back within a week and given a raincheck.
A week later, we came back, still no T.V. Fine, they were late. Who cares? A few days later, back again. No T.V. the next day, for the next few days. Still no T.V. We try to look up the T.V. on the internet. No results except for eBay Want It Nows and a forum thread about a guy buying it. No mention of it at the target web site or anywhere else.
Can anyone explain what happened? Has production for some reason stopped? I’m quite confused. I’ve obviously heard of products going out of stock for a while but never completely dropping out from the net. Any tips?
Off-brand models like Trutech are often many of the same components as the big names, but the rebranding under cheap names doesn’t want to run the risk of tarnishing the name of Sony, Toshiba, whatever uses the same components. So the lesser names don’t get advertising dollars, websites, reviews. They’re ghosts meant to eat up component stock so the big names can get bulk parts purchasing.
The products still exist, you just won’t find any official information about them. For example, right now I am watching a DVD on a Cyberhome CH-DVD 300 DVD player. I’ve seen this same player (very small square box with no external display, up to six buttons on the right side) under at least three other brand names under slightly different shells. I can’t find a company website for Cyberhome, despite this being my second Cyberhome product. I’m willing to bet that most of those other names similarly have no company websites. And I’m willing to bet that they all are subsidiaries of a much larger, much better known electronics company.
Consider yourself lucky - combination machines are not a wise purchase.
If the DVD recorder breaks down, you have to take the whole thing in to be repaired.
Get a good TV, and then buy a decent DVD and hook it up. Trust me - a much better idea and I bet if you look around, you can find both for less than the one item you intended to buy.