Heading out to buy one of those newfangled TVs? Stop! Before you pull into the parking lot of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Walmart (NYSE:WMT) or any other retailer with a television sales floor, make sure you’re armed with these helpful little factoids from Reader’s Digest.

What Your TV Salesman Won’t Tell You

1. Buy your new TV in September or January. That’s when the new models come out and the prices go way down on discontinued models. Another time to get a deal: Black Friday, if you’re willing to brave the crowds.

 2. Shoppers’ questions boil down to this: LED, LCD, or plasma? LEDs and LCDs use the same technology, but LEDs are thinner and more expensive. LEDs can also be too reflective in a bright room. Plasmas offer the best picture for your money, especially if you’re watching at an angle, but they’re thicker than the others, and ghost images can be an issue.

 3. Which brands do I recommend? For LCDs, LG, Panasonic (NYSE:PC), Samsung, and Sony (NYSE:SNE) have consistently been among the best in rankings by Consumer Reports. Among plasmas, Panasonic tops the list.

4. Our margins on TVs are so thin, they’re almost nonexistent. The prices are designed to get you in the store, and then we try to sell you the expensive cords, accessories, and, of course, the extended warranty. Don’t buy it. Problems are rare, and most repairs happen in the first year, when the standard manufacturer’s warranty still covers you.

 5. And don’t spend a lot of money on a fancy HDMI cable. The one you can buy for $10 online is just as good as the $100 one in the store.

To see eight more TV salesman secrets, check out the complete Reader’s Digest article: 13 Things Your TV Salesman Won’t Tell You.

— Vicki L. Passmore, IP.com Web Editor