Anyone remember when Plasma TVs first came out and they cost about $20,000? I was working in marketing at the time and someone thought it would be a great idea to buy one of these things for our trade-show booth. We would have to have this thing shipped around the country in a crate that looked a lot like one that held the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones. Part of my job was going all over the place to these trade-shows and everywhere I went I had to make sure that the people who set everything up treated this particular box like it contained a newborn infant.

One day in Chicago I was watching as they brought it out on a little forklift. Just as they put it down, one of those enormous Genie lift vehicles came around the corner and bumped the crate right off its spot on a raised platform in our booth. I watched in horror as the crate fell over and down about 1.5 feet to the floor. I pictured my paycheck being docked for the next 5 years while I repaid the company for the damage. I was lucky, we had packed this thing up knowing that something like that could happen, so after extracting the TV from its crate I found religion for a moment and prayed that it would turn on. It did and went on to serve us well for quite a while after that. Was it worth $20K? Probably not in a house, but in a trade-show booth when no-one else had them at the time it definitely drew a crowd, which is all you can ask for.

So why did I tell you this story? Things have changed people, yesterday’s “new technology” is today’s Beta-Max machine. You don’t have own Microsoft in order to afford a nice plasma or LCD TV anymore and for those of you looking to buy a new one this year, here is a great deal for you. The Sam’s Club “Special of the Day” for today is a Toshiba 40″ LCD TV for $578! This is a nice TV, it has full 1080P HD, has 3 HDMI ports and supports PC input. It’s also from a good manufacturer.

Back when the wife and I first moved in with each other she had a little 20″ CRT TV that had the brand name of “Admiral”. “Are you kidding me?” was the first thing I asked when I moved in. I was not spending my nights watching the Red Sox play on something named after a naval rank. Trust me, brand name matters and at least in this case you know what you are getting.

In fact, there’s a good chance that we’re going to buy one. My parents have finally decided to join the rest of us in the 21st century so the lot of us our going in together to buy them a new TV and this one would definitely fit the bill.

This my friends is a desperate situation – we were down there visiting the other day and we put in a DVD for Anna to watch. I looked around for a moment before asking “where’s the remote?” Mom says “I don’t know, you just have to get up and hit play.” Get up? You mean move? She had to be kidding, but she was not. You would have thought we just watched her commit a murder based on the way we looked at her. Anna was frightened, she clung to her mother like one of Harry Harlow’s monkeys, watching in horror as I approached the device. For all she knew I was about to be electrocuted as part of this strange ritual. It was over quickly enough, but we came away scarred. This could not be allowed to happen again – so my parents are getting some new Audio-visual stuff for Christmas.

At any rate, if you are in the market for a TV go and check this one out, there are limited quantities and they’re available both online and in stores.

Oh, and don’t forget that tonight I’m launching another contest, so you may be able to win some gift-cards to help you pay for a new TV or whatever you happen to want.

This post is a part of a Sam’s Club Holidays Made Simple blogger campaign. I may have received compensation in exchange for my participation, but the views and opinions expressed are solely my own.