We too are in the market for a new tree. We bought one about 5 years ago at K-Mart. It was a revolving Martha Stewart. I really like the tree, but the darn lights have started going out. Last year we just strung some on the burnt out branches. I've never heard about LED lights not going out. So if this is true, I'd love to know where to buy one also. I'm hoping that there will be some great sales on Black Friday.

We got a new tree after Christmas '07. It doesn't have LED lights though. It is a 7 1/2 or 8 ft. tall tree (can't remember which) and has three sections that fit together. One thing I noticed when my DH put it together is how heavy the bottom two sections are and how awkward because of the wide circumference. I think an older person would have trouble with our tree. We always disassemble our tree and store it in the basement. Our last artificial tree didn't have pre-lit lights so we put our own colored ones on. I kind of miss them. Having all white lights as we have now makes the tree seem awfully bright. We can replace our lights by the way.

We have a pre-lit artificial tree that we've used now for 10 years; however I don't turn the lights on much therefore it's probably getting less use than most. It's 9' and came in two pieces (separates about half-way up the tree). The lights are tightly wrapped around the branches. The biggest challenge is finding what gets plugged in where from year to year. Our is a 9' and I love the height; however at the age of 52 the next time we get a tree I'm not sure how big we'll go--it's getting heavier every year!

Our church has a 12' pre-lit tree that we just replaced after maybe 8 years (can't remember when it was purchased). They also had a problem finding what gets plugged into what and they think they shorted out part of it. You can remove all the old lights but you would have to be extremely patient, allow a lot of time and it would be a PITA. Then you could either re-wrap (very,very time consuming)or just string lights. We opted to buy a new tree after debating for awhile.

Look into the new light testers that they have out there - I saw a demo of one on QVC and it would be perfect for pre-light trees.
The tester completes the circuit and turns on the string, so then you can find the bad bulb or leave it as a dud.

Jim

What I do to find out which plug goes to which is I number them so I can put it back without a problem. The first year it took me awhile to get it lit so after I did I numbered them.

I saw either the same thing as Jim or very similar in Target for $15.

We have a really tall one we got from Lowe's after Christmas when we were building & knew we would need it the next year as the ceiling is 22 ft. tall in the greatroom. We love ours. It does take awhile to get it together & decorated but then I am usually trying to get everything just so so. Ours has a zillion lights. I will link you to a picture of it last year if you wanna peek. Good luck with your search for the perfect tree! Bonnie

Here is a link that might be useful: artificial tree at Bonnie's

We purchased a small one about four feet tall five years ago. I read the label to make sure the bulbs were replaceable. I leave them on in the evening and they haven't burned out yet. Once I put mine together I never took it apart again. I cover it in a sheet tied at the bottom and my dh gently carries it up to the attic. Sooooooooo easy lol

Well, I'm frustrated because we went out looking for a replacement tree yesterday, and we cannot find one we like as much as the one we have. It fits perfect in the space where we use it and I love the color and texture. I think we are just going to try and re-string the lights that went out and just keep our fingers crossed no more burn out.

If the lights burn out and you can't find replacements, trees can easily be restrung.........or you can add as many extra strings as you want.

If you have a tree that breaks down into sections just make sure any additional light strings stop and start at the same point as the original ones.