Artificial Christmas trees

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Broadcaster

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After years of only buying a real Christmas tree, we've decided this year to look at purchasing an artificial one. We want to get one that looks as real as possible so,the Question is what should we look for. There are so many online it's hard to know which is the best. Anyone buy one recently that they would recommend.
Budget would be no more than €300.
Any advice? Thanks.
 
Haven't bought one recently but a lot of the Paul Costelloe stuff is good quality and would have to say that this one looks 'as real as possible'. You could always check with Dunnes Head Office and see if there are any on display near you especially that one.
 
Think about the weight and storage and any current or future pets.
If you get a big one, will the box fit in the loft?
So much hassle getting mine out of the loft each year and it takes two people to do it.
 
AndroidMan said:
Think about the weight and storage and any current or future pets.
If you get a big one, will the box fit in the loft?
So much hassle getting mine out of the loft each year and it takes two people to do it.
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Very good points as quite often, especially in that price range, boxes can be quite heavy.

Have heard people complain that some trees can be very complicated to put together nearly like a jigsaw puzzle so worth investigating that aspect before purchasing.

For anyone looking for the extremely handy lightweight option but definitely not 'as real as possible' :p:p comes ready decorated, slots back into the box with decorations and takes up very little space. Handy in a small space. and probably takes 5 minutes to set up each year :p
 
Our artificial tree is maybe 15 years old. About 6 foot high I reckon. Has three trunks, bottom and middle I have to put individual descending order branches on, About six per level, last trunk is one piece. Each branch you open out to fluffy tree like branches. By the time I or our children are finished with it you’d hardly know there was a tree beneath, but the cat loves it. No way did I spend three hundred on it. And it will go another 20 I reckon. Fits in a rather decrepit original box. Which is off the top of my head four feet long by a foot high. I’ll let you know on 1st December if you remind me.

If you buy in January it will be minimum half price.
 
I bought mine in Homestore and More and was less than €100. Spend some money on nice lights and plug them into a https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CVJYV3G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (smart plug). This makes it easy to control when the lights come on and go off.

Woodies also have nice .
 
We bought an artificial one in Dunnes Stores, cost over €200. Good quality tree. Big bushy thing. However as others have pointed out, storage is the problem.

We keep ours up all year round and decorate it for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween etc.

These things take forever to put up and take down.

We keep saying that we will disappear for Christmas to Spain or similar but we have grand kids......
 
If you want an interesting read about the birth and death of the aluminium Christmas Tree, and how Charlie Brown was instrumental in it's demise, have a look.

Snippits include

"They were sleek, elegant and didn’t lose their needles. They also included the very real possibility of death by electrocution."

"At its peak in 1964, Aluminum Specialty was producing around 150,000 Christmas trees a year, with them coming in a variety of colors and sizes
Aluminum Specialty was running three shifts a day, 10 months out of the year just to keep up with the orders. ."

eu.greatfallstribune.com

How Charlie Brown killed the aluminum Christmas tree

Aluminum Specialty was running three shifts a day, 10 months out of the year just to keep up on tree orders.\nThen the Peanuts gang came to town.
eu.greatfallstribune.com eu.greatfallstribune.com

When I read about the disco multicolored wheel, I wanted one. Then, I've never been accused of having good taste :)
 
AndroidMan said:
Think about the weight and storage and any current or future pets.
If you get a big one, will the box fit in the loft?
So much hassle getting mine out of the loft each year and it takes two people to do it.
Click to expand...

hardly any more hassle than getting a real one, hoovering around it every day and then disposing of it (unless you are paying for delivery and for removal)

we bought a 'higher end' artifical one, around 500 euro after christmas one year, its pre lit (lights are built into it) looks great.

bit of hassle taking it down from the attic and putting it up but not that big a deal.
 
Thanks folks for all the contributions. I contacted a garden centre that sells trees and the advice I got was too look at the number of "tips" each tree has. The more there are the fuller the tree. Also recommend seeking out PE rather than PVC trees as the tips look real. Hinged trees are simply to put together as they come in three pieces while "hook on" are individual branches that are colour coded and you have to put each one on separately!!! Defo don't want that hassle. Also look at the diameter of the tree to ensure you have enough room for it!. Lots of good advice. Now to find one!!
 
The key to having it real is to fluff the branches when you unfold. The better you fluff, the less gappy the tree looks. It can take me ages to fluff up our one. I loved one we had with pre-installed lights. Putting on the lights is slow to get them fab looking. And definitely consider the diameter, the slim line are too cigar slim for me, but you can’t hack a piece off like a real tree to make it fit in a corner. You will be stuck with the artificial one for a while so pick carefully. I tried to shrink wrap ours one year to store in the garage but it didn’t work. And storage is a pain.
 
Clamball, would you recommend one with pre-installed lights? I would have concerns when dismantling the tree after Christmas. Could the lights be damaged when packing? Gosh the more I look into this the more I think we may stick with the real tree! :)
 
Gordon Gekko said:
I’ll get shot for saying this, but what the hell...

Artificial trees are an abomination and should be banned!
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Normally I would agree and changed to real trees many years ago but this year I am thinking of going back to artificial if I could find one big enough and reasonably priced. The hassle of getting a real one every year, having to get it delivered, then having to get someone to take it away plus they are not cheap is getting a bit uneconomic I think at this stage!

I saw a fine one last year in McDs in Loughrea, should have bought it at the time and now can't get there for a look at what they have!
 
Broadcaster said:
Clamball, would you recommend one with pre-installed lights? I would have concerns when dismantling the tree after Christmas. Could the lights be damaged when packing? Gosh the more I look into this the more I think we may stick with the real tree! :)
Click to expand...

The lighting went eventually, which is why we had to get a new one, we spent a couple of years with one section of light being iffy and eventually we couldn’t get the one section to work. I loved that tree though.
 
Clamball said:
The key to having it real is to fluff the branches when you unfold. The better you fluff, the less gappy the tree looks. It can take me ages to fluff up our one. I loved one we had with pre-installed lights. Putting on the lights is slow to get them fab looking. And definitely consider the diameter, the slim line are too cigar slim for me, but you can’t hack a piece off like a real tree to make it fit in a corner. You will be stuck with the artificial one for a while so pick carefully. I tried to shrink wrap ours one year to store in the garage but it didn’t work. And storage is a pain.
Click to expand...
Dunnes sell a half tree.
 
Clamball said:
The lighting went eventually, which is why we had to get a new one, we spent a couple of years with one section of light being iffy and eventually we couldn’t get the one section to work. I loved that tree though.
Click to expand...
That’s exactly why I wouldn’t buy one with in built lights, would drive me crazy Some lights not working and not a thing you could do about it.
 
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