The tv bit the dust

[Winchester]

I think I had posted before that the television in the living room was on its last leg. Well, that last leg gave out and we think it's dead. The last couple times Rick turned it on, all we had was a thin horizontal stripe or line of light in the center of the screen. Last night he turned it on when he got home from work and when he came home from bowling at 9:00, it still showed only the line. This television is about 20 years old (it's an old Sharp 36-inch), and it's been repaired once.....it's not really worth trying to repair again, not when it costs $80 just to have the repair-weenie step foot on the property.

I don't watch that much tv, but Rick does. And this is not a good thing. It wasn't too bad last night; he came home and I wasn't really watching anything as I was reading, so he came back to the bedroom to watch tv. And tonight's Supernatural is a repeat, so again, not a biggie; Rick can use the bedroom tv.

But I guess we'll be shopping for a new television over the weekend.

 

[kookycats]

Pam, if you remember, we bought a 51" flat screen just a month or so ago and it's the best thing we could have done.     It's a Samsung, and the picture on the screen is so fantastic.     We got the HD cable box from Comcast and it made an amazing difference in what we thought was a great picture from the beginning.    It's like they're in the room with us and you can see every little detail - down the every pimple on their faces.

Now we're thoroughly spoiled and want a larger screen TV for the bedroom.

 

[nurseangel]

I am happy to hear from you!  I hadn't seen a post from you in a while and was wondering about you.  I'm sorry to hear about the TV, though.  We still using the TV we got as a wedding gift over 20 years ago.  I can't believe it's survived this long.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Oh boy.  Good luck finding one!

I remember I was in high school when ours gave out.  All you could see was about 1/3 of the screen; mostly the bottom.  I remember joking it was sort of like having those old radio programs.

  I don't remember how long it was before we got a new one.

 

[jcat]

How much do you want to bet that a new one won't last 20 years? Things don't seem to be built to last anymore.

 

[tarasgirl06]

If you  happen to have a KMart anywhere near, they have very good prices on HDTV's and the two best brands, Panasonic and Sony.  

 

[Winchester]

Pam, if you remember, we bought a 51" flat screen just a month or so ago and it's the best thing we could have done.     It's a Samsung, and the picture on the screen is so fantastic.     We got the HD cable box from Comcast and it made an amazing difference in what we thought was a great picture from the beginning.    It's like they're in the room with us and you can see every little detail - down the every pimple on their faces.

Now we're thoroughly spoiled and want a larger screen TV for the bedroom.

Actually, I was thinking of you when I posted this....I couldn't remember what tv you bought.

We're looking at the Samsung 55-inch slim screen or whatever the heck it's called. I love the color on a Samsung; it just seems more vibrant than some of the others we've looked at. We have a 42-inch JVC in the bedroom and I really like that one, too. So we're not sure yet.

A new tv will mean moving the entertainment center to the basement, which is something we've wanted to do for awhile now anyway. But it also means packing my books up and I was hoping not to have to do that. And I don't know what we're going to do with our albums.....yes, we still have quite a few record albums. Remember those??

 But the entertainment center is huge and it takes up a lot of room in the living room. We were thinking of mounting the tv on the wall, though, so it has to go downstairs.

I am happy to hear from you!  I hadn't seen a post from you in a while and was wondering about you.  I'm sorry to hear about the TV, though.  We still using the TV we got as a wedding gift over 20 years ago.  I can't believe it's survived this long.



 Thank you for thinking of me. I'm around every day, but most of the time, I don't have anything to say much anymore. So I keep quiet and lurk around a bit.

If you  happen to have a KMart anywhere near, they have very good prices on HDTV's and the two best brands, Panasonic and Sony.  

I would love to have a Sony, but price-wise, well, it's a little beyond our reach at the moment. Thanks for the heads-up!

I doubt a new tv will last us 20 years! Seems that everything is made not to last longer than about 5 years or so. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fee just for the repair guy to come to the house, we'd consider trying to repair the tv. But with its age, it doesn't quite seem worth any expense at this point.

 

[zohdee]

How much do you want to bet that a new one won't last 20 years? Things don't seem to be built to last anymore.

I was so going to post that.  It seems like everything made now-a-days is meant to be disposable.  Three years ago our fridge of 20 years gave out and we bought a new one.  Right after the warranty expired it died and we had to buy a new one.

I really wish things were built to last like they used to be.

 

[kookycats]

Pam, we just love the Samsung we bought -- it's a 51" Plasma, but I think any of the name brands would be good.     We bought the Samsung partly on the recommendation of the salesperson, also it was on sale that week, and we thought the picture was sharper than some of the others.    Good luck with your TV search --- you'll really find an amazing difference.  At least we did -- but ours was a 32" TV that wasn't an HD, not a flat screen, so we really upgraded.  Now we would like to get a flat screen for the bedroom - maybe 37" or 40".

 

[Winchester]

We're trying to shop locally, if we can get a good deal. When we bought the tv for the bedroom, we shopped at a local dealer, not a "big box". He gave us such a good deal on the JVC.....he gave us a great price, he agreed to pay the sale tax if we bought from him, and he and his son delivered the tv, brought it back to the bedroom and calibrated it for us. For free. We didn't have to do anything.

We were at Best Buy looking at the Samsung. They said that (for $250), they would deliver the Samsung, mount it, hook it into our other media, and calibrate it. That's ridiculous. I guess I'm just cheap.

 

[kookycats]

Pam, you're not cheap, just practical.  I know it's expensive to have it wall mounted.     We bought ours from a chain called HH Gregg (don't know if they're in your area).   We paid $69 to have to delivered, hooked up to our cable, etc..  For us it was the best thing.  As you know, we're not at all handy with doing things like that, so it was worth it.  

Good luck with your search.   Whatever you get, you'll love it.   But Paul and I are big TV watchers, and we never go to the movies.   We have On Demand on our Comcast, and we find it's great for catching up on shows we miss.    The other day we finally bought a pay movie --- War Horse.  It was only $5.99 --- plus we have a complimentary coupon from Comcast, for a $5.99 credit, so it'll end up costing nothing.   But even paying for a good movie is worth it.  

 

[sk_pacer]

I had to get a new TV in December, a 32" Toshiba for under 200.00. Love it, and my only regret is that I couldn't get a larger one, but I just haven't the space for anything larger. The best part is they are so light and easy to handle, managed to bring the thing in and set it up alone.........and I walk with a cane.

 

[Winchester]

I had to get a new TV in December, a 32" Toshiba for under 200.00. Love it, and my only regret is that I couldn't get a larger one, but I just haven't the space for anything larger. The best part is they are so light and easy to handle, managed to bring the thing in and set it up alone.........and I walk with a cane.

Our TV in the living room was a Toshiba; they're nice tvs. We really liked the color.

We have OnDemand, too, which comes in handy for when I fall asleep in the middle of a show (I'm doing that a lot lately). The other week when Rick was in Oregon, I rented one of the Twilight movies

 one night from OnDemand (I hadn't seen any of them and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about). Sometimes when we're in the mood to watch something and there's nothing on that we both want to see, then we'll rent a movie or two. Much nicer than having to go to Blockbuster or to a RedBox place.

 

[rescue-mom]

We are a samsung house, both tvs....46 inch and 32inch,both cellphones a galaxy and galaxy 551 and my tablet. lol would never buy any other brand.

 

[Winchester]

We'll probably be buying the tv from Sears on Saturday. It's the Samsung 55-inch and it's on sale til the 28th. We looked at the slim screen with wireless, but, you know, it's hard to justify an extra $300+ for wireless capabilities. I don't know, it just seemed wasteful in a way (the guy there said that it's not really wireless per se and there are a lot of things that you really can't do with it). And since we're looking at a blue-ray set-up as well, I think we're going with the regular tv.

We are going into a local dealer on Friday after work, though, so we'll see. I know he carries JVC and I think he carries Toshiba. I don't remember if he has Samsung though. Interestingly, when I looked at Consumer Reports online last night, the Samsung 55-inch isn't even mentioned. Their recommended tv in that size range is a Vizio (which actually received really crappy ratings from consumers....go figure).

Our 41st wedding anniversary is Monday. Rick's birthday is the following Friday. I told him that I would pay for the tv for him as a combined anniversary/birthday gift. He's been working some OT the last couple of weeks, too, so he can pay for the wall mount and for the delivery fee (if we do get it from Sears).

It's not too bad watching tv together in the bedroom. He's such a channel surfer, though, and he'll watch several shows at one time. Plus he's a big fan of many of the reality shows that I won't touch. That causes issues sometimes. And, like tonight, he wants to see Big Bang, but I'm a Vampire Diaries fan....and I hope I will win that argument. But it's been kind of cosy to be back in bed with him and all the cats.

 

[3catsn1dog]

Oh that bites pam. We got a vizio 42 in to replace our old big box big screen tv that took a poop. I love it especially watching harry potter in hd. I dont know exactly how much it was because it was a birthday present for df but its definately the best electronic in the house. I never realized how crappy our other tv was till we watched shows like supernatural and harry potter on the new tv.

Btw...the last new episode of supernatural....it was so freaky i had a nightmare about it the other night. I kept seeing ghosts in the bedroom door and was scared it would do the hand in the body thing. Lol

 

[Winchester]

Hi Tyler!

 I'm glad you like your Vizio! That Supernatural episode was just strange. At the end when they were in the car and Bobby was in the back seat, right before Dean said that this was not going to end up well, I thought pretty much the same thing. Don't get me wrong...I adore Bobby and I always have and I was heartbroken when he died. But boy, this is not good. Not at all.

Well, we're going to be buying locally. Tyler, I'm not sure if you know of Lamprino's right outside of Lewisburg. That's where we went today after work and we're going back tomorrow. We're going to get a 47-inch JVC. The store will deliver it and do whatever needs to be done for free. So we won't be paying a huge fee for delivery and all that stuff. And he gave us a good deal again.

We saw the Samsung right next to the JVC in the showroom and, overall, it turns out that we like the color better on the JVC. And the sound seemed better, too; it seemed to have more depth, if that makes any sense. That could just be us, I don't know. But we're both really happy with the JVC in the bedroom, so we'll stick with JVC. We're going back in tomorrow to buy it.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Well, if you do have a Kmart nearby, check their prices.  I waited years to buy mine and it was very reasonable.  Believe me, I have to pinch every penny twice these days before it screams and I reluctantly let it go. 

 

[catsite]

we keep our TV hung on the wall