Re: OT Consumptive Bob
- From: nothermark <nothermark@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: 9 Jan 2009 21:04:03 -0600
On Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:30:42 -0600, Bob Giddings <bobg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Thursday
I probably spent 20 bucks on gas trying to save a dollar on a new
TV yesterday. I was not alone. The week after New Year's brings
out all the tightwads, Silas Marner wannabes, and other
disreputable bargain hunters.
Since I sold all my oversized electronic rigmarole some years
ago, when I thought I was going to be a permanent gypsy, I was
down to one 17 inch HDTV in the trailer, and one 17 inch CRT TV
in the house, and the latter was not long for this world. I
mainly had it there to occupy my brain while exercising.
So I spent all day alternatively questioning my sanity and avidly
culling through a raft of humongous TVs. I finally settled on a
KDL 46Z4100 Sony. The way my living room is arranged, anything
bigger would have looked more like a pagan shrine than a form of
casual entertainment, so I backed away from the most elephantine
samples.
Besides, one thing I learned by shopping all day is that there IS
such a thing as TOO BIG a TV. One clue is when you have to look
around to see the edges of the picture. Another is when you
discover Charlie Gibson has hairy ears.
I was disappointed at first in the picture from my old DVD
player, until I realized it was set for a different picture ratio
than I now had. I set it to 16:9, and things sharpened up
considerably. Still and all, I guess I'm going to have to pony
up for a Blue Ray to get the effects I was seeing in the stores.
Several people in the stores told me the best DVD player was a
Sony Playstation 3.
Broadcast HDTV brought in by my rabbit ears looks plenty good,
though. It's a little intimidating, though. All the talking
heads are larger than life, and much better looking than I am.
Even the old ones.
I went to Best Buy first thing in the morning, and as luck would
have it they were the cheapest I found until late in the day.
Fry's, Walmart, Target, Sam's, Costco, etc, were all more
expensive. Then, driving around Austin, I remembered my brother
telling me about a little place called A&B TV. TVs are all they
do, and they had a raft of them. They turned out to be cheaper
than anybody else, as well. The salesman looked me straight in
the eye and told me I was getting this at their usual cost. Their
profit was coming from a special dealer rebate left over from
before Christmas. Riiiight.
Probably was telling the truth. Prices drop significantly in December
and pop back up Jan 1. If the company had the right terms or cash in
the bank they could have taken ownership in December planning on the
sale in January when they had lower prices than the big boxes.
It's difficult for me to call anything cheap that costs $1400..
Now if only there was something on TV worth the price of the
ticket.
Yeah. Well, as it turns out, there is. On the side of this Sony
is a USB port. If you load MP3s or pictures onto a flashdrive
and stick it in there, the TV will play your music or show a
slide show of your favorite memories.
Now that's worth having.
My last big TV purchase was a $650 27 inch Sony, around 1980. It
lasted 23 years, performing faithfully without incident, and was
still working when I gave it away.
I should be so lucky again.
Bob
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- OT Consumptive Bob
- From: Bob Giddings
- OT Consumptive Bob
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