Buying a New TV? 162
Bob Bitchen asks: "I have had the current TV set for 10+ years and really haven't put any thought into a new one. The current set is having some problems and I'm thinking of getting a new larger set or possibly a projector, with a budget of $1000. What's the best thing to get these days? HDTV ready might be nice but it's not mandatory. I don't know enough about the projector technology to feel comfortable about buying them but I might be convinced, if I hear from enough converts. Do the projectors perform as well as conventional displays? If I do go with a conventional display TV, what models are preferred and why? I am also looking for some good sites for comparing and learning more about the current state-of-the-art in televisions. I found a good site for projectors but haven't found a similar site for TVs."
Words to live by... (Score:2)
Obviously try-before-you-buy, but my 5 year old Sony is still a great, great TV.
Personally, I'd be wary of HDTV until it shakes down a bit more...but that's just me.
-psy
Re:Words to live by... (Score:1)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:1)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:3, Funny)
Unless you have to carry it up stairs. Sony makes their TVs out of solid depleted Uranium! Make sure you have a dolly!
Re:Words to live by... (Score:4, Funny)
My current Sony weighs 98lbs. Sounds like nothing. I mean, I can quite comfortably hump a 98lb girl all night
BUT.....when I bought my Sony, I didn't take the dealer up on the free delivery....we removed it from the box and I hauled it by myself into the car....and out when home...across the drive...and up the stairs. FUCK ME! It was a long haul. Sony make TVs that are not move-friendly. 98lbs doesn't sound much until you have to do what I did and realize that it has no FREAKIN' HANDLES!
-psy
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
I'm still not sure how the hell we didn't earn the tagline 'hilarity ensues'.
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:4, Funny)
Gravity's not exactly a constant in dream land, buddy.
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
Sounds like you need... The Carnivale! It sports a two-prong wall-plug, pre-molded handgrip wells and a durable outer casing to prevent fall-apart.
Re:Words to live by... (Score:3, Funny)
More than half of the Sony devices I've had have been complete crap. But the other half have been pretty darn good. Very strange.
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Words to live by... (Score:2)
Caveat sony (Score:2)
Go buy a ordinary TV (Score:1)
Look at the GE TVs. They are cheap and will last until HDTV standards are stabilized.
Don't go buy an ordinary TV (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're buying a TV now, unless your room is very small, it's definitely worth going for a projector or an HDTV capable set, if it's within your budget. Generally, if you do the ceiling mount and screen yourself (which even the most well-monied individuals can enjoy doing as a refreshing change), a mid-range projector will cost less than HDTV tubes, plasmas, and RPTV's. I personally use an XGA DLP projector, and while the rainbows (it's an older DLP model; newer ones are much better) were mildly annoying at first, I'm very satisfied with the purchase.
Standards vs. Implementation (Score:3, Interesting)
HDTV - Check availability, and buy if you can (Score:3, Interesting)
This is pretty much any major metropolitan area except for NYC (Due to 9/11 knocking out all but one of the HD transmitters there.)
If you have a signal, HD is well worth it. Note: Even without an HD signal, an "HD-ready" TV with composite inputs can make for an AMAZING PC monitor for gaming, etc. In my case, I don't have an actual HDTV, I just feed my 18" LCD on my desktop using an HDTV tuner card in my PC. Sadly, I live in the NYC area
Re:Go buy a ordinary TV (Score:2, Interesting)
Pre-9/11, we were able to receive Over-the-air broadcast of local network station from the WTC. After those broadcast facilities were destroyed Local HD dropped off. You can get several channels from Satellite: DirecTV offers HBO, Showtime, Discovery, HDNet, ESPN. Cable providers have varied service. We now have TWCNYC, which carries HBO, Showtime, PBS plus CBS, NBC, ABC.
In anycase, with a $1,000 budget HD
Re:Go buy a ordinary TV (Score:2)
The HDTV FAQ [avsforum.com] should also come in handy. And also check out Antenna Web [antennaweb.org] for further information on HDTV reception.
GE=a fool and his money (Score:2)
My opinions... (Score:5, Funny)
Also, colour is now available so you don't have to see everything in black and white.
Make sure you get one with more than 13 channels...somebody told me there is more.
Remember to pay your license fee that you MUST do if you own & watch the tele.
Use rabbit ears to pick up stations a long distance away (called "DX"), but don't use real rabbits or else the blood will obscure your view of the tube.
Thanks for listening.
Thomas Farnsworth
Re:My opinions... (Score:1)
Me personally... (Score:2, Insightful)
Not sure if that gives you much to think about, but considerations are always good.
Re:Me personally... (Score:4, Funny)
But definatly get a TiVo. DirecTiVos are especially great.
Tee Eye Vee Ooooooh (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're lucky, nothing will go wrong and your enjoyment of TV will go up drastically. (Tivos aren't just convenient, they're wonderful for digging up shows you always meant to watch, or would want to watch if you'd ever heard of them.) If you're not lucky, the damn thing will go psychotic. Which is survivable, if you're prepared for it.
Re:Tee Eye Vee Ooooooh (Score:2)
TiVo's do not have a high failure rate. Of the 11 TiVo's owned by friends and family only one has had issues -- the modem blew out due to a power surge. An issue which has been largely resolved in the newer TiVo's, and is completely irrelevant with the S2 TiVo's if you use broadband connections. It can also be worked around by using an external modem.
And neither TiVo's financial reportings nor the TiVo Community boards bear out your alleged "high failure rate".
TiVo's
Re:Tee Eye Vee Ooooooh (Score:2)
Before you get all bent out of shape, bear in mind that I'm not advising against buying the product, just making more than usual allowance for product problems. And if you still have nothing better to do than flame me for suggestin
Re:Tee Eye Vee Ooooooh (Score:3, Informative)
Essentially, three thumbs up or down is bad. Never, ever do it. Thumbs control more than just the show - they also relate to the actors, director, genre, and anything else TiVo can associate with the particular episode that you thumbed up/down.
Give one thumbs up to shows you like (hitting Record on a show or se
Re:Tee Eye Vee Ooooooh (Score:2)
Also, the service is not all that stellar. Considering how much you pay for the subscription service, which consists of nothing more than a channel-guide (oh, and annoying ass *ex
Projectors (Score:3, Informative)
A conventional (tube) TV set can run for many thousands of hours without any appreciable drop in output / quality. Most projectors have a 2000 hour bulb life (or less).
There! That's my share of FUD against projectors done! Please feel free to correct me if you think differently
Re:Projectors (Score:3, Insightful)
An important question though:
are you buying this to watch TV frequently for long periods of time? In other words, do you have kids who watch the afternoon cartoons every day? Projectors are better used in situat
Re:Projectors (Score:2)
> have each one donate a dollar to your "bulb fund"...
you will leave a bad taste in their mouth and won't have said friends for much longer. Jeez, do you also charge for the chips-n-dip?
Re:Projectors (Score:1)
Re:Projectors (Score:2)
You don't say how big...how about Samsung? (Score:3, Informative)
They do a nice 30" HDTV-ready 16:9 ratio unit for a little over $1,000, I think it's the 3096 / 3097 / 3098 model numbers, but they may have changed. Cambridge Soundworks usually has one set up in their stores. If you already have a surround-sound system, get the *97 (2 tuner, more home theater tweaks than the *96, but without the built in sub-woofer, which you won't be needing).
But really, so long as you're not being dirt cheap, you can't go too far wrong with a Sony Wega.
a word of warning (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:a word of warning (Score:3, Informative)
Re:a word of warning (Score:2, Interesting)
Logos (aka bugs) on things like Discovery Channel and new channel crawl bands seem particularly problematic. Proper configur
Re:a word of warning (Score:2)
Now, admittedly, I had tuned the TV using one of the DVD home theater discs and so the contrast wasn't at the default "so bright it's like staring at a sheet of white paper in direct sunlight" setting. So, I suppose that if people leave the contrast setting too high they probably CAN bu
Re:a word of warning (Score:1)
One of the greatest sights in life is seeing GTA: Vice City on an
8' screen...
Re:a word of warning (Score:3, Interesting)
I was at a holiday home out in the bush - the TV only had a co-ax input, and the co-ax cable to go from the VCR to the TV was missing. Thus the only thing I could watch it on was the tiny weeny beeny LCD screen on my video camera. It was late when we arrived, and that's all we had.
The next day we called a friend who was on his way there to stop in town and get the co-ax cable.
Could have been worse, I suppose. Could have been a smaller LCD, or none at all. I d
Re:a word of warning (Score:2)
Re:a word of warning (Score:2)
Warning? (Score:2)
Yeah, but they also tell me not to play for more than an hour at a time lest I get "fatigued" (whatever that means) or have like a seizure or something.
Those warnings are straight CYA.
A few useful tidbits (Score:5, Informative)
Second of all, there's a whole bunch of terminology you may want to become familiar with. First off, connections. You want component video inputs. For that price, you shouldn't have a problem getting a set with component video. It's seperates the signal into more discrete parts reducing interference greatly.
100Hz is really nice. It gives you a rock solid picture, that you can stare at for hours. It's not essential but for the price you're looking at, you can probably get a nice one.
Progressive scan means it draws the entire frame, every frame. Normal television is interlaced - it draws the odd lines one frame, and even frames the next. These translate into the "p" and "i" you see at the end of picture modes. What are picture modes I hear you cry?
Standard American broadcasts use NTSC (as does Japan). That has 480 lines of displayed resolution. So 480i is what you're used to seeing. Progessive scan output (from some DVD players and digital set-top boxes, and interpolated on some TVs from regular transmission), is called 480p. Remember, 'p' is better than 'i'.
Next up is PAL (used in Australia and UK). PAL is 576 lines. So if you're in PAL territory, try and get a TV that does 576p.
If you're in NTSC territory, 576p probably isn't that important. Similarly 480p isn't much used to the PAL folk.
Next up are the High-definition modes. There are two different HDTV modes: 720p and 1080i. It's arguable which one is better, though I'd favour 720p. Ideally, if you're going for HDTV, get a set that supports both. Different places around the world don't necessarily support both resolutions either - check for your area. The other thing worth knowing is that the XBox is the only console with HDTV output. Not that many support 720p though and a even less supporting 1080i. At around the $1000 mark, I think you're probably looking at a standard (CRT) television. You probably won't get HDTV for that price, but you probably will get a nice 100Hz, progressive-scan capable display. And go the widescreen. I'm regretting making my last TV a 4:3 (tech-talk for standard ratio), now that I have digital television. Lastly, if you're a bit of a junky when it comes to these things, get as many inputs as you can. Unless you're going to get an AV receiver (which typically only swap 2 sets of component video), you'll want to be able to plug in lots of stuff.
Re:A few useful tidbits (Score:2)
Re:A few useful tidbits (Score:2)
DLP (Score:3, Interesting)
There is no "burn-in" and the consoles are significantly thinner (not plasma thin, but thinner than traditional rear projection units.) The picture is pretty awesome at all angles and the technology is really cool.
Info on DLP concept. [dlp.com]
A vendor [tvauthority.com](Pricey, but informative.)
Rumors are around that sub-$1000 DLP systems will be out by the end of the year.
Re:DLP (Score:2)
Re:DLP (Score:2)
If you looked at it on a show room floor, remember that they are terribly out of whack.
Probably the sharpness was turned to full, the colour temp was way up, the contrast was way skewed; all to make it stand out on a well-lit showroom floor.
Once you spend 1000+ on a TV, you owe it to yourself to get a certified ISF (ISF? My dyslexia has suddenly kicked in) tech to come calibrate it for you.
more info needed (Score:5, Interesting)
If you watch a lot of DVDs, you'll probably want a widescreen set. That'll shoot up the price.
If you want to watch a lot of HDTV broadcasts, same thing, but with a further question: what HDTV spec (there are several) are the broadcasters in your area broadcasting in? Broadcasters are kind of split on whether to broadcast in 720p or 1080i. I'd rather watch 720p over 1080i, but too many people don't understand the difference between progressive and interlaced, and just assume the higher number means it's better. Feh.
How big a screen are you thinking about? There's a world of difference in price between a really good 27" set and a 36" flat-tube screen. Even between a 32" and a 36" can be a big price difference, depending on other features.
What I find annoying is that noone seems to be making intermediate TVs. I want a widescreen flat-tube 36" TV that goes up to 480p. No speakers. PIP (picture in picture) would be nice, too. But the thing is, there seems to be a plateau at a regular NTSC TV, and then it steps up to HDTV specs, with the attendant price increase. I just want to watch good DTV broadcasts and DVDs in full 480p mode (that's the max that DVDs can do - they don't even match low-end HDTV specs, sad to say). And what's with all the high-end tv with speakers? People who buy high-end TVs don't use the crappy built-in speakers - they're hooked up to a decent sound system.
TV manufacturers are downright _weird_ about some things.
Re:more info needed (Score:2)
Not to mention tuners. Don't they realize that we all use TiVo now? I just want to buy a tube in an attractive box. I'll allow it to have a power switch and an IR sensor for power. And I wouldn't complain too loudly if it had multiple inputs that could be switched via IR. But that's it.
But I guess they wouldn't sell enough of them to make it worthwhile...
Re:more info needed (Score:2)
Re:more info needed (Score:1)
TV manufacturers are downright _weird_ about some things."
wow
I'd be pretty pissed if I bought a $3,000 TV and I couldn't hear anything unless I also invested in a speaker setup.
Re:more info needed (Score:2)
Re:more info needed (Score:2)
They might be broadcasting a particular spec now, but that is not to say they will continue to do so. They might change the transmission from 720 to 1080 once more HDTV sets are out there. Or broadcast both and let you take your pick (if that is even possible).
I'd like to get a HDTV, but here in Australia it's still a bit early. The sets are too expensive and the broadcaster have only recently started pumping out a
Re:more info needed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:more info needed (Score:2)
Not to mention, interlacing gives you a migraine (me, it does, anyway...)
-uso.
Projectors et all (Score:5, Informative)
If you are going to go for a projector make sure the room is DARK. And I mean REAL DARK, like only watch movies at night or with blackout curtains. This may not be an issue if you have a tv room specific for watching tv, but it can be a pain normallly.
Be warned that there are two kinds of projectors floating around, Data projectors and Home Theater projectors. You definately want the second kind. Data projecters often have specs that look amazing (high res, very bright etc) but the colour quality SUCKS. They ghost lots on fast movement and are definately not something to watch tv or movies on.
The other thing to consider is that for $1000 you are not going to get a really amazing projector, I think you will be dissapointed by the brightness and quality of the picture. Projectors really improve as you throw money at them.
Limited bulb life of projectors is an issue too. It is many hundreds to replace a burned bulb and they typically last 2000 hours.
Ok, so after all that I think you should look for a nice tube tv. Make sure it has the following things:
* Widescreen format (16:9). I know lots of TV is not in widescreen now but it will be in future and most DVD's are. You don't want to be pissed off watching everything in a letterbox. Now is NOT the time to buy an old style 4:3 tv.
* component video input. Seperates the colours into different cables, greatly improves the picture quality and is essential when connecting a good dvd player.
* 100Hz. Faster refresh rate, the picture looks much sharper and clearer, easier on the eyes.
European TV's normally have all the above features, but they often are more than $1000. Look for Metz, Loewe and Grundig.
Hope that helps!
Consumer Reports (Score:4, Informative)
Consumer Reports tends to review televisions every few months. Their most recent comprehensive review (27-36 inches, HD-ready, and projection) was in the March 2003 issue. Perhaps your local library has a copy? They also have most of their content online at www.consumerreports.org [consumerreports.org] for a $4.95 monthly subscription ($24 per year).
If you're considering spending $1000, it's worth spending $5 on research.
Re:Consumer Reports - frustrated with reviews (Score:2)
Consumer Reports tests and compares all of the products themselves. They detail their methods, so that you can judge their adequacy. (For example, I don't make use of CR's computer reviews because their requirements don't match my own needs.)
Online sites, on the other hand, make use of a self-selected sample. Basically, it's just a group of people who love the product, hate the product, or just want to have
Re:Consumer Reports - frustrated with reviews (Score:2)
The best review site I can recommend is Consumer search [consumersearch.com]. The check individual review sites and publications then aggregate the results, while also providing links to the original reviews ranked by "credibility ratings".
They do tend to rank CR at the top almost all the time but often the other publications provide additional insight.
Amazon and Epinions reviews are consistenly ranked at the bottom of the
Flat Tube (Score:1)
I bought a 27" flat tub
Most Versatile Setup for LCD Television (Score:4, Insightful)
While you enjoy your time shopping for this equipment, please remember that when you buy products made in a particular country, you indirectly support the value system of that country. So, please avoid products that are made in China (which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong). At Amnesty International [amnesty.org] and Tibet Online [tibet.org], you can find plenty of reasons to avoid products "Made in China" (which includes "Made in Taiwan" and "Made in Hong Kong").
Re:Most Versatile Setup for LCD Television (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Avoiding Products "Made in Taiwan" (Score:2)
Re:Most Versatile Setup for LCD Television (Score:2)
For College Students Only! (Score:2)
The setup you propose is a hugely wasteful one for what you get. I'd only advise
Logo burn (Score:2)
Monitors have screensavers, TVs generally don't, and if (for example) you're watching a news channel for an hour, with a logo constantly displayed in the corner of the screen, you could soon find that there's a "shadow" pe
Re:Logo burn (Score:2)
Traditional CRT's definitely don't need to worry about this. Screen savers have purely for graphical entertainment on computer screens for about a decade now. I'm pretty sure projection screens and LCDs are safe too.
Re:Logo burn (Score:2)
Wait (Score:2)
I'm in a similar situation... (Score:1)
i've heard epinions is good (Score:1)
TV reviews (Score:2, Informative)
Buy two, and make sure they are fit for purpose (Score:3, Informative)
For movies I bought a single chip DLP projector (InFocus X1) which is the best bang for the buck at the moment. Fully multistandard, calibrates wonderully and is very bright and clear. The video scaler and deinterlacer are excellent too extracting 24fps from NTSC LDs with 3:2 pulldown eliminating judder. Resolution of the DLP is only 800x600 but that is ample for all current DVDs and even in 16:9 mode where it compresses the picture down vertically it still looks clear. A true 16:9 projector would have a little more resolution but brightness and colour correctness make up for this small deficiency, and cost (about $1500). Oh, and it will accept HDTV signals although it downconverts. Once HD is really cooking this projector will be ready to retire anyway so not to worry.
Lessons to live by:
Buy Video Essentials, practice with it until you can get a really nice picture, try several sets, it takes time to get used to it but you will learn which TVs can be calibrated and which can't.
Don't be swayed by the brightest punchiest picture in the shop. Quite likely a TV with that default setting is running a very high colour temp and also the tube is liable to burn. A calibrated picture looks dark and dull at first but once you get used to it you will never go back. Room lighting is also important, TVs are not designed to be used in brightly lit rooms, control the light, especially that shining on the screen.
Avoid LCD TVs like the plague, the scalers in them are very poor and they have poor contrast and black level, plus they cost a fortune for what is really a very small and muddy picture. They are a very poor substitute for plasma screens.
Plasma TVs are for people who like to show off. Very few produce an acceptable picture, and those that do cost a lot. For the money you would spend on one of them you can have a nice little direct view and a huge projection system. My set up currently has a 100" screen but I want something bigger. It cost less than half the price of a decent plasma screen and the picture is 3x bigger.
LCD projectors are better than they used to be but DLP is much better and about the same money. The InFocus X1 can be had for less than $1500 which is amazing value, particularly as it has a built in Faroudja deinterlacer.
For CRTs, make sure that the picture is stable when there is a strong flashing image (Video Essentials includes the necessary tests and instructions). Nothing worse than a TV where the picture bends and pulses when Arnie blows s**t up
Back projection CRTs are OK but very bulky, imagine what your room will be like when the thing is not turned on. It will be like sharing a room with the monolith out of 2001 and you're back to staring up people's noses. Once all TV is shot assuming large screens as movies are then this won't be a problem. As I said, my solution is to have a small set for small screen stuff and a big screen for big screen movies. Cost is more than your budget but you might be able to find ex-demo or secondhand projectors on E-bay and it is well worth it.
Of course, you could just avoid all this and buy the first set that you like the look of, but that wouldn't be the slashdot way now would it?
Two Reasons: Point Blank & Duck Hunt = tube TV (Score:2)
Have one for your bedroom and one for your living room/ company - you'd be surprised at how handy and space saving these new 3 in 1's are. Also MAKE SURE what ever TV you get that it has front av inputs. Nice for a digital camera or hooking up a laptop on the fly. Some TV's (just not in the $1000 price range) have DVI hookups.
I'd go with glass for thi
Lightguns and TV (Score:2)
TV Buying Advice (Score:2, Informative)
Depending on the size you get, make sure that the room you plan on putting it in is big enough. If there isn't enough space between your primary viewing location and the tv, you're going to be overwhelmed. Mine is 50", my living room is ~12' wide. I ended up having to rearrange everything in my living room so that the tv was against one wall and the couch against the opposite wall. I could still use a few ex
Crutchfield & CrutchfieldAdvisor (Score:1)
There are a number of articles and how-to's on just about every aspect of TVs including flat-panels and HDTV over at www.crutchfieldadvisor.com [crutchfieldadvisor.com].
I would start with the Choosing a TV [crutchfieldadvisor.com] learning center article and check out the HDTV Center [crutchfieldadvisor.com] as well.
(Disclaimer: I am associated with Crutchfield, but there's honestly some of the best information anywhere located there)
Buy smart, keeping future in mind. (Score:2)
- TV standards are not finalized yet, and the deadline for ratification (IIRC) has been extended past 2006, the original due date. As such, thich means that there's several competing standards out there. The more standards a TV is compatible with, the more expensive it gets. Additionally, with people getting digital cable and satellite receivers, a TV doesn't really
Check out AVS Forums (Score:3, Informative)
That said, I'd highly recommend you get a widescreen HDTV-compatible set. If you want to keep your TV around for as long (or longer) as your last set, you'll regret not getting HDTV. No, the switchover isn't going to happen in 2006. But it will happen, and you can receive HDTV in most areas now. Even without HD reception you'll get better DVD viewing, a huge computer monitor (if you want), and can get better visual quality out of most consoles.
Your choices are going to be rather limited at $1000, and I can't recommend any specific ones (I just bought a new TV set... but for considerably more than $1k... the Samsung HLN467W - 46" DLP widescreen), but there are some available. Do check out the menus. Check to see if it has discrete codes available, otherwise you'll want to kill yourself if you get a programmable remote (or, more likely, your SO will want to kill you because they can't operate the damn system). Check what inputs it has -- at this price point about the most you can hope for is one or two component inputs on the high end. You almost certainly won't get a VGA or DVI input.
If you don't go HD, then don't bother buying a TV bigger than about 32" -- which will be far, far below your budget. Big screen non-HD is just a waste of money.
Full outlay vs Monthly bill (Score:1)
This will future greatly proof your investment (at this price, includes the HDTV 720x). No i don't work for a big store but i am drooling over the Panasonic and Daewoo 42" Plasmas for a personal Xmas present. My budget matches yours. I am also looking at a Sony XBR32" for ~$800 online. No ide
Did you try epinions? (Score:2)
Did you look at epinions.com [epinions.com]?
I realize that lots of people like Ask Slashdot because they feel that they're pretty similar to the average Slashdot reader, but there is a wider audience out there. Epinions is a site where you can search for many parameters, like brand or price, or features, and see what fellow consumers have recommended.
I wrote a little description of the TV I bought a while ago here [epinions.com].
As with anything where you ask for people's opinions, I find it helpful to find the harshest critics and
hdtv ready and get a tube tv (Score:2)
I would not worry about getting an HDTV because you won't find many under $1,000, but may be able to find an HDTV ready set at 32" or 36". The biggest advantage is not so much that they are HDTV ready but that because they are they have more lines of resolution than just a normal set. For normal TV or cable viewing this will not mean m
LCD (Score:2)
The Dell.com price on it is $999.
Buy somethig to match your other equipment (Score:2)
I use Sony produced DirecTV receivers, incliding a Sony DirecTiVo upgraded to store 150 hours of TV. Going with a Sony TV means that I can always use just one remote.
I like the Panasonic and Sony televisions. I would personally spend $300 on a mid-line TV and worry about HDTV in a few years, but I'm trying to watch TV, not have a home theater.
$1000? Wow. (Score:2)
JVC just as good as Sony -- and cheaper (Score:2)
Pluses:
Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:4, Funny)
Anyhow, how do you know the guy hasn't already been to China? A TV will last 10 years or more. A 1 week vacation to china will last 1 week, but those intenstinal parasites you'll carry around for a lifetime. Or, you could get SARS. I bet that's why airfare's so cheap.
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:3, Insightful)
If he'd rather have a TV than a trip to Timbuktu, then how is that being wasteful? Maybe we should analyze all of your purchases to see if you're buying things that we think are wasteful.
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:2)
A 'typical wasteful American'. He's got a ten year old telvision that's having some problems. He's not talking about going out and buying a top of the line set -- he's not even talking about spending money on a moderately sized rear screen projection television. He's talking about a reasonably priced medium level television.
Maybe he doesn't like to travel. Maybe he doesn't have time to travel. Maybe he has a wife and four kids and the low fare suddenly gets rather expensive. (
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:1)
I may look wistfully back at the days when my stock options were worth a couple of extra zeroes, but I bet I spend a fair bit more than that when I finally go buy a new TV (been meaning to for years, I bought a half decent Sony a few days after
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:4, Informative)
The submitter asked about a low-cost, high-quality replacement for a faulty 10-year old TV. You responded by calling him, in so many words, a materialistic, amoral, intellectually bankrupt pig.
I double-dog dare you to try that in the real world. Go to your nearest Best Buy, walk up to the first customer you see in the TV section, and without solicitation, repeat everything you said here. Be sure to report back to us if you manage to make it out of the store without somebody turning it into a punchup.
A bit of advice for you, kid. Before you hit Submit, ask yourself this question: How would this person react if I said this to their face? If you don't have the balls to say it in the real world, you probably shouldn't post it here.
-1 Reading comprehension (Score:2)
Er, no.
He did not respond to the submitter's post but rather to a grandchild (a reply to a reply) of that post.
> I double-dog dare you to try that in the real world.
I double-dog (whatever that means) dare you to try that in the real world. At best, you would be considered a kook.
> A bit of advice
Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it. (Score:2)
HAng on. He works hard, smart and long, to get a decent pay check, and decides to spend it how he wishes. What wrong with that? If he wants to burn it, thats fine, its his money. If you're getting laid off, and working too hard for too little pay, perhaps you should get a
Re:Keep your current TV, and go on vacation... (Score:2)
Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television [theonion.com]