Argh...TV is dying, what would you suggest?

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Our 9 year old Sony is showing lines at the top of the screen and I think it is dying. We plan to retire to Hawaii (yes!, but not for two years), so I don't know if we should get something to take or go for cheap now. Should we go LCD instead of picture tube for possible laptop application? The furniture cabinet is sits in holds it well, but it is 27 inches and I don't think it could hold anything larger.
Thanks,
Liz

 

[Rose Pink]

It depends on how much you watch television and what you watch. If it is only for news or occasional shows, I'd go for something inexpensive that you can sell or give away when you move. If you really love your television programs, DVDs, etc. then weigh the cost of moving it vs the cost of replacement when you get to Hawaii. (We had some neighbors once who relocated to another state. The husband didn't want to take anything, just jump in the car and go. I'm still using the dishes she gave to me 19 years ago!)

 

[Icarus]

I would just go out and buy a decent, but relatively inexpensive 25 - 27 inch TV for now and not worry about taking it with you. You can sell stuff like that rather than ship it over here. In two years, LCDs (or whatever technology we're using then) will be cheaper and better than what they are now.

-David

 

[johnmfaeth]

The price of shipping a convential TV to Hawaii will not be cheap. I would look on Craigslist.com for a decent used one. You can pick up a low end 25-27" new for about $200 these days.

I would then buy a flatscreen LCD TV in 2 years when the size of your room in Hawaii is known so the right-sized one can be bought. In two years, they should be 1/4 to 1/2 of what the cost now based upon the way the prices have tracked during the last 10 years.

or, ignore the lines at the top....

 

[DebBrown]

or, ignore the lines at the top....

That would be my advice. Maybe it won't get worse or maybe it will take two years to completely breakdown. But then I don't watch much TV.

Deb

 

[UWSurfer]

We enjoy our flat screen LCD TV very much. They aren't that heavy and should ship easier than a conventional TV.

I'd keep an eye on the ads and spend an hour at the TV section at Costco. They have very good deals and a tremendous return policy. While there is some common sense questioning of when analog TV transmitters will turn off, they eventually will. It's now scheduled for 2009.

Any cheapo TV you buy now will be a throw away in two years...but then again maybe that's ok?

 

[Icarus]

Any cheapo TV you buy now will be a throw away in two years...

That's not true. People are so confused about that. Inexpensive set-top boxes will be available for TVs with analog-only tuners for those people that were getting their analog tv over the air. That's part of the plan and those are the only people that will need them.

-David

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Well, I can probably live with the lines, I guess I thought it was terminal. We do watch a fair amount of TV for relaxation, have favorite shows we TIVO and veg when we are tired. We aren't near a major city for Craig's list and the big Labor Day garage sales just got totally rained out, but I think I'll keep my eye out for a used one.

David, you are the in Hawaii expert, so before we get closer to going I'll email you about the move. We plan to take our cars and some furniture etc. and my husband seems to think we can just anchor the cars in the containers that are shipped and put other things around them.

Two more years of teaching is my goal.

Liz

 

[AwayWeGo]

Craig's List.

For a while there, The Chief Of Staff was snapping up Craig's List 13- & 19-inch color TVs with built-in VHS slots for $35 - $40 apiece -- PanaSonic, Emerson, SamSung, MagnaVox, Toshiba, etc.

More recently, she snapped up a Craig's List 20-inch Toshiba with built-in VHS & DVD slots, for $80. It's the 1 we've got hooked up to satellite TV at our dinky 35-foot trailer over in Delaware.

Who'd a-thunk ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia USA.​

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Well, I took your advice, (always worthwhile) and looked at Craig's list and found I could narrow it down to an area near where my dad lives about an hour or so away, so I think when our TV dies, that's what we'll do.
Thanks,
Liz

 

[UWSurfer]

That's not true. People are so confused about that. Inexpensive set-top boxes will be available for TVs with analog-only tuners for those people that were getting their analog tv over the air. That's part of the plan and those are the only people that will need them.

-David

We'll you are some what right and I may have been a little over simplistic.
A digital converter will not provide you with an HD screen. To do that you need an HD set. Furthermore, the converter boxes don't exist yet.

The deadline issued by the FCC for broadcasters to turn off their analog signal is February 2009. However, only 16% of the households in the US soley receive their TV signals over the air. Said anotherway...84% of those watching TV do so via cable or satellite...and those systems are doing the conversion for the 84% now. The boxes will be for the remaining 16% basically.

Still, if you are in the market for a new set why not buy a set capable of receiving and displaying the new signals?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Unfortunately, The Upgrades Are Technologic Only.

That is to say, the TV shows won't be any better -- digital, H-D, over-air, cable, satellite, set-top box, boxless, mox nix.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Well, DH went to buy one from Craig's list today, 2004 Sony Trinitron for $125. Sounds like an update of exactly what we have, which we have been happy with. As we go back to work tomorrow, Im not sure when it will be up and running.
Thanks for the suggestions,
Liz

 

[Icarus]

We plan to take our cars and some furniture etc. and my husband seems to think we can just anchor the cars in the containers that are shipped and put other things around them.

I wouldn't do that. You live in So Cal, right? You just drive the cars over to Long Beach and drop them off at Horizon Lines and ship them separately. It costs about $1,000 each to the outer islands. The cars ship in an enclosed container and they do a great job.

If you have less than a full container for your furniture and what nots, you work with a consolidator that will consolidate your shipment with other shipments to the islands. Otherwise, you can get your own 20', 40' or 44' container.

Try to remember that there's a lot of stuff that isn't worth taking and you should try to get rid of as much as possible before the move.

-David

 

[Icarus]

We'll you are some what right and I may have been a little over simplistic.
A digital converter will not provide you with an HD screen. To do that you need an HD set. Furthermore, the converter boxes don't exist yet.

No, you need a monitor that's capable of receiving digital OTA signals if you don't want to use a set top box and you want to receive programming over the air. It does not have to be an HD monitor.

There will still be cheap non-HD monitors for sale after the deadline. They aren't just going away.

Still, if you are in the market for a new set why not buy a set capable of receiving and displaying the new signals?

Because it's a temporary replacement and a $125 used tv will work just fine and because the space for the tv was constrained and the OP doesn't know what size monitor she will need in her new place?

-David

 

[AwayWeGo]

Whoops! She Did It Again.

The Chief Of Staff scored another $35 Craig's List 19-inch PanaSonic color TV-VHS combo, with remote, 2002 model.

Got to rebuild the color TV inventory after "lending" some TVs to various family members -- that, plus letting a couple of sets go with Jimmy Lee's eBay CoachMen trailer a couple of months back.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Rose Pink]

Alan, what do you do with this inventory? I have only one and have decided not to waste any time watching it this week--instead I'm spending more time on tug.

 

[AwayWeGo]

T.V. Background & Background T.V.

Alan, what do you do with this inventory? I have only one and have decided not to waste any time watching it this week--instead I'm spending more time on tug.

The Chief Of Staff likes TV lots more than I do. Frequently she's got 1 on & is watching or semi-watching a show while I'm over here in the corner computing. That could change when the new season starts & some of our favorite shows return -- Desperate Babes, Boston Legal, Bros. & Sisters, etc. We might even try some of the new shows -- Dirty Sexy Money, Big Shots, etc. Plus, lots of football games will be on -- although I don't watch TV football nearly as much as I did 10-20 years back. So it goes.

We bought our 1st TV -- brand-new 17-inch B&W Zenith UHF-VHF from Dalmo Discount -- in late 1964 or maybe early 1965. That's when I knew the honeymoon was over.

The Craig's List TV we brought home last night wasn't really what we were after. All we needed was a working remote control for the PanaSonic combo TV-VHS that's set to record The Chief Of Staff's opera automatically every afternoon. We don't care much for so-called universal remote controls, & in our experience an OEM replacement remote costs about the same as a complete Craig's List TV that comes with its own remote control. Sure enough, the remote that belongs to the PanaSonic we brought home yesterday works The Chief Of Staff's old reliable soap opera comboTV-VHS just fine.

We didn't throw away the suddenly unfuctional old PanaSonic remote control. We just took the brand-new batteries out & put it away in a drawer. Maybe it just needs a rest, I don't know. We'll see.

Meanwhile, we really did give some TVs to family members recently, & 2 TVs out of the inventory really did hit the road to Oklahoma with Jimmy Lee in his eBay trailer that he bought from us. Then we put 2 more TVs in our eBay trailer that takes the place of the 1 Jimmy Lee bought. Plus, it never hurts to have some extra Craig's List TVs around, specially now that they're about as cheap as radios. We never know when something actually worth watching might come on.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Free T.V.

Somebody over in my son's & daughter-in-law's neighborhood set a perfectly good Sharp 17-inch colorTV out for the trash.

I didn't know it was perfectly good till I took it home, plugged it in, turned it on, & noticed that it got good reception & a bright, clear, sharp picture with audio to match. Who'd a-thunk?

No remote -- but I was able to get an old surplus "universal" remote coded appropriately (using "automatic code search"), so the free TV is now good to go.

Waste not, want not.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​