Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A MAJOR DECISION

Tony and I have decided to buy a television. To those of you who have frequented my house and seen the television that we already possess you might be wondering why we would do such a thing. Although not top of the line or huge, out television is certainly quite a nice piece of equipment. When we purchased it we said we wouldn’t need to get another TV for 10 years. We were wrong.

Although it has HD capability, it must be like on of the very first HD type TVs because it doesn’t have a place to plug in an HDMI cable thus making our HD not as awesome as it could be. It runs at 1080i and at 420 but not at 720 or 1080p. Because of these specifications we cannot enjoy our PS3 to its full abilities. Most games run in 720 and we have to view them at 420 instead. Some of the ones that run at 1080 will run optimally but not all of them. It really is rather frustrating.

Last night we took a trip up to the Evanston/Chicago border (because Tony didn’t want to get on the red line and insisted it wouldbe an easy commute) to try out a Greek restaurant up on Howard street and then take the bus to Best Buy in Evanston. The food was pretty good but we both ordered the wrong entrĂ©e. I think others would have been better than pretty good. The appetizers were AMAZING. We hopped on the bus and saw this big conglomerate suburban edifice that contained a Jewel/Osco, Best Buy, Office Max, and Target. It was wonderful. I really wanted to go to Target but we didn’t really have time.

Best Buy is a wonderful place full of big pretty televisions. While we aren’t completely sure if we will end up getting one from there, Internet shopping could possibly be an option, we needed to scope things out. After looking around for a long time we basically found the two TVs that had the best picture. Picture quality is really the most important thing. Both of them were a little out of our target price range but we can always save a little more. One was a 40in Sony Bravia LCD screen. I had never seen such picture; it looked like I could reach in and punch Spiderman in the face. The shots of video games were amazing, they showed Drake’s Fortune and it looked like a completely different game than what we had been playing. We started to drool. However, it was a little small for us to. To put out new TV the way we want to in our living room we’ll be sitting at least 12ft back from it. Since we know we’re going to plop down a nice chunk of change we want it to look big from 12ft back, not just up close. The other one we liked was a 52in Samsung LCD the picture was essentially the same but it wasn’t showing any video games so we were left a little in the dark. When we got home we realized we just should have put the DVD that was playing on the Sony into the Panasonic but we didn’t do that. Right now we are leaning toward the Panasonic. To get the Sony in the size we want would be SERIOUSLY out of price range rather than a little out of range. We already feel a little silly paying so much money for a stupid TV. I mean, seriously.

Although a very helpful salesman tried desperately to have us buy the TV last night it wasn’t going to happen. We need to save some money and completely rearrange our living room before we’ll be ready for the TV. It was tempting though. My sound Financial Fitness hat must have been on though because I was able to say no. This time last year I probably would have got a TV. Yeah for being somewhat financially responsible.

Oh, after we were done at Best Buy we went to wait for the bus to go back to the city. One passed on the other side of the street and told us that we would be waiting for about an hour unless we went three blocks east and took another bus. We got to the other bus stop as our bus was pulling away and had to wait another 20 minutes or so for one. I knew it would have been easier to go to the one off the red line.

1. Love Love Love/ Love Love Love/ There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done/ Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. All You Need is Love, The Beatles. Identified by Mom

2. I am/ Doll eyes/ Doll mouth/ doll legs. Doll Parts, Hole. Identified by Mom

3. Two weeks in a Virginia Jail/ For my lover/ For my lover. For My Lover, Tracy Chapman. Identified by Mom

4. I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more/ No I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more Maggie's Farm, Bob Dylan. Identified by Mom

5. It’s more fun to compute/ It’s more fun to compute/ It’s more fun to compute. It's More Fun To Compute, Kraftwerk. Identified by Mom

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can check Consumer Reports online for you, if you want more TV info...

I can't believe you had a Shuffle Game where I know all the songs!
1. "All You Need is Love" the Beatles
2. "Doll Parts" Courtney Love

3. "For My Lover" Tracy Chapman

4. "Maggie’s Farm" Bob Dylan

5. "It’s More Fun to Compute" Kraftwerk (they were just here in Mpls - we missed them)

Anonymous said...

“When we purchased it we said we wouldn’t need to get another TV for 10 years.”

Actually you don’t NEED a new TV, you want one, and there’s nothing wrong with that!

“It runs at 1080i and at 420 but not at 720 or 1080p. Because of these specifications we cannot enjoy our PS3 to its full abilities. Most games run in 720 and we have to view them at 420 instead”

According to Samsung: The native resolution of the TX-R2765 and TX-R3265 is 1080i/480p. 480i input signals are up-converted to 480p. 720p signals are up-converted to 1080i. 1080i signals and 480p signals are displayed without conversion.

Even if it’s true, there’s nothing like Blu-Ray @1080p !

You do realize, after you get the new TV, you’ll want a surround system that can play Dolby True-HD and DTS-MA. Then you'll need new speakers for the 7.1 surround sound system. You’ve started walking on a slippery slope, one I’ve been sliding down since the 11th grade.

Anonymous said...

P.S.
Isn't it sick that the 1st two replies to your blog are from Mom and Dad :-)

Blog Antagonist said...

We recently spent a ridiculous amount of money on the Panasonic 50 in. HD flat screen. Our old television was a faux wood grain cabinet style television that was purchased in 1988, and it was beginning to show everything in neon, so we really did need a new tv.

Husband is in guy heaven. I was dubious about the need. But I have to admit, it's pretty saweet. BUT...here's the thing, you have to then buy all the peripherals. The surround sound, the hd blu-ray....GAH.

Anonymous said...

Oh, they've got the HD Blu-ray already -- the PS3 game machine is a Blu-ray player. (I only know this because "anonymous" (aka Dad) has one too!)

Foofa said...

Mom- I will certainly take you up on that. Way to guess all the songs, geez. Then again they were incredibly simple songs.

Dad- I don't think it converts things up because some of them we would put in the PS3 and nothing would happen. The tvs we are choosing between were playing blue ray and it was just like looking through a window. Beautiful. We won't get that other stuff though. It's not in the budget.

BA- Like mom said we have a blue ray and that is one of the main reasons we are getting the new TV. As far as surround sound, as our neighbors kicked in our door because of noise I don't think that is the thing we need.