Comments on: In the Land of $1000 Televisions http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/ Family, Marriage, Finances & Life Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:09:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jon Kepler http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-31251 Jon Kepler Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:43:24 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-31251 If a Wii remote does indeed go through your "screen", a little paint and plaster is better than a whole new TV. If a Wii remote does indeed go through your “screen”, a little paint and plaster is better than a whole new TV.

]]> By: K http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-31248 K Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:34:18 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-31248 We have a projector & I love it. Never thought I would but by the 2nd day of owning it, I was a fan. We move A LOT & this thing is awesome, we no longer have the space constraints, family movie night is awesome w/ everyone having the best seat & when we have events, it's easy to set it up for the neighborhood kids to watch it project on a plain white sheet... If I even come around to his way of thinking re: getting a Wii, I won't have to worry about a controller going through the "screen" either! We have a projector & I love it. Never thought I would but by the 2nd day of owning it, I was a fan. We move A LOT & this thing is awesome, we no longer have the space constraints, family movie night is awesome w/ everyone having the best seat & when we have events, it’s easy to set it up for the neighborhood kids to watch it project on a plain white sheet… If I even come around to his way of thinking re: getting a Wii, I won’t have to worry about a controller going through the “screen” either!

]]> By: Danielle http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-30026 Danielle Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:11:43 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-30026 Oh and movies in Blu-Ray look awesome on it! Oh and movies in Blu-Ray look awesome on it!

]]> By: Danielle http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-30025 Danielle Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:10:34 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-30025 My husband bought our Sharp Aquos 42" tv before our wedding last year. Similar to J. Money who commented earlier, the TV and stereo equipment that went with it was one of the last big purchases before we started tackling our joint debt. In my head I always call it his "last hurrah". Its purchase in fact was made without consulting with me. It was (so far) his biggest financial infidelity, but it happened months before our wedding. I will probably never know how much he paid, he claims much less than retail, it is currently selling for $1400. He did use a bonus from work, but I know it did not come close to covering everything. I love my TV, I love the TiVo (in 2 rooms), the HD cable channels, and watch my prime time shows whenever and wherever I want, watch netflix instead of going out to movies, stream photos from our appletv instead of buying the prolific digital photo frame, invite friends over to play Wii or Guitar Hero instead of spending out at dinner or bars. It was this exact purchase that caused me to tally up our combined debt and was the catalyst for our current efforts to get out of debt and then figure out how to live debt free. I also love how getting the clunky entertainment center and CRT moved out made our living room look so much bigger and cleaner! (we wall mounted it and hid the cables in the wall in between ducts) If TV, games and movies is one of your main entertainment activities an investment that sounds huge to some of you is well worth it to others. To me $150 for an opera ticket sounds insane.. to others it is a no brainer and worth it. My husband bought our Sharp Aquos 42″ tv before our wedding last year. Similar to J. Money who commented earlier, the TV and stereo equipment that went with it was one of the last big purchases before we started tackling our joint debt. In my head I always call it his “last hurrah”.

Its purchase in fact was made without consulting with me. It was (so far) his biggest financial infidelity, but it happened months before our wedding. I will probably never know how much he paid, he claims much less than retail, it is currently selling for $1400. He did use a bonus from work, but I know it did not come close to covering everything.

I love my TV, I love the TiVo (in 2 rooms), the HD cable channels, and watch my prime time shows whenever and wherever I want, watch netflix instead of going out to movies, stream photos from our appletv instead of buying the prolific digital photo frame, invite friends over to play Wii or Guitar Hero instead of spending out at dinner or bars.

It was this exact purchase that caused me to tally up our combined debt and was the catalyst for our current efforts to get out of debt and then figure out how to live debt free.

I also love how getting the clunky entertainment center and CRT moved out made our living room look so much bigger and cleaner! (we wall mounted it and hid the cables in the wall in between ducts)

If TV, games and movies is one of your main entertainment activities an investment that sounds huge to some of you is well worth it to others. To me $150 for an opera ticket sounds insane.. to others it is a no brainer and worth it.

]]> By: neimanmarxist http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-30019 neimanmarxist Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:07:46 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-30019 I have never owned a TV so I don't understand why people want these flat screens instead of the regular old TVs. I actually said that to someone at a dinner party, I was like, "do you need the characters to be that much more... in high resolution to appreciate what is going on on your favorite show?" the guy thought it was funny because apparently I wasn't even "using the right language to describe the experience." Well then. The flat screen tv is the epitome of the fetish of the commodity- the notion that some THING has this tremendous power to improve your quality of life or situation. I mean really. it's just a little less pixelation (or whatever they call it.) Good for you for realizing that! I have never owned a TV so I don’t understand why people want these flat screens instead of the regular old TVs. I actually said that to someone at a dinner party, I was like, “do you need the characters to be that much more… in high resolution to appreciate what is going on on your favorite show?” the guy thought it was funny because apparently I wasn’t even “using the right language to describe the experience.” Well then.

The flat screen tv is the epitome of the fetish of the commodity- the notion that some THING has this tremendous power to improve your quality of life or situation. I mean really. it’s just a little less pixelation (or whatever they call it.) Good for you for realizing that!

]]> By: Clever Dude http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-2/#comment-29999 Clever Dude Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:20:42 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-29999 @lago, I don't disagree with the power consumption or beauty of these screens compared to CRTs. However, I do disagree with using the "less power usage" argument as a reason to forgo a perfectly good CRT sitting in your home and go buy a flat screen. It's like selling your Chevy Tahoe for a major loss just to go buy a brand-spankin new Honda Fit for "fuel economy". It's spending more money than you're saving! @lago, I don’t disagree with the power consumption or beauty of these screens compared to CRTs. However, I do disagree with using the “less power usage” argument as a reason to forgo a perfectly good CRT sitting in your home and go buy a flat screen. It’s like selling your Chevy Tahoe for a major loss just to go buy a brand-spankin new Honda Fit for “fuel economy”. It’s spending more money than you’re saving!

]]> By: Iago http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-1/#comment-29983 Iago Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:15:07 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-29983 As Tom sez: "LCD TVs use less than half the power of a CRT TV, use less space, and look dang good in HD". Less power and less space are pretty good reasons to buy an LCD TV, but I really dig the way they hang wall-wise as well. Or even hanging them from the ceiling, if the screen and the ceiling are in appropriate juxtaposition with one another. As Tom sez: “LCD TVs use less than half the power of a CRT TV, use less space, and look dang good in HD”. Less power and less space are pretty good reasons to buy an LCD TV, but I really dig the way they hang wall-wise as well. Or even hanging them from the ceiling, if the screen and the ceiling are in appropriate juxtaposition with one another.

]]> By: JD http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-1/#comment-29940 JD Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:51:55 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-29940 You sort of answer your own question - you're not buying a big flat-screen TV because it would be a big part of your income/budget. They've come down so far in price though that they really aren't a big-ticket item for many people. Though I agree it is quite silly for people to buy them when they otherwise have little or no savings - but then again we can point to a million things those people shouldn't be buying that they are. TVs have become largely commoditized. When I was in college about 10 years ago, you could buy a TV (CRT) and sell it a few years later without taking much of a loss. Now forget about it. The thousand dollar flat screen will barely fetch half that in just a year. But a lot of it is also due to the fact that home theaters have become a bigger and more important part of people's lifestyles. Look at the new homes built now and they often have a home theater room or the family room is built in such a way to accomodate a large screen TV and speakers. I read a couple of years ago that they measured a substitution effect as well, where people were becoming more and more likely to watch a movie at home versus going to a theater, simply because home theaters have gotten so good. I have a fairly typical set up, but I have friends and colleagues who do have very high-end home theater rooms in their homes and I can tell you that it is like watching at a high-end theater except much more comfortable and you have total control. You sort of answer your own question – you’re not buying a big flat-screen TV because it would be a big part of your income/budget. They’ve come down so far in price though that they really aren’t a big-ticket item for many people. Though I agree it is quite silly for people to buy them when they otherwise have little or no savings – but then again we can point to a million things those people shouldn’t be buying that they are. TVs have become largely commoditized. When I was in college about 10 years ago, you could buy a TV (CRT) and sell it a few years later without taking much of a loss. Now forget about it. The thousand dollar flat screen will barely fetch half that in just a year. But a lot of it is also due to the fact that home theaters have become a bigger and more important part of people’s lifestyles. Look at the new homes built now and they often have a home theater room or the family room is built in such a way to accomodate a large screen TV and speakers. I read a couple of years ago that they measured a substitution effect as well, where people were becoming more and more likely to watch a movie at home versus going to a theater, simply because home theaters have gotten so good. I have a fairly typical set up, but I have friends and colleagues who do have very high-end home theater rooms in their homes and I can tell you that it is like watching at a high-end theater except much more comfortable and you have total control.

]]> By: Marie http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-1/#comment-29915 Marie Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:40:37 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-29915 7 years ago I married my spouse and acquired the biggest TV I'd ever seen in my life. Its a 32" CRT. Every time we had people over for dinner in our tiny sparsely decorated apartment they'd see the 3 year old thing and comment "I know someone with a bigger TV". Geez like I care. Luckily when flat screens came out people seemed to stop noticing his bachelor purchase (influenced by his brothers whims). That single purchase has caused my spouse more regret than I can count but he did pay for his whole system in cash. Its just that a few years later his life changed so drastically he wished he'd still had his savings. He's never been able to really enjoy it and even though we live in our own home now so that he could technically set up his whole system having little kids has prevented it. I quite like the thing. I grew up where my dad had sautered a lock box into our TV so that we couldn't watch anything unless he was home, including my mother. It was a small screen too. Our CRT has lasted almost for a decade now and I don't think we will have to replace it for quite awhile. I don't think I would really consider replacing the thing until all our student loans are paid off anyway. But even when we have the cash that single purchase makes us think twice. We can afford it today - but really whats going to happen tomorrow? 7 years ago I married my spouse and acquired the biggest TV I’d ever seen in my life. Its a 32″ CRT. Every time we had people over for dinner in our tiny sparsely decorated apartment they’d see the 3 year old thing and comment “I know someone with a bigger TV”. Geez like I care. Luckily when flat screens came out people seemed to stop noticing his bachelor purchase (influenced by his brothers whims). That single purchase has caused my spouse more regret than I can count but he did pay for his whole system in cash. Its just that a few years later his life changed so drastically he wished he’d still had his savings. He’s never been able to really enjoy it and even though we live in our own home now so that he could technically set up his whole system having little kids has prevented it.

I quite like the thing. I grew up where my dad had sautered a lock box into our TV so that we couldn’t watch anything unless he was home, including my mother. It was a small screen too. Our CRT has lasted almost for a decade now and I don’t think we will have to replace it for quite awhile. I don’t think I would really consider replacing the thing until all our student loans are paid off anyway.

But even when we have the cash that single purchase makes us think twice. We can afford it today – but really whats going to happen tomorrow?

]]> By: LAL http://www.cleverdude.com/content/in-the-land-of-1000-televisions/comment-page-1/#comment-29888 LAL Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:42:57 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=1153#comment-29888 Guess I'll be the oddball here. I have a 42" flat screen bought 3 years ago when we moved. Love it and I will be keeping it until we move again and then getting a projector. I love my TV. I watch movies, play wii, etc. Until then I had an inherited 20" tv, no cable. Now I live in luxury! I am RICH! Not really but I feel that way. I even upgraded to HD last year. Geez, I'm spoiled. Guess I’ll be the oddball here. I have a 42″ flat screen bought 3 years ago when we moved. Love it and I will be keeping it until we move again and then getting a projector.

I love my TV. I watch movies, play wii, etc. Until then I had an inherited 20″ tv, no cable. Now I live in luxury! I am RICH! Not really but I feel that way.

I even upgraded to HD last year. Geez, I’m spoiled.

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