We’ve filed our taxes and are eagerly awaiting our return so we can apply a majority of it towards our Debt Snowball and take a significant jump towards our goal. We have however decided to take a portion of it and upgrade our TV. We’re currently using a 27″ CRT style that we bought shortly after we got married almost 9 years ago, and it is on its last legs. For the last year we’ve had to keep the Brightness setting turned all the way up to be able to see anything in a semi-dark scene, and its getting worse as time goes on. With as much as we’re using our TV for our indoor entertainment now, we’ve decided its time to make the jump into HDTV land.
What we’re looking at doing is getting something in the 36″ to 47″ range. Originally we were thinking 32″, but it isn’t really any larger than our existing TV since the widescreen format changes how they’re measured. Since part of our desire to upgrade is to be able to read the smaller text on the screen from across the room, sticking to something that doesn’t give us any additional size is kind of a waste. Over the last few days I’ve been looking at the local stores and it seems our best bang for the buck right now will be a 42″ LCD screen. I’ve also looked at a size chart and it seems 42″ is the right size for our room too. That being said, it says a 27″ standard TV is about the right size for our room, and I think a 32″ would be much better. The price difference from 42″ to 47″ seems to be a little steep right now though.
What I’m deciding now is whether it is worth the small price difference to go from 720p up to 1080p. While the broadcasts currently aren’t at 1080p (according to local TV salesmen for what it is worth) they could be in the future, and we would also see that if we picked up a Blueray player. Since I don’t anticipate doing that any time soon, I don’t think that is a very big deal. The only HD input we’ll have for now is the Xbox 360, and we may decide to upgrade satellite receivers sometime down the road but that won’t be on the table for a while anyway. Also in some research I’ve done, Dish (which is who we use) seems to have the best HDTV quality but its still not full 1080p. I am noticing however that there doesn’t seem to be much difference at all price wise, it just depends on what models the store currently has.
The thing that is hard to keep in mind is that we may notice a difference when looking at the TV models side by side in the store, but at the end of the day when we get it home it is going to look thousands of times better than what we currently have. Because of that little fact right there, I’m concentrating on getting the best value in the size range we want, and I am hopeful that this purchase will last us another 9 and a half years. I guess worst case in a few years if we want to upgrade again, this would make a heck of an improvement for a TV in our bedroom…
16 February 2009, 14:19
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17 February 2009, 10:34
Hey, Jeremy,
We switched from Dish to Directv about a month and a 1/2 ago. There’s a noticeable difference in image quality, for the better. We have a 32″ CRT. Directv even letterboxes some shows and network broadcasts so you get the complete picture. We’re having some issues with the network stations cutting out periodically (sound), but expect that to be solved soon.
18 February 2009, 12:25
Hey Mike! Actually we just upgraded our service to a greater package to get the Fox Business channel (and Science Channel, among others) and went ahead and agreed to another 2 year contract to get a $10 monthly savings for the next 12 months. One of the biggest drawbacks to DirecTV is they don’t have a dual-tuner dual-output DVR, which is a must for us. Maybe in 2 years they’ll have some better options and we’ll re-evaluate who we’re with.
Since the network feeds DirecTV and Dish get are the same, the letterboxing should be the same. Many of the shows I watch are letterboxed and have been for some time. I’m so used to letterboxing I tend to notice things more when they are not rather than when they are. As for the locals, I believe they use an analog receiver here and uplink it rather than a direct feed from the TV station so that could be the case. That will have to change as the digital transition takes place though.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jeremy