Sunday, August 07, 2005
I Want My Big TV
As promise, here's the first of an ongoing (and possibly endless, now that I'm a homeowner) series of (hopefully) amusing tales about our homeowning adventures. I'm kind of hoping that eventually it gets a little easier and less hectic, but I'm not convinced enough of that fact to classify these adventures as moving-related. They're definitely more homeownership-related. What can I say - I guess I'm a sucker.
So, a few years ago, I bought a huge television. I love movies, and I love the experience of watching a movie and immersing myself in it. Furthermore, I'm a sucker for new technology. Unfortunately, that sometimes conflicts with my innate practicality, and I have to admit that in this instance, the former urges won out over the latter.
I was relatively fresh out of college, and just got my first bonus at work. It was a really large bonus (like 15% of my salary), as it was just before the tech bubble completely burst. I haven't had a bonus close to that since, not that I'm complaining. So I decided to go out and spend some of it (less that half - don't worry, I'm not completely crazy) on a kick-ass television. Many of you have probably seen this TV. It was a 65" widescreen rear-projection Mitsubishi. (I also bought a Bose soundsystem.)
65 inches is huge. At the time, it actually fit nicely in the house that I was renting. It had quite a nice picture, and once I invested in an HD receiver and a component DVD player (those were still 300 bucks at the time), it was really quite the experience. The picture was pretty darn clear, the sound was nice, and all in all, it was a worthwhile investment.
Then, we had to move the darn thing, once we moved out of the house. It weighed 323 pounds, I believe. We hired movers, and they were cursing in Spanish all the way down the stairs. When we moved again, my friends and I moved it, but not before we figured out that it split into two pieces. Still, it was quite hefty. Furthermore, it didn't fit as well into either of my two new apartments, but they were still adequate. It did loom kind of large in those rooms, though.
So, as we were looking for houses, I kept the thought of where the TV would go in the back of my mind. There were some houses that would have fit it perfectly, but they had other critical flaws. When we found the house we ended up buying, I was concerned that there might not be a good location for my TV, but we liked the place so much that we were willing to overlook that minor problem.
Quickly, the problem because more than minor. The only room the TV would fit in was the basement, but it was kind of oddly shaped, and not optimal for TV viewing. We placed the TV down there just to get it out of the way. Now that I think about it, it didn't really give me pause, but it is kind of strange that we placed a quite expensive, nice TV set in the basement with the rest of the "junk" that we just wanted to get out of the way. My, how things change.
Our house has a room that was clearly intended to be a TV room. The previous owners had a standard 27" TV, and it worked fine, but as you can imagine, I wasn't going to be satisfied with a TV like that...
(To be continued...)
(If anyone's interested in buying a 65" Mitsubishi, please give me a call...)
So, a few years ago, I bought a huge television. I love movies, and I love the experience of watching a movie and immersing myself in it. Furthermore, I'm a sucker for new technology. Unfortunately, that sometimes conflicts with my innate practicality, and I have to admit that in this instance, the former urges won out over the latter.
I was relatively fresh out of college, and just got my first bonus at work. It was a really large bonus (like 15% of my salary), as it was just before the tech bubble completely burst. I haven't had a bonus close to that since, not that I'm complaining. So I decided to go out and spend some of it (less that half - don't worry, I'm not completely crazy) on a kick-ass television. Many of you have probably seen this TV. It was a 65" widescreen rear-projection Mitsubishi. (I also bought a Bose soundsystem.)
65 inches is huge. At the time, it actually fit nicely in the house that I was renting. It had quite a nice picture, and once I invested in an HD receiver and a component DVD player (those were still 300 bucks at the time), it was really quite the experience. The picture was pretty darn clear, the sound was nice, and all in all, it was a worthwhile investment.
Then, we had to move the darn thing, once we moved out of the house. It weighed 323 pounds, I believe. We hired movers, and they were cursing in Spanish all the way down the stairs. When we moved again, my friends and I moved it, but not before we figured out that it split into two pieces. Still, it was quite hefty. Furthermore, it didn't fit as well into either of my two new apartments, but they were still adequate. It did loom kind of large in those rooms, though.
So, as we were looking for houses, I kept the thought of where the TV would go in the back of my mind. There were some houses that would have fit it perfectly, but they had other critical flaws. When we found the house we ended up buying, I was concerned that there might not be a good location for my TV, but we liked the place so much that we were willing to overlook that minor problem.
Quickly, the problem because more than minor. The only room the TV would fit in was the basement, but it was kind of oddly shaped, and not optimal for TV viewing. We placed the TV down there just to get it out of the way. Now that I think about it, it didn't really give me pause, but it is kind of strange that we placed a quite expensive, nice TV set in the basement with the rest of the "junk" that we just wanted to get out of the way. My, how things change.
Our house has a room that was clearly intended to be a TV room. The previous owners had a standard 27" TV, and it worked fine, but as you can imagine, I wasn't going to be satisfied with a TV like that...
(To be continued...)
(If anyone's interested in buying a 65" Mitsubishi, please give me a call...)
Comments:
You know, I never liked that TV. Like Grandpa Simpson once said, "It's evil I tell you! Eeeeeeviilll!"
It is definitely too big. And the requirement of stretching normal pictures was Retaaaaaaaaded (note the capital "R").
I say, get rid of that monster and buy yourself a nice flat panel LCD or plasma TV (whichever one has the better off-center viewing). 45" should be big enough for almost any room. A 45" viewed from 9' looks about the same as a 60" viewed from 12', right? So why not just get the 45" and sit at a normal distance instead of in another neighborhood with the 65"? And for goodness sake, get a widescreen that allows you to watch regular television in its intended wideness 100% of the time.
The speakers, on the other hand, were probably a good idea. No complaints there.
Oh, and don't buy a Samsung anything. Ever. My DVD player, which I no longer use, was my first and last Samsung product. Piece of crap.
-Shear
It is definitely too big. And the requirement of stretching normal pictures was Retaaaaaaaaded (note the capital "R").
I say, get rid of that monster and buy yourself a nice flat panel LCD or plasma TV (whichever one has the better off-center viewing). 45" should be big enough for almost any room. A 45" viewed from 9' looks about the same as a 60" viewed from 12', right? So why not just get the 45" and sit at a normal distance instead of in another neighborhood with the 65"? And for goodness sake, get a widescreen that allows you to watch regular television in its intended wideness 100% of the time.
The speakers, on the other hand, were probably a good idea. No complaints there.
Oh, and don't buy a Samsung anything. Ever. My DVD player, which I no longer use, was my first and last Samsung product. Piece of crap.
-Shear
# posted by 
: August 8, 2005 at 1:14 AM
: August 8, 2005 at 1:14 AM
You'll have to wait for part 2 of this compelling tale to get responses to some of your other comments, but I'll say that I think the TV was just the right size for our first house. It gave a nice theatrical experience, and the room allowed you not to be too close.
As for the wideness, that TV allowed you to watch in 4:3, I just chose not to because I didn't want burn-in, and I didn't mind it in widescreen. The main purpose of that TV was to watch movies and HDTV, and I easily got used to non-widescreen formats being stretched.
By your logic, shouldn't I just get a 15" TV and sit 3 feet away? It'd be much cheaper.
As for the wideness, that TV allowed you to watch in 4:3, I just chose not to because I didn't want burn-in, and I didn't mind it in widescreen. The main purpose of that TV was to watch movies and HDTV, and I easily got used to non-widescreen formats being stretched.
By your logic, shouldn't I just get a 15" TV and sit 3 feet away? It'd be much cheaper.
I have a 13" TV that you can just mash your face up against. It's about the size of a postage stamp when viewed from across the room. However, it's the only TV I have with a working remote at the moment.
Yes, I know that TV let you watch in non-stretched...that's why I specified getting a TV where you could do it ***100%*** of the time - ie, one that slowly moved the image left and right every 15 minutes to prevent burn-in.
As for the size, I say just get one where you can sit a comfortable distance away...perhaps 8-10' - that's far enough that 4-6 people can all see it well without being too cramped, unlike say a 13".
-Shear
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As for the size, I say just get one where you can sit a comfortable distance away...perhaps 8-10' - that's far enough that 4-6 people can all see it well without being too cramped, unlike say a 13".
-Shear
# posted by : August 9, 2005 at 6:54 PM
: August 9, 2005 at 6:54 PM
