Thursday, November 27, 2008

The TV Wars


Last Thursday, our TV blew up. The screen went blue and then a "pop" sound, and then nothing.


We had gotten this TV from my mother last year. She got herself a 47" flat screen and gave us the old 36". It is not a flat screen and it is just HUGE!!! It must weigh 200 lbs!! We had a hell 0f a time getting it home and set up.


After it stopped working, I called mom to find out how old the TV was. This is how it went.


Me: "Hi Mom, do you know how old the TV was that you gave us last year?"


Mom: "Not old at all, only about 15 years, why?"


Me: "It's dead."


Mom: "What do you mean it's dead?" "It's practically brand new!" "Just take it to get it repaired."


Me: "First of all, it's not new, 15 years is quite a long life for a TV built after 1975." "Second, are there even TV repair men anymore?" And third, why would I get this one repaired when they are practically giving TVs away in this economy."


Mom: "Ooooohhhh, are you going to get a new TV then?"


Me: "I don't see where we have a choice." Meanwhile I am secretly dancing the happy dance because I am going to get a new TV!!!


So Matt and I have been looking at TVs. Last Sunday we went to Walmart for some stuff and we went over to the TVs. They had a very nice 32" flat screen LCD HDTV for $499. I thought it was great. We had a 36" one before, so this one wouldn't be too much smaller and the price was right.


But noooooo. When I showed it to Matt he shook his head, said "Too small" and went over to look at the 40". I looked at the 40" and thought they might be a little too big (read expensive) but all Matt said was "If I'm going to buy a new TV, I'm going to BUY a new TV." Jackass! So we left Walmart with no TV.


On Tuesday we went to Target to get a birthday gift. Once again, we meandered over to the TVs. Here I found a 40" flat screen LCD HDTV for right around the $1000 mark. I bring Matt over to show him. He makes a face and takes me over to see the 47". I draw the line!!! I am not spending $1500.00 on a TV. As much as I am jonesing for the Keep Up with the Kardashians reruns. Unless we become a Nielsen family and get paid to watch TV, this is over the top.


Matt's excuse? It would be so great after Christmas!!! (We happen to know what one of our Christmas presents is, I can't tell you, but it rhymes with Smintendo Smee.) We left Target, no TV.


Last night (11pm) we were at Meijer gathering a few last minute groceries. Not that I'm cooking, but we had a craving for those corned beef, cream cheese, pickle roll-up things.


Once again, we find ourselves in the electronics area. Here they have a beautiful, 40" flat screen LCD HDTV on sale for $899.00. It's PERFECT!!!!!! I even compromised ( as most of you know that's not something I do too often) He can get a BlueRay disc player (also on sale for $219.00)


Everyone happy, right? Nope. I still don't have a TV.


Me: "Let's just get this one."


Matt: "Let wait until Friday."


Me: " BUT I HAVEN'T HAD A TV FOR A WEEK!!!"


Matt: "Becky, get up off the floor and stop kicking and screaming!" "Your embarrassing me!!!"


Matt: "There could be a really good deal on Friday!"


Me: "Fine, but you have to go wait in line, I'm not stepping one foot towards a store."


Matt: "Fine."


So we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

12 comments:

Kat Mortensen said...

The exact same thing happened to our t.v. in our bedroom. It has a dvd player and I usually watch my dvds of the O.C. while Kev watches footy (soccer). Well, it went "Pop" too! Both of us have repeatedly tried to reignite it with the remote, but to no avail. Boo hoo!

Now we have our teeny 14" in the bedroom (can't make out faces on the darn thing **kidding**) and our nice hdtv is in the living room, but that's no good to us when we want to lie in bed and watch Jeopardy, now is it?

We can't afford a new one right now (anyone want to buy a Versa?) so I guess I'll be squinting at the little one and putting the lives of Marisa, Ryan, Summer and Seth on hold for a bit.

Kat

Grand Pooba said...

Ha! Sounds like my hubby...except for the waiting in line thing. There is no way he would shop on Friday!

Men, the bigger the TV, the better...I don't get it. But good luck! I hope you get your TV!

Rebecca Jo said...

My husband is thumbing through the ads right now looking for TV's as well. I have a feeling you'll be in the stores bright & early... good luck! Hope you get the big screen O' Happiness!!!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Unknown said...

You'll get your damn TV! Now stop it!

And btw... If you ever throw a fit like that in a store again, I'm gonna leave you there!

LOL!

xoxoxo

LadyStyx said...

Ummm did either of you think to ask a manager if they'd refund the difference if the tv went on sale in the next couple days? Some stores will do that if you simply keep the receipt. Then you could have bought the tv right away(keeping the wifey happy) and just come back in a couple days to the service desk and had the difference returned to you (keeping huby happy if there just happened to be a better price on the same model tv).

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Anonymous said...

All I can say is to be careful of the off brands and the lesser priced ones... they may not have a good warranty and the company may require that you box it up and spend hundreds of dollars on shipping fees to get it fixed... CNN had a special on it..... just saying...

We bought a Sony Bravia 2 Christmases ago.... It's nice and flat, 48" I believe.. gorgeous picture.. worth every penny we paid for it.

Prior we had one of those heavy 36" like you had.... SO HEAVY!!!

Hope you find the perfect set for your home!

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

Deanna said...

You couldn't PAY me enough to go anywhere near a store on Friday! Not even for a good TV deal. Good luck in getting tht TV!

Michelle said...

He will wish you got that TV at Target when he goes out on Friday!

Toriz said...

Good luck getting a TV... Let us know if you have one in time for Christmas. ;)

ChicagoLady said...

Better hurry if he's going to go wait in line for Best Buy. I already saw people camping out with tents and everything, lol. They start handing out vouchers at 3am or earlier.

Intense Guy said...

Ah...the insanity of shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving. I think I'll just go for a walk in the woods.