It’s in the mirrors

Have you seen this commercial? The little girl says it’s in the mirrors. Colors will be brighter etc., etc. Why the hell is the elephant in the commercial? I wonder sometimes who comes up with these ideas.

But this is not about the commercial although it is to some extent about DLP technology.

As I said I had a wonderful Christmas in Missouri. After we’d opened all our presents we got a nice check (one to me one to my brother and sister-in-law) from my dad. It was very generous.

So now I’m in the market fro a new TV. I already as in the market for a new one. When I came back from New Zealand the TV downstairs did not work. Great sound but the screen was all white. This set is maybe 4 1/2 years old. So I drag my old set from upstairs down to use. And by the way this TV turns 14 in a couple of weeks.

The dilemma was what to do with the one that didn’t work. The problem is the set is very heavy and to move it out of my house would take two people. Then you have to consider is it even worth taking it to get repaired. When it can cost $50-$100 just to open up the TV does it make sense to get it fixed or to just get a new one. I decided to wait until the new year to make a decision one way or the other.

And now it’s the new year and the decision was made for me!

So my search for an HDTV begins which brings us back to DLP technology. After my research, I decided on a Samsung with the DLP technology. I thought I could fit the 42 inch in my space. I went to the Best Buy in DC. They didn’t have the 42 inch model but they did have the 46 inch model. I thought it would be tight but that would work.

I went home and did some measuring and it would just fit. Also on the way home I called up a friend who lives in Virginia. There’s another Best Buy near him. So I said let’s go out to dinner and then you can help me buy my new TV.

So after a nice dinner at Chili’s we went off to Best Buy. They had the 42 inch version of the Samsung TV. My friend says I don’t know I think this is too big. After some reflection I agreed. I ended up getting a 37 inch HP. It is not sitting in its box in my living room. But you can’t just buy the TV come home and plug it in and have it work. No there’s a whole bunch of other stuff you have to do. I have DirectTV and I needed to upgrade my receiver. So I bought a receiver. I also need to have the guys from DirectTV come out and install the new receiver and a new dish. I also needed to get another TV stand because the one I had is too small. I’m hoping to have everything all set up by the end of the month. I called DirectTV and started the process rolling. I’m supposed to hear back from someone about setting up an appointment in the next day or so.

Right now I’m building the new TV stand. So far so good. No string of four letter words has come out of my mouth yet and I think I’m pretty much done.