Nobody Needs a New TV Anymore

[DeaconG]

(because of "the game")

?

the rapper?
"you just lost ..."?

I don't get it.

Football.

[agentsteel53]

When I do watch TV, it is scripted dramas only--no games, no news, no reality shows--and I am a completist (series premiere to series finale, in order, preferably with no gaps due to missing subtitles etc.).

that's my household viewing pattern as well.  my girlfriend and I are going through Supernatural right now; she also is watching Dexter, and I think she finished Queer Eye, or maybe just lost interest. 

we do make the exception that if a show is still current (or, sufficiently close to current that the last N seasons are not on Netflix/Amazon/etc) then we will start watching anyway, run it as far as possible, and then return to it as seasons are added.  we just blazed through the 8th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on a lazy Saturday, after having watched the first 7 about a year ago.

as for our actual physical TVs: ours aren't too large - I think a 27" in the living room and a 19" in the bedroom.  both flatscreen.  they are adequate.

we do not have any service which could provide live, or otherwise current, programming.  just Netflix and Amazon Prime ($16/mo and that includes the other Prime benefits).  I wonder how many other people use this subscription model.

[briantroutman]

we do not have any service which could provide live, or otherwise current, programming.  just Netflix and Amazon Prime ($16/mo and that includes the other Prime benefits).  I wonder how many other people use this subscription model.

I haven't had any sort of TV service in close to a decade. I do have both Amazon Prime and Netflix which I watch on a modest 32" Sony LCD through an Apple TV. But I don't even watch much of those services these days–just not enough time for TV in general.

I was going to say that I don't have any "live" programming, but then I remembered that the Apple TV does have Sky News built in, and there are a number of US and international services that I can stream from my iPhone to the Apple TV through AirPlay.

[agentsteel53]

we don't have an Apple TV but I'll bet we probably have enough infrastructure by which we can stream to our TV, via WiFi or BlueTooth, from a laptop or a phone.  just haven't ever looked into it.

[1995hoo]

Depending on where one lives, rabbit ears can actually work quite well these days. We have four TVs; the main two are connected to DirecTV, but because they charge a fee we do not deem it worthwhile to have DirecTV service on the TVs in the master bedroom and the guest bedroom because they don't get used enough. Typically we use the master bedroom TV pretty much solely for the 11:00 news, Leno's monologue, and maybe whatever sports are airing on the weekend when we're cleaning the house. My wife sometimes tunes in the news on the guest bedroom TV when she's cleaning. So on each of those TVs we have a $15 pair of rabbit ears I picked up at Best Buy. The picture is actually very good because it's uncompressed, and they pull in a bunch of weird stations we don't get via the satellite dish (usually due to one of the local stations broadcasting subchannels–e.g., the local ABC affiliate is on Channel 7, which is technically 7-1, and they have two other channels on 7-2 and 7-3). Downside, of course, is that we can't watch any of the Capitals, Nationals, or college games upstairs except when the Nationals are on Channel 50 (rare) or the Capitals are on NBC (rarer).

But depending on your viewing needs, this is a relatively cheap and easy way to get access to things like the news and the regular weekend NFL broadcasts. The only serious negative is that the digital broadcasts do not deal well with interference. Recall how analog broadcasts received via antenna would just get some snow if something interfered, but often you could watch and hear it anyway without much nuisance. That's not really the case with digital TV. If something interferes, the picture gets all jaggy and blotchy and the sound drops out. The other night when the weatherman was on I almost yelled at my wife to stop moving around in the bathroom because the picture was freezing up when she moved away from the sink. Thus, rabbit ears may or may not work in an apartment, especially in a dense urban area if there are other high-rise buildings around. (I had hooked the rabbit ears up for my wife at her apartment before we got married and she got good results, but she lived on the 18th floor and there were no other tall buildings around.)


Edited to add: It looks like the price has gone up a few dollars. Here is a link to what we have. Note that in most places you would likely need at least a UHF antenna and possibly a VHF as well. Channel numbers notwithstanding, many stations broadcast their digital signals via UHF and then use a virtual channel number so their broadcast shows up on the same channel it did prior to the digital changeover. Example: Here in the DC area, NBC shows up on Channel 4 (VHF), but actually broadcasts on Channel 48 (UHF). But not all digital stations do this–some of them used a UHF broadcast and virtual numbering before the changeover and then after the changeover they moved the digital broadcast into the old slot. Example: Here in the DC area, ABC is on Channel 7 (VHF) and actually does broadcast on Channel 7. So depending on how the stations in your area work, you may need an antenna capable of receiving both UHF and VHF signals. It's easier just to get one that handles both, I think, because then you don't have to worry much about it.

[PHLBOS]

The only serious negative is that the digital broadcasts do not deal well with interference. Recall how analog broadcasts received via antenna would just get some snow if something interfered, but often you could watch and hear it anyway without much nuisance. That's not really the case with digital TV. If something interferes, the picture gets all jaggy and blotchy and the sound drops out.

I've had several instances where the picture just goes blank and the No Signal box starts floating around in the screen.  It's those times that I flat out curse the mandated switch from analogue to digital.

[agentsteel53]

The other night when the weatherman was on I almost yelled at my wife to stop moving around in the bathroom because the picture was freezing up when she moved away from the sink.

I did try to find a picture of "Fox viewing position" from Married with Children but the internet disappoints.

[1995hoo]

The other night when the weatherman was on I almost yelled at my wife to stop moving around in the bathroom because the picture was freezing up when she moved away from the sink.

I did try to find a picture of "Fox viewing position" from Married with Children but the internet disappoints.

I remember that. Episode 909, I believe, the same one where they were busting on that woman who protested the show as vulgar.

[Molandfreak]

I miss CRT technology. It was used for so many years, and thus improved upon so much, that the last ones made had black levels and contrast ratios yet to be topped by any LED/LCD TV. Plasma gets close, but that technology seems to be dying out now, too.

It was a sad day when our 36 inch Sony Trinitron bit the dust. It was hard on the back to move, too, but in reality, when does anyone move their TV more than a few inches? Whiners basically rid the world of the best screen technology on the market, for the stupid purpose that is portability.

[SteveG1988]

My family switched to LCD and Plasma in the past year or two, mom got a 32" LCD to replace her 2002 RCA CRT, i had made the plunge around 2008 by getting a 26" TV, then trading it to a coworker for a 32" Sharp and 100 bucks cash (still have it) My sister got that tv, and eventually i got a 1080p 32" TV on sale at sears, giving my sister my old Sharp 720p, and the 32" RCA finally got disposed of. the living room was without TV for a few years as we were saving up to do a proper TV room with surround and everything, but now we have a 40" LG Plasma with a 5.1 Yamaha surround system, as well as a bluray player. I currently have one CRT left, my sister's old Sony Wega Triniton 20" TV from 2006, i use it for my super nintendo old VHS tapes and laserdiscs, stuff that does not upscale well on a HD set

[NJRoadfan]

I did try to find a picture of "Fox viewing position" from Married with Children but the internet disappoints.

Don't laugh, we actually had to do that to get WNYW here in NNJ. They by far had the worst signal out of all the major networks here. We were somewhat spoiled though as until the digital switchover we never had to hook up a UHF antenna to get the networks.

[ZLoth]

Not to mention the fact that–based my non-scientific observations–most middle-American types who have HDTVs are still watching ridiculously crappy and heavily compressed 4x3 SD signals stretched to 16x9. Don't get me started on that one–all of the idiots who say "but I paid for that big TV...I want a picture covering every square inch".

These are the same people who prefer that their movies be pan-and-scanned rather than presented in their original aspect ratio.

(because of "the game")

the rapper?
"you just lost ..."?

I don't get it.

Insert the name of your big sporting event, such as the Super Bowl, World Series, BCS Championship Bowl, NBA Finals, NHL Playoffs, March Madness, etc.

I'm running into that with my mother. We have one remaining television that is a 32" Toshiba Tube SDTV that was purchased in 1998. I have been wanting to replace it for two years now with a HDTV, but my mother is stuck on "if it ain't broke, we won't replace it" even though I have the money to replace it.... cash. Oh, I can cite the better screen and the energy savings, but no, no replace until broken.

Just move out of mom's house.  Problem solved.

At this time, I'm responsible for a chunk of the mortgage payment (long story). So, moving out is a big problem. Also, once that television is finally replaced, that's it. No replacement until broken.

Here is the oddity... my mom was the first to get a HDTV in her bedroom, replacing a broke CRT with a 40" HDTV in November, 2009. I replaced my bedroom CRT TV with a 32" HDTV in January, 2012. The sole TV remaining is the bedroom television.

Speaking of which, it might be a good entry for the "you might be too old if you remember..." thread that you're too old if you remember when TVs and VCRs were repaired when they quit working, instead of throwing them out and buying replacements. Many times we loaded up the old black-and-white TV and took it to a repair shop. If we were lucky, we got a smaller loaner TV to use from the repair shop. If not, we did without TV until our one set was fixed. We thought it was a big deal when we got a second TV for the house.

I am old enough to remember those old tube televisions and the tube tester at the drugstore. Unfortunately, for many of the consumer electronics, they aren't exactly easily designed to be fixed, and the cost of repair is often greater than purchasing a new item. I remember reading a story where, for the newer televisions, if it malfunctions under warranty, you just get a replacement, and the problem television is just recycled with no time spent on seeing what was wrong, fixing, and reselling as refurbished. Granted, a few years ago, I got some Sansa players through a Woot BagOCrap which I ended up repairing and giving out as gifts. I also have a third-generation Kindle Reader (aka Kindle Keyboard) which I recently fixed a broken screen. But, take a look at many of the Apple products at ifixit.com, and you can see their surprise when a recent Apple Mac Pro was easy to take apart.

[bugo]

My current TV is an old CRT probably from the mid '90s that I found sitting next to the dumpster with the remote control taped to it.  I assumed if the owner went to the trouble of taping the remote to the top of the TV then it must still work.  It works fine other than the coaxial input is broken, and I don't use coaxial cables.  I turn it on maybe 4 times a year so I don't feel like spending money on a new fancy flat screen TV is a good value for the use it would get.  BTW nobody "needs" a TV set.  We need something to eat, something to drink, and some way to be protected from the elements.  This country has gotten too soft when somebody feels they "need" lottery tickets or cigarettes.

[Laura]

My current TV is an old CRT probably from the mid '90s that I found sitting next to the dumpster with the remote control taped to it.  I assumed if the owner went to the trouble of taping the remote to the top of the TV then it must still work.  It works fine other than the coaxial input is broken, and I don't use coaxial cables.  I turn it on maybe 4 times a year so I don't feel like spending money on a new fancy flat screen TV is a good value for the use it would get.  BTW nobody "needs" a TV set.  We need something to eat, something to drink, and some way to be protected from the elements.  This country has gotten too soft when somebody feels they "need" lottery tickets or cigarettes.

Yep. I come from a family where we use things until they die because we wanted our full return on investment. My mom has two TVs in her house. One is a brand new LCD flat screen that us kids pitched in and bought her for Christmas since her old 1989 console TV died earlier this year. (And when I mean died, I mean completely dead. For the past year of its life, when she would turn it on, she had to let it warm up for a few minutes before the picture appeared and then watch it.) The other TV is a 32 inch tube TV from 1997. That TV replaced the one my parents had from the 70's.

We never had anything other than the basic cable package, and just had to turn to channel 3 when we wanted to use the VCR, DVD, video game systems. To this day I do not understand how to fully use Comcast with all of its fancy channels and settings. I never turn off the TV right. And god forbid if I need to get to the DVD player! I've finally grasped how to use the dvr to record something. It's kind of sad that I'm not very saavy with TVs, but I don't really watch very much of it. I can and have lived without cable. When I lived on my own I had a converter box that I used to get the basic abc nbc cbs fox channels.


iPhone

[triplemultiplex]

3D television was doomed to fail from the start for the simple fact that people were never going to wear the stupid glasses every day.  Sure they will put up with it for a couple hours at a theater every few weeks, but not on a daily basis.  (Even that is starting to lose its novelty.)  It was a gimmick from day one.

I just want the service providers to get this damn aspect ratio thing fixed.  I should not have to mess with a button on my remote to fill the screen with content without stretching.  A 16:9 non-HD program should still fit on the screen without any input from me.  How frickin' hard is this?

[realjd]

3D television was doomed to fail from the start for the simple fact that people were never going to wear the stupid glasses every day.  Sure they will put up with it for a couple hours at a theater every few weeks, but not on a daily basis.  (Even that is starting to lose its novelty.)  It was a gimmick from day one.

I just want the service providers to get this damn aspect ratio thing fixed.  I should not have to mess with a button on my remote to fill the screen with content without stretching.  A 16:9 non-HD program should still fit on the screen without any input from me.  How frickin' hard is this?

I love my 3D TV. It's great for 3D movies and the rare PS3 game that offers a 3D mode. I didn't go out to buy a 3D TV (the one I wanted just happened to have 3D) but I'm glad I have it now. Like you said though, I only use the 3D feature once every few weeks.

I do miss ESPN 3D. 3D sports was awesome.