My New Big Screen TV’s
January 18, 2009 Posted by Tyler CruzIn my never-ending quest to improve my condo, namely my bedroom, I headed out to BestBuy a few days ago and bought a carloads of stuff. Too bad the salesmen there don’t work on commission… I sure bet they wish they did when they saw me leave with over half a dozen big boxes!
I had originally planned to reward myself with these TV’s when I hit certain milestones (specifically, 2500 RSS for the bedroom TV and $10,000 monthly blog income for the living room TV), but I got tired of waiting. Sure, it’s a bad excuse, but it wasn’t making me work harder towards achieving those goals. I was simply rewarding myself whenever I reached milestones.
Besides, I had waited long enough to buy new TV’s. I’m sure nobody will fault me for getting the new bedroom TV and a single arm tv mount
at least.
Here’s a detailed 12-minute video showing what all I purchased. For those who don’t have the time (or desire) to watch it, feel feel to skim through the photos below:
This is the photo of the old TV I was using when I made the post back in November showing off my new bed. As you can see, the TV was ancient and even used a cable converter:
…And this is my new 32-inch LG 1080p LCD TV. As you can see, I’m using my two 24-inch computer monitor boxes to hold up my DVD player and clock. I’ll need to find some sort of alternative stand to place them on… maybe an open bookcase of some sort…
Ahhh…. nice. My bed is extremely comfortable and the TV is perfectly situated in both height and distance. I love it!
The photo below was taken back in early summer when MarketLeverage sent me a bunch of gear and other stuff as a gift. I included it in here as it’s the only photo I could find that shows my living room’s old entertainment center and TV.
Believe it or not, the TV is a 26-inch CRT (even though it looks larger). It always had a great picture, but I didn’t enjoy watching movies or playing certain games on it all that much as you kind of had to squint at times… heh:
…And here is it’s replacement! A 52-inch 1080p Sharp LCD! I also bought a nice black glass stand for it, a 1080 up-conversion DVD player, a $500 HDPVR, HDMI cable (which you can find at sites like https://www.hdmi.org/spec21sub/ultrahighspeedcable), and I upgraded my cable to a HD premium package which includes Video on Demand, etc.
It’s insane. The weird thing is, when you look at these big screen TV’s in the stores they don’t look very big, but when you actually see them in your house their true size comes to life. Even these photos are misleading.
The HDPVR (which is basically a digital terminal + TiVo combined) is absolutely awesome. Be sure to watch the video (skip to the last quarter if you’re short on time) if you want to see what it does and you’re not familiar with TiVo type digital recording systems.
Anyhow, that’s the latest splurge I bought myself. After buying my crazy computer and monitors, new bed, and TV’s – all which were within the past 4 months, they came to around $7,000. I am excited to upgrade my cable subscription and now I’m looking into some Spectrum Cable TV Packages.
I think I’m going to cut down on any expensive gifts for myself for a while and save money to put towards a lump sum payment on my mortgage, increasing my bi-weekly mortgage payments, and save the rest for my big trip to the Philippines that will happen this summer.
Actually, my next big-ticket item will probably be a house when my bestfriend told me about this amazing tv bed from TV Bed Store that provides the best and latest TV Beds filled with extreme comfort and state of the art technology at the push of a button. Wow! I am thinking that I should purchase it ahead before a house.
Nice setup, beats the heck out of my humongous 32 inch “old school” setup I have at home. The TV case is so big and heavy that if I ever move, that baby’s staying!
Matt
Holly crap Tyler!!! Maybe you should sent me that little TV, you don’t seem to need it anymore.
Anyways, good for you!
Becky
I can’t believe the Shaw HD PVR’s are still $500. I bought mine like 4 years ago when they first came out and paid $600 for it.
I think yours probably has a bigger HD in it though and dual tuners right?
The coolest thing about using PVR’s is that you can skip commercials. If I’m going to watch a show that starts at 9pm, I’ll simply click pause at 9pm, go and do something for 15minutes and then at 9:15pm I’ll start watching the show. When I get to a commercial, I fast forward and each time I fast forward I’m getting closer to “LIVE” mode, which ends up happening at pretty much exactly 10pm.
So you can pretty much bypass all commercials, just start watching your shows 15mins after they start for a 1 hour show and 20-30mins after they start for a 2 hour show.
What I actually do is just spend 10-minutes a day pre-programming it to record a bunch of shows that I’d like to see, then I usually watch a bunch of them at night (skipping the commercials of course).
Soon I won’t even need to do that since I have a lot of shows set up on series recording already.
As for if it’s the same HDPVR HD, all I know is that it can record 120 hours of regular TV or 25 hours of HDTV.
I used to do that. Especially after my daughter was born 2 years ago.
But, 4 months ago we decided that enough is enough and (*hold your breath*) canceled our cables.
It’s unbelievable how much more we’re now able to do, instead of watching crap on tv…
Of course, in the beginning it was very hard, but the longing and craving for a tv show lasted only a few days. I would think it would be longer…
Cheers,
Alex
when I lived with my parents up until about 4 years ago, i was always on the couch checking up on what’s new on tv and always trying to follow up on the series.
Now that I’m out on my own, we have no cable and it really sucks!, but i find myself not connected to the tube as I once was and able to do other things, like rent dvd’s and watch it all night haha, i guess not much of a moral story from what I’m rambling about
But i need to start recording shows and watching them later on though, for some reason i got into smallville and is missing a lot of episodes.
Tyler, that new TV of yours is pretty big, and the base is nice too. it;’s always nice to reward yourself with something that you want when you’re doing so much work. the hard work pays off indeed
oh yea i’m still waiting for xy7 to approve me, help me get approved quicker?
Shoot me an e-mail and let me know your full name or e-mail address you signed up with please.
Congrats for reaching above 2000+ rss. It is already something that you should reward yourself for. CRT is dying. Try to get good flat/lcd screen monitor replacing CRT. It is not good for your eyes.
That is a nice setup!
Those biggg Screen shows that you are having huge profit from blogging 🙂
Great TV you have there, way better than your antedeluvian tabletop TV.lol I love LCD’s, especially those of Samsung. Very slick!
That tiny little TV next to your bed had to go! How did you survive with that thing for so long…. Congrats on the cool stuff.
Congrats to you on your bit of self reward but I’ve got to ask, doesn’t the coming economic disaster have you thinking twice about such an expenditure? Don’t you think that at such a time you’d be better off saving your hard earned money or even purchasing valuable metals (gold, silver, etc) or land (ie: things that will retain value even if the currency fails like it will in the US soon)?
I just purchased a 52″ Sharp Aquos LCD. It is insane.
Congratz on your recent purchases. Work hard;Play hard!!
Next you need to get yourself a new alarm clock. My Dad has had that one for the last 20 years. 🙂
Looks like we have the exact same TV and alarm clock then 😉
Wow, sweet setup you have there, I’ve just upgraded to a 42″ HD LCD primeraly to play COD 5 on the PS3!
That’s an absolutely awesome setup. I love the new TV. Your living room looks awesome. Looks like you need some new tables and stuff for your bedroom though :p
I think this video pretty much sums up everyones reaction to first getting some sort of DVR.
The only problem is that now you will never be able to live without it.
I have the same HD PVR from Shaw. I love it!
Sup Tyler, I see that you are trying to turn your condo into the ultimate bachelors pad. Whats next for you some new furniture. i hope you will hit all of your milestones that you have set for yourself
I have 3 Samsung TV’s. I like Samsung over some of the other brands. Sharp Aquos is one that I like also. Sony makes you pay too much. Good purchases. I’m not fond of LG.
thats a pretty good setup. I bought a Sony Bravia 42 inch for $999, no tax on special at The Brick. planning on buying a PS3, im gonns need a good $500 for that, to buy extra controllers and games. after that, my biggest purchase would be a car. Planning on buying a Nissan Altima, don’t know yet.
Really nice gifts for yourself for doing a great job online.
You need a decorator now lol .
Nice comfortable looking place.
I don’t watch tv, but i like it lol. Would get it for friends to watch.
Wow starting to spoil yourself? 🙂 Your new stuff is a big upgrade from before
Nice setup. Something we’re going to have to do soon ourselves, both the living room and bedroom TVs are showing signs of old age.
I’m a little surprised you bought a PVR though. I just stuck TV tuners into both my wife and my computers. I didn’t want to string cables, but I can watch anything on them via the Wii on the living room TV, and via a Media Center Extender on the bedroom TV. Also means that as I sit here typing this, I’m watching the Canucks game in another window.
Nice rewards to yourself…I chose a 42″ LG LCD for my collection and don’t regret it. It’s funny though because I bought mine about a year ago and paid a higher price for what I can buy a bigger LCD with a better picture today. Crazy electronics market!
Yeah, but it will always be like that so there’s no reason to ever be upset or resentful 🙂 I bet in 3 years, for the same price I paid for my TV’s, they’ll probably have twice the resolution and refresh rate!
Nice setup. great reward for upcoming chinese new year 🙂
Last year, I also rewarded my co-blogger with LCD Tv and home theater system.
http://skiper.pinoyanswers.com/i-gave-lcd-tv-and-home-theater-system-to-my-co-blogger/
When will be your trip here in the Philippines?
In the summer, probably July.
Hmmm.. “http://skiper.pinoyanswers.com/wp-content/themes/lightbreaker/images/kkl.gif” — you shouldn’t fake RSS (or anything). It kills credibility…
That’s a real nice TV. I agree that Sharp is a good company for TVs, definitely one of the best out there. I see you have a Wii. Ever get good game time on it?
Of course. I’m a huge gamer…
Congrats on the new toys, Tyler. Now, please, get a new couch! 🙂
I find it much easier to upgrade electronics or a bed because they serve a purpose; new TV’s are bigger and provide a better picture, and a new bed provides added comfort.
But my two ugly sofas… while ugly as hell, I find them decently comfortable. If they were uncomfortable then I’d definitely replace them, but I just kind of find it a waste to buy new ones purely for the aesthetics… seems like a waste of money to me…
I have the exact same 52inch TV as you 😉
Nice Buy!
Haha, I was so excited when I found the hidden compartment in the remote control…
Nice TV’s but the one thing I’m incredibly disappointed in is the choice of a 1080p up convert DVD player…
Seriously go Blu Ray (pick up a PS3) and you’ll thank me later. I’ve seen both on my TV and Blu Ray is so much better.
I’m very cognisant of the fact that a 1080 upconverting DVD player is nowhere near the quality of a Blu-Ray player, and is closer to the quality of 720p, but I had to draw my spending spree somewhere!
Also, the price of Blu Ray players is still quite high, and so I though I’d wait a year or even two for the price to drop dramatically, as well as for more stuff to get produced out on Blu Ray.
The PS3 is certainly an option, but isn’t the Blu Ray in the PS3 not as good quality as most standalone players out there?
Actually, I’m going to comment once more as to how much I urge you to pick up a Blu Ray player instead of sticking with the up convert DVD player.
Do it. Trust me. Do it.
PS3 is still better than most Blu Rays. What I do is just have a blockbuster total access subscription and get blu rays mailed to me and I can exchange in the store for free as well.
But IMO for you to buy two HDTVs and no Blu Ray player is no good. Don’t wait for the price to come down because all you’ll save is $100 or so and have to wait a year to experience your TV’s the way they were meant to be.
Normally I’m a fan of the hitting the goals, then splurging method….but…..since you used your MarketLeverage swag photo in the post, I approve!
What goal are you setting for buying your house and adopting Lorelei? 😀
nice tv dude, my gf and i is planning to buy 1 but not that big. just a 40-inch series 4. i might get it now for cheaper price since dubai shopping festival started few ago.
hope you enjoy your stay in Philippines and please don’t miss to visit Palawan and Boracay.
Nice TVs Tyler!
I recently upgraded my 32″ LCD TV. I did a lot of research on LCD vs Plasma, the Sharp looked great, but I couldn’t find any LCD that had anywhere near the same black levels and contrast as my new 50″ Panasonic Plasma. The picture is amazing. Its great with my new HTPC hooked up to it. Blue-ray x264 movies are sick..
All of the stuff you purchased could have been for around $4,000 or less if you decided to be shopper savvy and research first 🙂
-Mike
Mike, you do realize we’re talking Canadian dollars, and the Tyler is not only restricted by having only Canadian stores to compete for his money, but that he’s also on Vancouver Island and further limited by geography in that he could get it cheaper but round trip to the store would be more than the savings.
Sure he might not have gotten big city prices for these items, but he also doesn’t pay big city prices for groceries and accommodation.
Wow your old tv is really old!! I can’t imagine how you used that for so long lol. You must be really happy with your new TV purchase. It seems like your home is really shaping up quite nicely.
i have a same kinda plasma 42″ samsung….and great buy…man…congrats.