On the verge of upgrading 30 year old TV & etc

February 23, 2019, 06:32 PM

I guess 28" 25 year old tv is a bit outre`.... So's the old Surround Sound Bose stuff which has been disconnected the past decade or so.....

Just barely beginning to New Look at tv stuff. On cable, not hooked up to any of the new server stuff, don't want 'smart tv' or anything that talks to us.

I read other posts with more complex inquiries. Got to find a way to catch up I guess. Way more choices than we need with simple tastes & active gardening/tending the estate chores much of the time.

Anticipate maybe 'giant 36" screen'

. Lots of reorganization for dismantling the old 'entertainment center' wooden cubicle thing that took up about 5' of wall to the corner. Smallish front room about 18x16 with wood heat, will make a challenge of new components. Maybe a wall mount?

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February 23, 2019, 06:38 PM

radioman

wall mount is the way to go. Buy the type that extends out by pulling on it.

Don't worry about the "smart TV" it's not as much of a risk as you think. Just don't wifi to it if you are worried.

ANYTHING you buy will be an upgrade to what you have. Just go to Costco and buy something.

Get a screen big as you can fit in the area you are putting it.

Learn what a Roku or Firestick is and start streaming stuff. Or use your smart TV features for this.

February 23, 2019, 07:03 PM

1s1k

No one is going to accuse you of being an impulse buyer. Wall mount is the way to go.

February 24, 2019, 12:32 AM

RaiseHal

My local Target had some smoking deals on new tv's.

It's a shame that youth is wasted on the young --- Mark Twain

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February 24, 2019, 12:37 AM

jimmy123x

The new tv's are rectangular so a 36" is probably going to be as small in height as what you have now. Plus, it's very hard to find a tv as small as 36". Go with a Samsung LED around 50" or so, they're pretty cheap now adays…….and a wall mount is nice, but I have mine sitting on an entertainment center made for a tv and prefer it over a wall mount, but that's personal preference.

February 24, 2019, 12:51 AM

tatortodd

Costco has a great warranty, good TV prices, and great prices on wall mounts.

February 24, 2019, 01:26 AM

Dusty78

To to a 36 inch tv you are going to have to go back to 2002. Your basic options are 23”, 32”, 39”, 40” 50”, 55”, 60”, 65”

The price difference between a 39” and 50” is pretty negligible. The real hard part is going to be finding a non-smart tv. You aren’t paying anything extra for smart so just get it and don’t use it.

February 24, 2019, 06:27 AM

Oz_Shadow

Just get a decent Samsung 42” LED and never connect it to the internet. In the wide format you will want the larger screen because it often only uses part of it. A 42 would be more like a 32 on standard definition(square picture) content.

February 24, 2019, 06:45 AM

motor59

Also, don't forget that your cable box is likely only SD (standard definition).
You will want to trade that back in to the provider for an HD box.

February 24, 2019, 06:47 AM

SPWAMike0317

Check cables. You are probably using coax, may need HDMI. Check for price, may overpay for HDMI cables (no, you don't need MONSTER cables).

February 24, 2019, 08:22 AM

DaBigBR

Just wait until you get HiFi!

February 24, 2019, 08:30 AM

hvyhawler

From what I was told, HDMI cables either work or they don't. No need for fancy high priced cables. My cheap ones work well enough for us...

February 24, 2019, 11:41 PM

tatortodd

quote:
Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
Check cables. You are probably using coax, may need HDMI. Check for price, may overpay for HDMI cables (no, you don't need MONSTER cables).

Costco has great prices on cables too.

February 25, 2019, 02:20 AM

Rey HRH

WHile wall mounting is good, you might also consider those roll stands that hold the tv at variable height.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

February 25, 2019, 06:22 AM

Scurvy

I wouldn't worry about tv brand or specs. Any tv you buy today will be a 1000% improvement over a 25yr old tv.

Just go to Wal-Mart or target and buy something cheap in a decent size (at least 42 inches).

February 25, 2019, 12:33 PM

bigdeal

Go to Costco and look at a TCL. TCL 50" is on sale for $279 right now, and you get a lot of TV for that price. And yes on the wall mount option.

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Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter

February 25, 2019, 12:51 PM

Copefree

You've been watching the same TV since 1993 -- that is absolutely impressive, sir.

February 25, 2019, 02:14 PM

straightshooter01

25 year old tv?? The important thing is contain yourself and not make a hasty decision.

February 25, 2019, 02:18 PM

erj_pilot

I bought a really nice articulating wall mount bracket for the 43” Vizio in my b/r. Let me see if I can dig up a link when I get home.

"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24

February 25, 2019, 02:38 PM

PASig

quote:
Originally posted by radioman:
wall mount is the way to go. Buy the type that extends out by pulling on it.

I could not disagree more.

WAY too many people have their TV's mounted up so high on the wall, it's literally a pain in the neck to watch for any length of time. Above the mantle? Really?

The top of the screen should ideally be about eye level as you are sitting on your sofa or chair or however else you watch TV.

A good stand that keeps it as this level is the way to go in my opinion.