TV...I think it just up and died so- led, plasma, lcd, what?

Bernice H
by Bernice H
Yikes, we believe our tv just gave up. It is quite old, 16 or so, we were watching and tada...it just zipped up into a colored line up the center of the screen. We have audio. We have been talking about this happening, but havent really gotten information. So, are we correct, it sounds like it is finished?
If so do you have any info or opinions on Led,. lcd, plasma..whatever? It is a very confusing area out there for us.
And I have been conscripted to get info, so I started here with my friends.
And I dont even know where to post this.
  50 answers
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 17, 2012
    I sent you reply directly but will post here as well for others Yup your old one up and died... To give you a mini science lesson a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TV would scan a beam of electrons to the front of the screen. This beam is "directed" by a series of magnetic plates. X and Y coordinates In yours one of these has failed so the beam is just going in the line. As Far as a new TV goes you can get a pretty decent one of OK size for $450 bucks or so... http://www.costco.com/Samsung-32%22-Class-1080p-LED-HDTV-UN32EH5000F.product.11759662.html Moving up in size a bit will cost you a few hundred more. http://www.costco.com/VIZIO-47%22-Class-1080p-120Hz-SPS-LED%E2%84%A2-LCD-HDTV-M470SL.product.11756944.html but the one above also has some of the application that would be covered by your roku..so you could move that to another TV in the home, Both of these tv's are considered HD at 1080 resolution...as far as hooking up you other dvd's players etc...they come with a number of input ports. Ideally your devices should output with an HDMI cable...which simply plug in to the TV. If you are routing everything through a home theater system then most likely you have these inputs on t
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 17, 2012
    Hey Kevin...you have no idea how grateful I am for your input and info. Y ou have given me such a starting point, I read ALL the reviews on both, they sound super, however the 47 " would take the whole tv table! I will have to talk hubs out of THAT one. At least he has some info now. and I do believe costco is the best pLace to get one. Also, an occasional fluke is not in our energy level.Or knowledge level. Hubs biggest concern was how pictures on some flat screens seemed to stretch out of proportion sideways, and mine was how flat people looked, but I think my concern was because my friends had theirs up too high, noses were long and hips were big! :) Thanks again friend, I sure do appreciate you taking your time to help us. He would have had me running all over town to compare each and every tv out there. (I know because he did it with refrigerators! But I love him! He is a good man! ha) I appreciated the comment made about the Samsung being thicker, because it is backlit ,which seemed a good idea to some of the commenters? Thanks so much Kevin...I love Hometalk! And all you great people on here!
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 17, 2012
    Oh...i guess i dont really know what 1080 means as opposed to ?
  • 3po3 3po3 on Sep 17, 2012
    I can't offer any wisdom on the LCD vs. plasma vs. ??? debate, as I am one of the last dinosaurs with a tiny CRT TV, and it's good enough for me. But I would suggest checking Craigslist for good deals. At least around here, there are always people upgrading to the latest and greatest, and unloading a good TV that is only a couple of years old perhaps. I know it's always a gamble buying something used, but if they can give you any warranty information, you should be OK.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 17, 2012
    Hey Steve..we're dinosaurs too. That's what makes this all so scary to us. I went to costco to check out what I had seen on line..asked a bunch of questions, then the girl left me, then I found a guy and asked some of the same questions. Now THAT is scary. Got some different answers. huh??????????? The one i wanted online, samsung 32 inch is not online anymore, in just a few hours! Vizio 47" is pretty big.....is there a rule or ratio of feet from tv one should think about?
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 18, 2012
    Steve is right...on the craig's list stuff. I have seen lots of older Tube TVs offered there for FREE. We had a TV left by one of our renters and older tube one...there was a price sticker on it from Good Will...$25. I swapped this out with the even older one in the kids room. The hard to recycle place wanted $15 to "throw it away"...I donated the other one back to good will for free. the 1080 is number of vertical line the tv can show, a lesser resolution would be 720
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 18, 2012
    My hubby just bought a new one for the "shed" cause we sent the other one to college....he does all this research before he buys anything and the one he bought was from best buy I think it's 37" and it's the insignia brand.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 18, 2012
    Hey guys...ask me what my day was like? aarrgghhhhh! Who said it was easy to decide, then purchase, then set up? Hubs is just about ready to cry. We got the 47 " vizio, and yes, it is very big in here. hmmm (Maybe we will need to go smaller?) but to get some features, we need the bigger one? However, trying to set it up, we dont know what the thing is asking us? Key code? Router ,cable, etc, not for people like us. I am just hoping when Charter guy comes on Thursday he will graciously set it up for us. So, not only do we have a new tv, but..... we have to have a new dvd player, our vhs combo is not compatible, and an HD box, and who knows what else? Oh, and I was informed in a few months the other crt tv will need a box also because they are transitioning something and it will become un usable due to the transition. huh? We dont have a digital box for it now, dont need it, but that will be another 5 dollars a month please. The upgrade to the HD in the main tv is an additional 5 dollars,and the dvr will be 15 a month ...thank you. But....since we are such long time customers we will be getting a "break" on the service call, instead of 59.95 it will only be 29.95! Good gravy! We are really trying to assimilate all this. Yes Steve, dinosaurs dont know what hit them. We couldnt even get our neighbor to help us, he was too busy. So Survivor will have to be seen on the liddle tv tomorrow night! I know lots of young people who have all this stuff, I dont know how they afford it with all their other obligations. Plus they have cell plans too which we dont. wow! Anyway, thanks Kevin and Steve...hopefully this will get all settled out. PS(I really wanted the 32 inch samsung..not offered online any more, just like that, and is not in the store. I did notice the Samsung had a better picture ...imho!
  • 3po3 3po3 on Sep 18, 2012
    Oof. I'm praying our little tiny TV survives a while longer - and if it dies, that I can find a free or cheap replacement on CL.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 18, 2012
    That is a thought. Maybe you can start collecting a few now , for the future!
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 19, 2012
    I have not watched anything on our big TV for a couple of weeks...In fact the only video type thing I have watched in weeks was an episode of FlashForward on my Nook last night. With thousands of choices there...I could never find enough time to watch even 1 or 2% of them.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 19, 2012
    See Kevin..I dont even know what you are talking about...a NOOK?
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 19, 2012
    @Bernice, a Nook is the Barnes and Noble answer to a Kindle....i looked at them but was afraid if BN closed shop there wouldn't be any support for it...
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 19, 2012
    Sounds good,I might like that. However to make matters worse, a lot of our friends have the Ipad now, and at our meetings they use those instead of our books! So I really feel like a kid..big eyes; you can do ...what???? I use a -pay as you go phone-, my son and many others have phones and contracts where they can use the internet etc...just about anything! Good gravy, I am pedaling as fast as I can. So does a person HAVE to rent the dvr from their cable company or can we just buy our own? At 15 a month..that is 180 a year for something you dont own? plus tax.
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 19, 2012
    Bernice...it is an e-book reader ( like a kindle ) but also has some application to watch netflix etc...It is a lot like a low cost version of an apple Ipad as I can also check email etc. I use it to watch a movie in bed, with the headphones..so it does not keep Tori up http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-tablet-barnes-noble/1104687969?r=1&ean=9781400501779&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Device+Specific+-+NOOK+Tablet&utm_source=google&utm_term=nook%20tablet&cm_mmc=google-_-Device+Specific+-+NOOK+Tablet-_-NOOK+Tablet+%28exact%29-_-NOOK+Tablet
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 19, 2012
    Hmmm Now that sounds like a plan.I could be happy with that! Or just using my computer. I am really uncomfortable with all of this tv stuff and COST. This puts us up to about 150 a month....this is crazy . One of the guys at costco said he quit cable etc,however his grouping of stuff still costs almost as much as ours and his phone service is not dependable! and no long distance. I feel hostage to this stuff! Ignorance is not bliss!
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 19, 2012
    I think they may be taking advantage of you on the DVD player rental...we have our own and they don't charge us anything to use it, but we also have the recorder that is digital....I forget what it's called....but if we record ANY TV shows we have to pay 5 a month extra and so hubby took it off the TV cause he didn't want to pay the five extra...Also maybe you could call another cable company and ask them about THEIR plan instead of the same one you've had... and then tell the one you're using now that you aren't going to be taken advantage of and the other company offers to hook you up to your own for free...see if that doesn't maybe make them reconsider...
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Sep 19, 2012
    Found this on the differences between the TV types. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387377,00.asp FYI, Be aware of the type of connection you need for each to maximize the quality of the picture. We had our LCD connected to a Cat5e and switched to HDMI, and improved our picture quality tremendously. You may even need a RGB cable, depending on whether you use a home theater system. The nerds at your local electronic shop (Best Buy/Frys, etc.) will be able to guide you, based on your type of cable service and overall use of other components you use with your TV (DVR, DVD, DTV, etc.).
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Sep 19, 2012
    OMG, I just realized how many acronyms I used in that post....LOL
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 19, 2012
    @Leslie, LOL it was like alphabet soup....sadly, I understood it!
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 20, 2012
    Thanks Leslie.. this was useful. And Sharron, my neighbor said yes, we can continue to use the vhs dvd box we have. so we will.And he said he has a hdmi cable? cord ? we can buy from him if the hd set doesn't come with it, instead of buying it from the cable comany.
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 20, 2012
    You can also look on ebay for one, our cable company wanted 30, Best buy wanted something close to that...hubby ordered one from ebay and it was 8 bucks including shipping....
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Sep 20, 2012
    If your HDMI cable is less than 6' or so long, almost any brand will work. If you're spanning a longer distance than that, make sure you get one that is high performance (typically called "active HDMI", or one that is "Redmere technology" enabled). The longer the distance, the more you lose picture quality and the cheaply made 10' cables from Wal-Mart will not maximize your new TV picture. (Yes, my husband is a techy and he and I ran full home audio/video/internet thoughout our downstars when we had the ceiling open during remodel...it's great, no cables anywhere, except in our office closet...I'm glad he understands this...LOL)
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 20, 2012
    Dang...Leslie that is quite the spaghetti fest. I'll stick to the simplicity of my Nook. It is Wifi so it "talks" to our internet router without any of that mess. And a cool thing with the netflix is it only runs about $9 a month for the streamed content.
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 20, 2012
    So KMS, you can watch anywhere as long as you have Wi-Fi?
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 20, 2012
    yup..I may get slowed down if the kids are streaming something in their room...but then I normally switch over to the ebook part and continue reading. I have been taking it to one of my clients homes ( when i do an overnight stay / project, they are a couple hours commute...so I do a pair of days) I have it set up for their wifi too. I can watch a movie after I hit the sack. I even que up some streaming audio (pandora and such) when I'm working at my bench...this is if I'm to lazy to go grab my Ipod from the truck...LOL
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Sep 20, 2012
    Wow that's awesome! I bought Hubby a Kindle for his Birthday last year and he set up his account downloaded a bunch of books and then, reads them on his phone...when I asked...he said I always have my phone with me but i don't always have my kindle...it kind of hurt my feelings...
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Sep 20, 2012
    We set up our iPad to run everything via WiFi, so we can control home theater, stereo/amp, music library, etc., from that, but also put manual keypads in each room and outside to be able to control everything from wherever we are. These are wires for those keypads, speakers, television, dvr, internet, etc., all tucked away in a closet (and in all fairness to my husband, that picture was taken just after running wires and before he cleaned it all up). I love not having any cables/wires showing anywhere in the house except here. We also ran conduit with pull string to the tv location so we'll be ready when technology changes. If you have walls and ceiling open, I would suggest doing this if you have a little know-how. It also helped that I was building "smart homes" at the time and my AV Company gave me most of the wire supplies I needed for my home.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 20, 2012
    Oh guys..my head is so overwhelmed....i dont think i even know how to turn this on much less do "stuff" with it. i didnt get any hands on either. Hubs did but he only has 5 notes! And he is just as bad at as me!I Hope he can recreate what we learned. Didnt notice much difference in the hd as opposed to picture non hd, however i think we are going to love the dvr part! We may even buy ourselves one. To be able to record and a few minutes later go back and watch without the commercials..tv heaven! Kevin I sure like your input on your nook and wifi, even tho i dont understand it.I think it would be so cool to watch what I want without haivng to compromise, sometimes we differ on selection. I was concerned the sound wouldnt be good enough for our 2 ears..seriously...2 ears, but vizio has bottom speakers and this is 47 inches. sound is fine. hmmm but.....pretty durn big! And I did take a picture of the nest of cables in the back, even tho we disconnected 2. Kevin what is the sound like on your nook?
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 21, 2012
    Withthe headphones it is great....rich and full. When i use the onboard speaker it is a little wimpy
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 24, 2012
    Ok thisis my 3rd try, I guess I dont do the tagging correctly, my internet even stopped! So each time I shorten my comment..was just going to say we are returning the 47 incher for a 40 Samsung..Vizio 47 waaay too big. Dont know if the 40 will make much difference, Hope so. We sit too close for 47 inches! So we need a sound bar, and getting a smart bluray dvd player for netflix, we did not get the smart samsung.Same price diff , but in future we may needd bluray/ who knows? And we are keeping our combo vhs/dvd player. Thanks for the input! And site suggestions!
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 25, 2012
    I was at clients yesterday buiding an Ikea entertainment center cabinet...sitting in the garage was a brand new 55" flat screen ...this is one of those new 3D ones. It is going to dominate the living room. Which is not really that big.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 25, 2012
    Wow! I cant imagine that! We sit 8-10 ft from tv. Looking up peoples nostrils is a little unnerving.Actually now i am sitting on the sofa which is about 3 ft further back than our lazy chairs. And even that is slightly too big, but much better. So today is Tv exchange afternoon, and here we go again. But on the Samsung the menu brings up closed captioning, we never could find it on the vizio, which I am sure has it. Now hubs has to learn to bypass commercials..gets on my nerves now that we dont have to. What is the entertainment center looking like? Ikea, did you get components and restyle? Or just putting them together for the client? What kind of material? What is their interior decorating style, I am envisioning log cabin as I imagine you have! ha
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 26, 2012
    @Bernice H it was a besta TV unit...very modern looking which matches his home. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20218442/ I also built a couple of the "billy" bookcases. All of that Ikea stuff is made form particle board...and relatively cheap. Personally I would be afraid to put any thing heavy on it. I have seen so much of that cheap stuff fail. Fortunately that big monster of a TV will be wall mounted
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 27, 2012
    Besta tv..never heard of it. but I am sure there are lots of tvs etc I have never heard of. We are finally, in our later years out of particle board mode. I dont think we have any anymore.All used furniture but it is wood. However I had a chest of drawers made for hubs a few years ago, out of pine.That baby is so heavy, and the drawers dont slide easily, I rue the day I thought it was a good idea. But I wanted cabinet doors on the bottom so he could stack his jeans. Oh well, it is stuck in the spare room and you cant see it. I dont have to deal with it and he never complained. So does this fella live in the mountains too, or in the city? You said Modern? I dont know what a "billy" book case is.
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 28, 2012
    Besta and Billy are named styles of Ikea furniture...and he is a city guy. He had a designer oversee the remodel...all very modern with bold rectangular patterns etc.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 29, 2012
    OOHHHH! didnt know that! Our Ikea is in Seattle or Portland, 2 1/2 and 4 hours respectively, so dont get there much. Probably a good thang! ha
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Sep 30, 2012
    @Bernice H I was not impressed with this furniture at all...to me it was cheap particle board crap...The back of the "billy" book case was just cardboard...not corrugated like a moving box but the solid stuff like a cereal box (though just a bit thicker). CHEAP...Cheap Cheap. It is sad to think that people think IKEA is great stuff. Furniture made from real wood may cost 3-4 times as much but will last 10 times longer. Ikea embodies the cheap "I want it now... disposable society"
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Sep 30, 2012
    Thank you Kevin...I agree, but so many dont. I have had enough particle board to last only this long. It falls apart, chips, you have to be so careful to move it, and if it gets wet! ick. That is why I opted to make my own desk out of hollow core door and filing cabinets, remember? So what are their kitchen cabinets made of? I see ads for Ikea Kitchens.....cabinets etc. I am surprised they didnt have you build something nice, or refurbish something. Obviously you are very talented and they could have had something to really be proud of. And where is an Ikea up there in the mountains where you are? :)
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Oct 01, 2012
    His kitchen cabinets are higher end ply and real wood. And I built him a real office desk a while back. http://www.hometalk.com/diy/l-shaped-walnut-slab-desk-532342 Our nearest Ikea is in denver...for me that would be a bit over an hours drive...never been there and have no plans to. My buddy / client's girlfriend just moved out and took a lot of the furniture they bought together...I think he is just getting some stuff in cheap and quick for now.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Oct 01, 2012
    Ohhh that would explain it! Those were the days when I 'made" clothes storage,( cant call them dressers), for my kids out of the waxed produce boxes, stacked on their sides. They did the job for the time being. Hopefully he won't settle for this forever and you can make him something really nice. Then again, he may just get used to looking at it and using it and not seeing it anymore..and that 's ok too. RE laminate..I have painted my share of laminated book shelves!
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Oct 02, 2012
    @KMS Woodworks Hey Kevin, just went to the link above..that desk is awesome! If he wasnt a friend I bet you would have been insulted to do that Ikea stuff after making that gorgeous desk! It is so beautiful, what a nice job you did on that!
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Oct 03, 2012
    I have become quite a fan of the natural edge lumber. I'm currently working on a new coffee table for my home.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Oct 04, 2012
    Can't wait to see it!
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Oct 04, 2012
    @KMS Woodworks "Natural Edge Lumber"? I don't understand that term....as opposed to a nice even cut ?
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Oct 04, 2012
    Sharron...natural edge still has the shape of the tree and sometimes even some bark
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Oct 04, 2012
    OH AWESOME! Yeah I'm for that!!!! LOL
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Jan 07, 2013
    @KMS Woodworks News on my new tv...can you believe? We are trying to get used to it, very complicated for us, however we notice on dark scenes there is a black filmy movement in the back ground, and on faces where it should look like flesh, it looks like there is a rash on their cheeks. What do you think? We also tried a sound box,( hard of hearing,) and it interferred with the volume controls , only one tiny volume controller, so we took it back. This is not fun! I would like an old "regular"tv again! grr oohhh And talking about closed captioning, evidently the Samsung we got does not have closed captioning in general, just for movies that have it. The charter guy said he could turn it on but it would be on for everything all the time.That is not cool!
  • Sharron W Sharron W on Jan 07, 2013
    You should have had him show you how to turn CC off and on, ours is only on if we turn it on.... and sometimes I do....LOL Also in "controls" there should be "color adjustments" so you can fix the "rash" on their faces...LOL
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Jan 07, 2013
    @Bernice H you have to keep in mind I have not had TV service for a while now (about 2 years) we still have our big LCD tv but only watch an hour or two on it each week. The shadows and rash effects might be artifacts from your source signal (aka cable or satellite box). When we watch a DVD the picture is pretty darn good...and this is just a regular DVD not a newish blue ray in HD. When I had our TV set up in the living room I ran the audio through the "stereo" so we had a full scale home theater type thing going. The on-board speakers of the tv are pretty wimpy. You would have a much better viewing experience if you picked up a very simple receiver and set the audio up through that. You can get some basic "home theater"systems for a pretty reasonable price. ( my system is a higher end BOSE speaker system with a pioneer receiver) 5.1 surround system are the full meal deal, you could probably get by with a decent sound bar system http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HT-CT150-Sound-Bar-System/dp/B003C1AO2I/ref=lp_3237803011_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357570950&sr=1-1