LCD Obsession is No More

A friend invited us over this weekend to watch a Blue Ray movie on his huge LCD TV. I wasn’t sure about doing it at first because I have been wanting a LCD TV for a while now. I like to think of it as the one thing I have wanted all this time but didn’t break down and get it. What would happen after seeing one of my favorite movies (Pirates of the Caribbean) on one?

Surprisingly, I didn’t drool as much as I thought I would. Yes, the picture looked aweome. I could see every imperfection on Orlando Bloom’s face and the colors were so vibrant that my eyes widened to take it all in.

I wasn’t that impressed, though. Neither was my husband. Both of us went home saying that we didn’t need to spend $1,000 or so for that high quality picture. We’ll stick with our old TV and we’ll be content with it. At some point we will get an LCD TV, but not until the prices go way down and probably not until we downsize to a smaller home.

Maybe my obsession was a case of wanting what you can’t have? I definitely hyped up the LCD TV in my mind more than I should have. I’m glad this costly obsession is gone!

Posted by Tricia on March 16, 2009 at 10:28 PM in Life Experiences | 18 Comments »
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.

Newer Posts Older Posts

Mr Plasectomy responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Glad to see that you are able to put off that desire for awhile longer. Some times it is just not worth it right now.

I agree with you that the Blu-Ray over say a standard DVD isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. Yeah, you can see a few more hairs, wrinkles, imperfections, but who wants to see that? For most of us DVD quality and HD provided from cable or over the air is fine.
SingleGuyMoney responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 5:50 am
It’s always nice when the urge to buy something expensive goes away and you realize there are much better things to do with your money.
jaye responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 6:49 am
One of the ways I’ve changed in the past year or so is that I’m starting to be proud of owning older, less fancy things. It makes me feel smart. I like the fact that we have a normal (perfectly nice) TV. Our 2000 Honda Odyssey looks a wreck, but it’s safe, comfortable and free! I think it will be interesting to see what happens when and if we have some money to spend. I think we’ll be far less inclined to “fix what ain’t broke”!
rich@richlikeyou.com responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 8:08 am
One of the drawback to large LCD HDTV’s is that sometimes you see things that you would rather not see. I recently installed a 55″ LCD in my office conference room, and was testing it out. I was flipping through channels checking signals and saw one of the daytime drama talk shows, like jerry springer, and saw some pretty disgusting details of the guests.

We do own a LCD, a 37″, but only because our last tv broke after 8 years and its really all you can find on the market these days. We also bought it for well under $1k. I still watch most of my television on an old 13″ tv in my home office.

Glad to see you were able to get over your thoughts of wanting a lcd, its always a great thing to try before you buy. I know I have had buyers remorse on several items I have bought over the years.
HS@OurDebtBlog responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Not me, I’m electronics obssesed and looking to add another LCD TV, I’m hoping to get a 50 inch for our bedroom. I hate frugal living, so why not have the best things in life? Of course I’ve learned my lessons and we will never finance another TV or furniture.

HS
Eddie responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Re: “Maybe my obsession was a case of wanting what you can’t have? I definitely hyped up the LCD TV in my mind more than I should have. I’m glad this costly obsession is gone!”

Second (or even third) thoughts on any purchase is a good way to think.

I obsess over a new Ferrari, but there ain’t one in my driveway! Debt free for me, if you please.
Jay Gatsby responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
My wife and I bought our first LCD in January. It is a 32″ Sharp Aquos. Beautiful picture, decent sound and a great buy at $478. The kicker is that we don’t have cable, so we’re using the built-in digital tuner to pull in HD broadcasts OTA. We don’t miss having cable, and I’ve calculated that over the past 16 years of not having cable, I’ve saved around $13,000. We have Netflix, and so we don’t miss out on watching quality HD content in the form of movies and TV shows. Movies come out on DVD before they hit cable, and TV shows come out only a few months after original broadcast. Why pay $70 a month for cable if you can get most of what it offers for $14 a month?
Jim ~ mydebtblog.com responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Sorry I couldn’t give up my LCD TV. If I got to stay in debt for a little bit longer over it, so be it. HD and up convert DVD (no need for Blu Ray) is the way TV was meant to be watched.

When you get around to buying one of these things, older models are just as good not to mention cheaper. I saved $1000+ on my TV just by being patient, waiting for the price, and paying for it instead of financing a big unnecessary want.
Kevin responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Funny, normally I’m pretty frugal about buying things, especially expensive things. I’m always sure it’s not going to get used or enjoyed enough.

But buying a big screen TV was a no brainer!. It’s been just over a year and I am still loving watching HDTV on a big screen. Totally worth it! And since then, they’ve only gotten better and cheaper.

I admit I made the mistake of buying a Sony PS3 to watch Blu-Rays. I do love watching the Blu-Rays, but DVD is pretty good, and I already had a DVD player vs. shelling out the $400 for the PS3. And the worst thing, I never play any games on the darn thing.
Margot responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
That’s awesome! I’ve had the same experience as you so many times — it’s liberating and like a form of sanity regarding finances, marketing and frivolous desire. And it’s so powerful to be able to direct your money toward long-term things that will give you peace and freedom, things that actually make one happy (maybe creating memories with family) and giving. I think that 80-95% of anyone’s happiness with watching TV or a movie comes from the content, so I’ve accepted that it doesn’t truly matter if I watch stuff on my tiny laptop screen, on an old TV or on a fancy new flat screen. I’m still watching the same stuff, and it’s not worth more money to have the picture be a little bit better. Plus, I shouldn’t be watching that much TV anyway

I also like your insight into wanting what you can’t have. I’m always like that. If I walk through a beauty store normally, I think I want every makeup and skin care item in sight. (But I have the restraint not to buy them, luckily.) When I have a gift certificate to such stores, it often takes me a year to spend it because I don’t actually want or need anything in the store once it’s easy for me to have it.
Pat responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
We finally got a new tv because our old tv that was mine after college (graduated 1989) finally stopped working. We got a 32 inch Samsung LCD at Kmart for $498. It’s big enough without being too big and the price was great! We love it There are good brands at nice prices if you are patient and shop around.
thisisbeth responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Honestly? I only want an LCD TV because I want a flat panel, to take up less room. I rarely watch TV or movies; pretty much only play Wii (and even then, pretty much Wii Fit–I’m apparently one of the few that stuck with doing the exercises). My current TV–free from my brother’s work recycle pile–works fine. The color is off, but I’m marginally colorblind, so I don’t really care. I just don’t want something taking up so much room.
nancy responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I still have my regular old 32′ tv, and never even had cable! My debt is sky high, I never “got into” cable, but those flat screens do make me drool! lol

Considering all my debt, I wish I had gotten an lcd, instead of some of the other junk I’ve bought…oh well…kind of joking here…

Tricia, you are awesome, and I soooo respect you!!
ab responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
That’s great, it’s always nice to be able to “save money” by not buying something. Although I have to say that my 40″ LCD had an interesting effect on my TV/movie watching — I cannot stand to watch anything that is not HD/Blu-Ray anymore! Therefore, I actually end up watching less TV than I did before, but when I do watch, it is a fantastic experience. Win-win situation for me.
James Debt Guide responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Its so refreshing reading your post!

I don’t have a TV in my house and friends of ours who do, find it strange. Other friends who are successful and have money to spend, do not own one either.

What does that say? As Nancy said, ‘Tricia, I respect you!’
Altekocker responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2009 at 7:42 am
While I praise all of you for resisting the urge to buy a new TV (and a year ago would have done exactly the same thing), I have a slightly different view. Last November, I paid off all my credit card debt and started saving. It took me five years to be able to do that. So this year, with a growing nest egg and a secure job, I splurged on a giant plasma TV. I LOVE watching movies on a giant screen. I financed it for three years, but before you holler at me, it’s an interest-free loan if I pay it off within three years, and my plan is to pay it off completely in six months. Many of you might not agree with my purchase, but for me, it was a reward for my diligence at paying off my debts. We all deserve a reward from time to time.
Kristian responded:
Posted: March 19th, 2009 at 9:18 am
To my eyes, the only content that is significantly better in hi def is sports. A combination of wider field of view, and sharper picture makes watching any sprot just more fun. And I think the networks do the best job on them. The hi def versions of most TV shows is not good, and watching standard def show on a HDTV is actually kinido of ugly, especially as the screen size increases (the pixelization gets distracting).

If I were not such a sports nut, I would be very disappointed in HD TV.
dawn responded:
Posted: March 23rd, 2009 at 3:27 pm
LCD TV doesn’t have to be an all or nothing deal. I am thinking about getting a very nice Sony 22″ LCD TV at costco for just $299. It would fit very nicely in my kitchen.

It’s not exorbitant.