Canuck, DJ...any Techhies out there, HELP!!!
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!
OK, jims and sals...either I'm crazy, or everyone else is.
My el cheapo combo DVD player SLASH VCR decided to give up the ghost a couple of days ago. So yesterday, armed with my nifty Consumer Reports info, I went to Best Buy (with The Clam) and purchased a highly rated Sony combo unit (for $95). I thought I was doing great! Sony's a reliable brand, and therefore unlikely to keel over after 18 months like my last piece of crap did (to be fair, I bought said piece of crap cheaply).
The whole thing is complicated by the fact that my TV is (gasp!) 10 years old!
The Horror!!!
You see, I have a larger problem. I am a cheapskate. Thrifty. Frugal. A Tightwad. Or, as I like to refer to it, A Careful Consumer. I am just old-fashioned enough to believe in getting your money's worth, not spending money like water, and all the rest of that stuff.
I know that, very soon, everything is "going digital". I also know that HiDef TVs ROCK! However, I don't see myself spending a grand for a TV. Hello? It's The Boob Tube, People! So my PLAN was to keep my current TV for a couple of more years, until we "go digital" and (hopefully) the price of the HiDefs drops a little, while at the same time they have worked out more of the bugs. Better product for cheaper, right?
Well, the patron saint of television (St. Rita of Cascia? - Tim, am I right there?) wasn't watching out for me.
My DVD/VCR keeled over THREE WEEKS after the new models came in, and my TV won't work with any of them without an adapter. Which wouldn't be the end of the world, but... remember the nifty $95 Sony? Minor detail...this is funny... the VCR doesn't R. That's right. They are marketing it as a Video Cassette Recorder, but it's actually a Video Cassette Player. Minor difference.
See, here's the thing: I don't watch a ton of TV, with a couple of exceptions. One of the big exceptions is TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I loooove old movies. And lots of the best ones are on during the day. So I have a choice: play hooky to watch a movie (in which case, I won't have my job for long) or tape the movie while I'm at work. Now, before you get all judgy, understand that a lot of the movies on TCM are not even AVAILABLE on video, so it's not like I'm trying to get something for free that I could buy. (Besides, I pay for the channel each month.) So, I watch TV, rent DVDs from Netflix, and watch movies that I have taped off TCM. That's IT.
You wouldn't think that what I want is so outmoded, would you? Well, you're WRONG! I might as well have asked for a new Victrola needle! One guy tried to sell me a $300 DVD recorder. (I informed him that I am NOT going to pay $300 for something that is likely to be obsolete in 2 years. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know?)
Anyway, it soon became clear to me that I was going to have to suck it up and buy a new TV. So, for $170, I bought a Magnavox TV/DVD/VCR combo. Yes, I know, combos aren't a good idea. Too flipping bad. Hopefully it will last me a couple of years at least.
Canuck, DJ, anybody: Advice? Comments? Is there a better, a cheaper way for me to do this? The TVs (not HiDef either) weren't a whole lot cheaper than what I bought. I still have the receipt, so, I can return it...
And, BTW, I went to Best Buy, Target and WalMart.
I don't understand how these corporations think that anyone can afford to replace their technology so often, as well as pay through the nose for cable, TiVo etc...
Is there a better option than what I chose?
Any feedback would be very helpful. If you find any typos, keep it to yourself. I'm not in the mood.
OK, jims and sals...either I'm crazy, or everyone else is.
My el cheapo combo DVD player SLASH VCR decided to give up the ghost a couple of days ago. So yesterday, armed with my nifty Consumer Reports info, I went to Best Buy (with The Clam) and purchased a highly rated Sony combo unit (for $95). I thought I was doing great! Sony's a reliable brand, and therefore unlikely to keel over after 18 months like my last piece of crap did (to be fair, I bought said piece of crap cheaply).
The whole thing is complicated by the fact that my TV is (gasp!) 10 years old!
The Horror!!!
You see, I have a larger problem. I am a cheapskate. Thrifty. Frugal. A Tightwad. Or, as I like to refer to it, A Careful Consumer. I am just old-fashioned enough to believe in getting your money's worth, not spending money like water, and all the rest of that stuff.
I know that, very soon, everything is "going digital". I also know that HiDef TVs ROCK! However, I don't see myself spending a grand for a TV. Hello? It's The Boob Tube, People! So my PLAN was to keep my current TV for a couple of more years, until we "go digital" and (hopefully) the price of the HiDefs drops a little, while at the same time they have worked out more of the bugs. Better product for cheaper, right?
Well, the patron saint of television (St. Rita of Cascia? - Tim, am I right there?) wasn't watching out for me.
My DVD/VCR keeled over THREE WEEKS after the new models came in, and my TV won't work with any of them without an adapter. Which wouldn't be the end of the world, but... remember the nifty $95 Sony? Minor detail...this is funny... the VCR doesn't R. That's right. They are marketing it as a Video Cassette Recorder, but it's actually a Video Cassette Player. Minor difference.
See, here's the thing: I don't watch a ton of TV, with a couple of exceptions. One of the big exceptions is TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I loooove old movies. And lots of the best ones are on during the day. So I have a choice: play hooky to watch a movie (in which case, I won't have my job for long) or tape the movie while I'm at work. Now, before you get all judgy, understand that a lot of the movies on TCM are not even AVAILABLE on video, so it's not like I'm trying to get something for free that I could buy. (Besides, I pay for the channel each month.) So, I watch TV, rent DVDs from Netflix, and watch movies that I have taped off TCM. That's IT.
You wouldn't think that what I want is so outmoded, would you? Well, you're WRONG! I might as well have asked for a new Victrola needle! One guy tried to sell me a $300 DVD recorder. (I informed him that I am NOT going to pay $300 for something that is likely to be obsolete in 2 years. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know?)
Anyway, it soon became clear to me that I was going to have to suck it up and buy a new TV. So, for $170, I bought a Magnavox TV/DVD/VCR combo. Yes, I know, combos aren't a good idea. Too flipping bad. Hopefully it will last me a couple of years at least.
Canuck, DJ, anybody: Advice? Comments? Is there a better, a cheaper way for me to do this? The TVs (not HiDef either) weren't a whole lot cheaper than what I bought. I still have the receipt, so, I can return it...
And, BTW, I went to Best Buy, Target and WalMart.
I don't understand how these corporations think that anyone can afford to replace their technology so often, as well as pay through the nose for cable, TiVo etc...
Is there a better option than what I chose?
Any feedback would be very helpful. If you find any typos, keep it to yourself. I'm not in the mood.
Labels: GRRRR, technology is hard, things that irritate me
posted by The Big Seester | 9:14 PM
1 Comments:
You've probably found the best combo to meet your needs until you decide whether to buy an HDTV in a few years.
Mrs. DJ and I recently bought an el-cheapo 27" TV from Best Buy, mostly because it was getting annoying to watch anything longer than half-hour programs on the old 20" TV we'd been using. It has a digital tuner built-in, and is therefore ready to receive over-the-air HDTV signals. However, since I have digital satellite (DISH Network), I don't need to worry about this problem, since the translation is handled inside the satellite receiver.
Earlier last year, we decided to replace our separate DVD and VCR units with a combo (another off-the-shelf el-cheapo model). We have a DVR, so we don't record to the VCR, but the function is available. I'm surprised your new Sony wasn't a recorder, though.
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