Does anyone know how I might go about renting a TV? I've gone the Rent-A-Center route before (for our last debate-watching and election night parties) and am willing to do it again, but would appreciate a more convenient option. My husband, unsurprisingly, thinks this is a great opportunity to invest in a new TV (plus an entertainment center to fit it, new DVR, etc.). Sure. Ahem. If we skip our vacation this year. (That's no new TV, then.)
I guess I haven't posted much about our television situation. It kind of sucks. When we got married, Paul had a 19" color TV that became "our" TV. It's very old now, but we still have it in the basement. Upstairs is were we keep our "nice, new" TV. (Those who have been to our house are snorting coffee through their noses about now, having seen our TV.) Our first one of these we inherited when one of Paul's grandfathers died. It was held together by black electrical tape and gorilla glue and was 29 inches of diagonal hugeness. Our second one of these was inherited when Paul's other grandfather died. It was the same model TV, actually, same size and age. But this one wasn't cracked! Instead, it had a little problem where the picture would drift slowly down the screen until we were only seeing the very top of the picture below a lot of blackness. No problem, though. Paul rigged up a little string I could pull every now and then that somehow yanked the picture back up.
I wouldn't agree to buying the nice, new, expensive, huge flat panel TV Paul wanted to get (it wouldn't fit into our inherited entertainment center)! But Paul wasn't willing to buy a new 29" regular TV. So he went to Craig's List and got a used one. It works just fine, but is old and makes a loud farting noise every time it's turned on.
Paul does have a point about us maybe getting a new TV sometime. But we like to travel!
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2 weeks ago
7 comments:
alot of people are upgrading their tvs now, and a used one (check pawn shops?) could be a good option-- you can get something that would be nice for a few years within a reasonable price range.
OK, that's a good suggestion and you're making me be honest with myself. There is, frankly, something I really like about having a crappy TV. It's like not investing significantly in our TV/DVD/DVR/entertainment center says that it's low priority in our lives, or something. But a pawn shop. I could maybe do that. (Except it would make me feel sad every time I looked at the TV, imagining the circumstances that might have caused its previous owners to part with it at a pawn shop.)
Another option would be to wait & check out the Early bird sales after Thanksgiving! We got our 32 inch LCD for $500 after christmas last year! We had our hearts set on a BIG one, but decided we would rather have A tv than wait until we had an extra $1500 for the one we really wanted(which could end up being a couple years)!
The problem is that I don't know how you want me to answer this...
On the practical, you-wanna-go-to-see-mickey-and-friends side:
Borrow a projector and screen from church. You're only talking about four nights over the course of 12 weeks? No problem.
On the farting-tv-needs-to-be-replaced side:
I think I'm like you, paying a boad load of money for a new TV means that we invested in silly entertainment. If that silliness is going to last long, it's really not that expensive. But then there is the fact that a bigger TV in your current TV room would not really be practical. From every square inch in that room you can see your TV perfectly.
(uh oh, I was trying to argue for getting a new one...really! I think I did not, though)
The problem is that you want to have a lot of folks over, so you want a big tv. We got a 32 inch for about $500. 32 inch is bigger than yours, but certainly not 25 people-partying big.
I say go with the projector and screen idea. Run the sound through your stereo, it's certainly big enough to support it!
I bet a lot of people are upgrading TVs now since analog broadcasting ends in February. After February 17, a TV without cable service will require a digital converter box. You should be able to find a used analog TV for cheap. Of course, if you don't have cable, you'll need to get a converter box this winter or the TV will become useless.
The cute card . . . When I subbed in Early Childhood Education, I noticed that the kids are really good at this. The little boys and girls with CP and DS used this a lot. It was so much fun! I loved subbing for the kids with special needs. So many fun personalities--so cute! It is so hard to be firm with a little guy who is calling you "cupcake".
Another option is just to use the pc I assume you have at home, and watch tv and/or movies on your monitor. If you really can't stand the small screen, purchasing/renting/borrowing a projector designed for computers is a great experience. Oh, and the projectors are relatively portable.
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