A year later past post #1 in this thread and I have an updated cheapskate flat screen. I am a nutter.
I came up with a paper thin excuse to search for another cheap-o flat screen TV: lack of an HDMI connection on the $70 gaming flat screen TV (component only). I figure a paper thin excuse needs a paper thin budget. My pursuit for a more modern TV was going nowhere; this Goodwill TV has ruined my size standards to 40 inches or larger. No-name Aquarius and Quasar TVs from the local grocery chain were $350 and up. Best Buy, Sears, and Frys were way too expensive. My friendly neighborhood pawn shop had a TV with broken speakers but a nice picture that was 37 inches that I missed out on purchasing; it had dropped from $150 to $100 and someone else bought it. Curses! I was prepared to buy it and wire up some external PC speakers to solve the audio problem.
Okay...okay...Yesterday they had a shelf worn (slight scratch on the lower right of the screen) LG that was 42 inches at $180+tax. I made them a $100 offer and extolled the extra shelf space freed up once the TV was sold. The first employee said they were already losing money at $180 since it had been in the store so long and they had paid a lot of state inventory tax on it over the years. When they bought it, they loaned out a lot of money because it was worth more back then (it had a manufactured day of 2011). Anyhow, they shot a counter offer of $160 and I said no thanks but I would do $100. I wandered around the store and other prices caught my eye. $100 for a set of car trunk speakers in a wooden box. $100 for a guitar amp. $120 for an old faded beer sign that would be above a pool table. $100...does it really does not go far nowadays with electronics? I dont know, but I honestly thought I was being insultingly cheap after looking around and thinking about my own bills for the car, grocery, water, electricity, and car registration.
I heard the other clerk make a commotion and dart to and from the TV area; he had hauled it out to the counter and told me to come and get it. I was shocked and he said: 'look, this TV has been here longer than I have' and 'some people are just too hung onto stuff.' My new favorite clerk! I paid my $100 + tax and was outta there. I stopped by a local Tex-Mex restaurant for a mushroom stuffed Chile Relleno ($6.89) to celebrate and I spent the night cleaning up and adjusting my new TV. A 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water does a great job of cleaning the flat screen (a handy trick from a co-worker of mine).
The Goodwill 42" flatscreen will go out in the garage as soon as I can get a friend to help lift it! The front is a sheet of glass (since it is an early EDTV - non HD). I almost snuck the new one past my fiancee but she saw me and asked 'What is that?' My 'you see nothing,' needs some work. She says sell the Goodwill one, but it is having some problems (image ghosting and constant horizontal interference) that I think make it more suitable for a use-it-until-it-quits garage TV. I have been wanting to open the back up and re-seat cables to see if the image quality improves anyhow. Any other ideas for it? It is about 4 inches thick from front to back.
Unnecessary? Maybe. Duplication? Sure. Extravagant? Yup. Waste of good money? Humm. Am I happy? YES.
