talk about insulted (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

I've been around here awhile, and granted a lot of you guys and gals have forgotten more about HT than I'll ever learn, I at least have the sense to research things before I buy them.

so, I'm staying with my parents until I can find a place (just moved to town, new job etc...) and they decide they want a small TV for their bedroom, I try to steer them away from the crap towards what I feel is a decent set, and what do they do?

they go out today and buy a new mitsu 42" (they say, it's probably a 27 LoL) and let the salemen sell them everything, the tv, grossly overpriced monster cables, a new (cheap and crappy) sony progressive scan DVD, and worst of all, INSTALLATION. They own a DVD, a crappy kenwood STEREO receiver, which to my knowledge hasn't been powered on in 8 years, and a VCR. AND THEY PAY FOR INSTALLATION! FOR A DAMN TELEVISION!

To top it off I'm taking down the old sony set (a nice set, btw an early wega) and I get yelled at for taking apart the components because the installation guys need to see how it's set up

 

[Clinton McClure]

If it's any consolation, Philip, my folks are waaaaaaaaaay behind on the technology curve too. Fortunately, they ask for my input before investing in any new HT or related equipment so I can steer them away from rip-offs and the like.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

And then there was Jay Leno who had a great routine about buying a new VCR for his mother. I would spend the night and when he came down in the morning the VCR would be blinking 12:00. His mom - regrettably has passed away - would unplug the VCR every night to save electricity.

 

[Tom Meyer]

why not just tell them they got ripped off and return the set ?

 

[Philip_G]

they might.. I explained what is involved in owning a projection set and my mom freaked. I mean, they paid 1600 bucks for a 42" table top set, another 160-180 for a sony DVD carousel (the salemen sold them on progressive scan, not that they'd notice the difference) had to buy a $700 armoire for it, so they're pushing almost 3 grand, the cost of a 42" plasma set.

 

[MikeAlletto]

Luckily my parents have learned to run all computer and tv/audio stuff past me or my brother before they make any purchases.

 

[Steve Owen]

I understand completely. Since I always get called in for tech support, I always ask that my parents consult me before buying any technology product. I've gotten to the point that when they don't, I just tell them "You're on your own... no tech support from me."

If you want to read some very funny and interesting comments on this subject, check out this article on Slashdot.

-Steve

 

[Philip_G]

oh dear god the saga continues.
so they bought this armiore (sp?) from a cheapo furniture place. Mind you this is a 42" tv, now it's a widescreen, but it's still a big ass TV

so the armoire comes in 2 parts, they bring them home and the top half is damaged. they go back, get another (I'd guestimate it weighs roughly 200 pounds...) and *I* put the whole thing together.

the tv has less than a half inch of clearance all around, I had to break out some little rollers that guide the doors because they were in the way, but I got her in. You can't get to the AV jacks at all...

so I get it all together, after about 4 hours. and *drummroll* they don't like it.

the damn TV is literally 4 feet off the ground in this cabinet, I'll post pictures later, it's funny as hell.

so tomorrow I get to take it all apart while they go and buy the $200 mitsubishi stand they should have bought in the first place, wonder who gets to assemble it? :frowning:


I feel like jack briggs now with his friend.


surprisingly, they caught on to the aspect ratio explanation pretty quickly, since they're on cable I was able to demonstrate and explain the various views. Sooo now they're wathing a TV broadcast stretched out to 16:9 :frowning: because the salesman told them not to leave the letterbox bars on the screen for fear of burning the set. I have a 45" mitsu RPTV and don't mind watching widescreen DVD's and have no problems, how do you 16:9 guys watch cable? stretch? god I hope not, zoom? or boxed? I prefer boxed, but that's just me.

 

[Edwin-S]

I don't give a shit about broadcast TV, so I watch it stretched. The Toshiba stretch modes are passable. I have standard cable. The picture quality is so-so; therefore, watching broadcast TV stretched doesn't bother me. I also don't much care for the grey bars on the Toshiba. I have also heard they can cause burn in, but so far I have not had that problem. I do watch a fair amount of 4:3 ratio stuff. For everything else I watch in the proper ratios.

 

[Philip_G]

the bars are grey in 4:3 on the mitsu also. It doesn't belong in this forum, but if anyone has an explanation I'd be curious. Just a few more hundred and they could be hanging a plasma 42" on the wall :frowning:

 

[Edwin-S]

An explanation regarding why the bars are grey? If so, it is because manufacturers think that black bars are more likely to cause uneven wear of the tubes. The pixels in the black bars are off. Manufacturers figure that those areas of the tube will wear unevenly because the pixels are not being lit. By making the bars grey, the pixels are lit. The theory is that lit pixels will wear more evenly along with the rest of the picture area. The grey color seems to be a compromise color.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Just a few more hundred and they could be hanging a plasma 42" on the wall

You're kidding?!?! Are plasmas really that cheap in the US already? I wish...

 

[Tim Morton]

Anyone mind me jumping in and reminding Phillip_G that maybe his parents should be allowed to buy whatever TV they choose? They seem to be doing OK so far in life, and they are kind enough to give him a place to live while he gets settled, you have to remember that just because its not the purchase you wuld make that doesn't make it wrong for eveyone. Some folks look at a Tv the way they would look at an air conditioner or a blender. And i would pay for installation of a 42" tv anyday of the week....you say they paid for it, yet you also said you installed it...which was it?

 

[Pat Ashmore]

Hey, he just has their best interests in mind/at heart.
I try to give my parents the same advice when they are lobbying for an expensive purchase.
Buying a TV is far different than a blender or air conditioner, especially for older parents.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Tim, I don't think Philip's out of line. They should have gotten his advice if they know he's into this. It sounds like he feels they gotten taken and he could have a done a better job for them.

Philip, I reccommend letting your new friend loose in their bedroom a bit, that should make you feel better.

 

[Philip_G]

Anyone mind me jumping in and reminding Phillip_G that maybe his parents should be allowed to buy whatever TV they choose? They seem to be doing OK so far in life, and they are kind enough to give him a place to live while he gets settled, you have to remember that just because its not the purchase you wuld make that doesn't make it wrong for eveyone. Some folks look at a Tv the way they would look at an air conditioner or a blender. And i would pay for installation of a 42" tv anyday of the week....you say they paid for it, yet you also said you installed it...which was it?

lets put 2 and 2 together, they had to make two trips back to the furniture store. It's difficult for the delivery guys to install the TV in a cabinet that we don't have now isn't it?
So they left the TV on the floor.

I didn't mention the hour I spent in the crawl space pulling a new CATV cable to their bedroom, nor the head cold I've had since last week at work and been looking forward to staying in bed this weekend to get better either.

 

[Philip_G]

You're kidding?!?! Are plasmas really that cheap in the US already? I wish...

Ya, www.gateway.com has their 42" for 2999. I have some friends that work at some local retailers that would probably help me out with their employee discount, could probably get it even cheaper.

 

[Adil M]

Philip,
Just do what I did w/ my parents. They bought electronics and I returned and got the right stuff when they made the wrong decision. I also took their right decisions and made them more right .
You don't argue w/ family you fix the problems and you make sure they understand the tutorial on using the products or you have to show them how to use the remote for years.
Mits makes a very nice HDTV. You aren't going to get a plasma anywhere near the same "quality" at that price. Personally, I'd wait and buy the new Sony 42" LCD if I was in your situation. The progressive scan DVD player was a good move. If you don't like the Sony (I may agree depending on options) go return/exchange it. REturn the installation, unless it was delivery/installation which is different.
Return the cables and buy the ones you wanted to buy, but please do this step last.
I feel for you man, but just fix the problems.

*I was unaware of the employee discount you may get.

 

[Philip_G]

I'm actually thinking about selling my old 45" mitsu RPTV, about a 1998 or 1999 model, and buying the gateway, they have 12 months same as cash and I could sell the 45" back in north dakota, saving me from moving the heavy pig. The financing makes it attractive to me...

need to search on the picture quality of the gateway.

the cables are going back. I'll get them some acoustic research, or something ~30$
Monster is great, but not at 70 dollars.
the cabinet is going back.
I agree the mitsu is a very fine set and they weren't led astray here, but I don't feel projection is for them. They do have the 5 year maintenance contract () but something like adjusting the convergence grid is a pretty daunting task to them, I guess that means I'll be doing it, the convergence is pretty bad, out of the box.

the DVD I'm sure is fine, it's the cheap 5 disc carousel sony that runs about $180. They like sony, and don't use it much (I'm a toshiba man, meself)

off to search on plasmas

 

[Yee-Ming]

Ya, www.gateway.com has their 42" for 2999.

Hmmm, that's around S$5,190. Latest I've heard around here is the Hitachi 42" for S$6,500 (about US$3,750), which is still a bit more than I'd pay; plus Hitachi plasmas aren't exactly Panny/Pioneer class yet. Once one of those babies hits S$5,000 (about US$2,900) I'm going shopping...