New Television Set - Not HDTV But Cheap

Our main living room television finally died a couple of days ago, so my wife and I went to Wal-Mart tonight and bought a new one. I have been telling myself for several years that I wasn’t going to buy a new television until the price of these new HDTV’s became affordable. However, like so many other times in my life, I was forced to eat my own words as the old Magnavox didn’t live long enough for the new TV’s to get into my price range. We ended up buying a Sanyo 24 inch for about $150 dollars including tax. I was shocked at how cheap the old type of televisions had become over the years. Our old living room TV set cost us about $350 20 years ago and I thought that was pretty cheap at the time.

While I didn’t fall for the bait, it was clear that Wal-Mart and other big named retailers are pushing consumers hard to purchase these new HDTV sets. I must admit that they do have a much clearer picture than the old technology, but the price is still too high for a couple of old farts like us. I did take some time to look at the various HDTV models and even in a showroom environment, the picture was out of this world clear and the picture seemed more three dimensional to me. I know we will eventually purchase one of these new TV’s, but not yet and not for a price, which ranges into the thousands of dollars.

My mother purchased a flat screen television about a month ago and she loves it. She paid a little over one thousand dollars for the set and in her mind it is worth every penny. While she was considering this purchase she was telling me how outrageous the cost seemed to her, but I pointed out that back in the late 1970’s she and dad purchased a console television for $1500 and that they thought that was a good deal back then. She had forgotten all about that purchase and how much money that old TV set had cost them. In today’s dollars that television would be at least $3000 retail, in my opinion.

I do look forward to the day when some of these new flat screen HDTV’s are priced under $500. I believe that is the level I would feel comfortable in purchasing one of them. I really don’t think it will be that much longer before the price drops below $500 because over the past couple of years the retail price has already come down over one thousands dollars at most of our local major retailers. In the mean time, this new $150 Sanyo television will serve our need well and hopefully I will be able to buy a new HDTV in the near future.

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