Episode of Life & Television

I was going through some old emails and came across this short story about the first television purchase my then newly-married wife and I made in February 2005. While some of the technology has moved beyond the story, purchasing a television is still a complicated process comparing resolution, contrast, various ports and screen sizes. I hope you enjoy.

In anticipation of subscribing to Comcast, Claudia and I agreed it was time to buy a television. And why not? There were plenty of television sales to choose from two weeks away from the Super Bowl. We're pretty frugal and don't mind admitting it. Originally, we decided to spend a maximum of $350 on a television. As we talked to the sales people, our thought process began to changed. It seemed wise to buy a wide-screen format instead of the traditional television considering many manufacturers are planning to quit making the widely recognized square format t.v. That small decision immediately bumped the price tag up to a minimum of about $500.

Of course, high definition television is the way of the future. We had decided to buy a t.v. at the moment when the industry was transitioning from the bulky square screen format to the sleeker 3-inch thick flat screen HD models. Some of the bulkier t.v.s were HD capable and cheaper than their soon-to-be replacement flat screens. We definitely didn't see the sense in spending nearly $500 on a t.v. that wouldn't receive signal in probably five years. That would be totally unacceptable. For the savvy salesperson, why not upgrade the price point using a scare sales approach?

We decided to buy a wide screen format, HD-ready television to help welcome us to the 21st Century and the world of Comcast, HBO and On-Demand Cable. Now the price point has increased again and we're looking at televisions priced from $550 to $900.

Claudia, an engineer and way more organized than I, creates a spread sheet to price compare among the different retail stores. We sneak into Costco. Compare Wal-Mart, Sam's, HH Gregg and Best Buy. We listen to sales people for hours. We even went to Sears, which was pretty much a waste of time.

We never could completely agreed eye-to-eye what would be the better purchase until our eyes fell on an open item at Best Buy that was discounted about $100 from retail price. It was the television we'd been looking for and within the top-end, but still-technically-in -our-budget television. I dare say, our "dream t.v." A 30-inch Sony flat screen, HD-ready mammoth example of modern technology. Price tag: $809.

We liked the television a lot, but decided to sleep on it before making the purchase. I was nervous, hoping the t.v. wasn't snatched up by someone else less deserving.

And so on the following evening, Friday, it started to rain when we returned to Best Buy. I was driving my Infiniti G20, which uses the same chassis as a Nissan Sentra and is a rather compact sedan. I only feel the need to mention this fact because this is the vehicle the dream t.v. must travel in.

We arrived at Best Buy and as luck would have it the television was still there. We didn't wait too long before wrangling a sales person to make the purchase. To our shock, we needed to buy nearly $150 in cables in addition to the t.v. The reason: make sure you enjoy the full HD capabilities of the t.v., they say.

So if you're keeping up; we started out budgeting a max of $350.

We swiped Visa at the cash register, charging $1,048 and becoming owners of a 30-inch Sony flat screen, HD-ready television and two very expensive cables.

This television weighs a ton. Well, actually it weights 200 lbs. I giddily swung my G20 to the front door to load our new t.v. The clerk at the door who co-ordinates people to help load merchandise into vehicles said, "It's going to be impossible to get that t.v. into that car."

The two lifters said they didn't want to do it because they couldn't guarantee not damaging the t.v. or my car.

I know my car and what it can handle. Of course, in male bravado, I instruct them to put the t.v. into the car! After using two approaches to load the t.v., we move the front seats as far forward as possible and the employees wedge the t.v. in the rear seat.

I couldn't fit into the driver's seat, so Claudia took the wheel. The employees looked at me with my knees crammed against the dash and my wife at the steering wheel. They smiled and said, "Good luck getting it out."

The t.v. engulfed the back seat. It took nearly 30 minutes to get the television out of our car and we needed the help of a recruited, unlucky neighbor.

Once inside, we placed the television on its stand. The sides of the 200 lbs. gorilla T.V. hung over the sides of the stand. Our newest family member bulged an impressive 22 inches from back to front and dominated the living room with its presence.

Excited about our new purchase, we swung the recliner chair to face the television and plopped ourselves down to enjoy our new purchase. Within five minutes, our smiles disappeared and both of us agreed -- the television was WAY too big for our house. We couldn't imagine the bulky gray box in our bedroom, living room or office. After a week of studying, comparing and debating over the various t.v. models and never seeing eye to eye, our eyes finally met. In agreement we decided the t.v. must be returned.

And so, on Sunday we headed to Best Buy. This time we used a friend's SUV that had a lot more space and returned our "dream television."