Feeling OLD (bought a new TV last night)

[kx250rider]

First, let me say I'm a CRT holdout, and in fact still have a 1965 Zenith 21" color TV which works perfectly; with a converter box and rabbit ears. But my wife of course likes a bigger screen, so I had procured a Sony KE-61XBR950 61" plasma set, which cost $18,000 in 2004 (I got it for $100 a year or 2 ago not working and repaired it). I used to be a Sony factory authorized tech, so no issues there. But when I learned that 2013 is the last year of the plasma TV, and neither my wife nor I can stand the picture on LCD sets (regardless of type of backlight; LED, CFL, OLED, whatever), I thought I better get a current-model plasma set while still possible.

I got a 65" Panasonic plasma at Costco, and it was the LAST ONE in the county. It's a lower end model of the 65" lineup, but it has the same panel as the double-the-price top model… Just less extra stuff.

Now for the reason I feel old: I had to read and re-read the owners manual to figure out what half the features are! I figured I could just plug it in, give it a signal, adjust the picture and watch. But no; I had to hook it up to the internet and "update the operating system", and then I had to tell it to quit linking with everything in the house on bluetooth (including my wife's Lincoln out in the garage!!!). And it kept trying to hook up to our wifi (and any other signal it saw). WTF; it's a TV set not a computer or home automation system…. at least I thought!

Just give me an on-off switch, a volume control and a channel knob.

Charles

 

[WoodyO]

Plasma's have that nice 600hz refresh rate that large LED LCD's can't get anywhere near, but they look like shit unless you are in a pitch black room. You can turn off the WiFi connection and disable all the smart TV functions if you don't want to use them.

 

[kx250rider]

Plasma's have that nice 600hz refresh rate that large LED LCD's can't get anywhere near, but they look like shit unless you are in a pitch black room. You can turn off the WiFi connection and disable all the smart TV functions if you don't want to use them.

Yes. The room where it is, has good lighting for anytime TV watching. The 2004 Sony had a polarized coating (as good as the Oakley polarized coating) over the front glass, which the Panasonic I don't think has. That makes a radical difference in reflections and lighting problems, as I found when I was comparing two identical Sony 61" plasma sets to see which one I wanted to keep at the time. One had been ruined by somebody cleaning it wrong, and the other one still had the coating on it.

And about the wifi linking; I sure HOPE I can get away with preventing it. But if it's like other stuff, it'll demand updates at the worst moment if it's not online.

Charles

 

[musclemom]

We got a Smart t.v. ... stupid thing, we ended up completely shutting off the WiFi, more problems than it was worth, slow as mud, streaming would lock up. Way prefer the Sony Internet box.

 

[PICK3]

 

[nangiggles]

First, let me say I'm a CRT holdout, and in fact still have a 1965 Zenith 21" color TV which works perfectly; with a converter box and rabbit ears. But my wife of course likes a bigger screen, so I had procured a Sony KE-61XBR950 61" plasma set, which cost $18,000 in 2004 (I got it for $100 a year or 2 ago not working and repaired it). I used to be a Sony factory authorized tech, so no issues there. But when I learned that 2013 is the last year of the plasma TV, and neither my wife nor I can stand the picture on LCD sets (regardless of type of backlight; LED, CFL, OLED, whatever), I thought I better get a current-model plasma set while still possible.

I got a 65" Panasonic plasma at Costco, and it was the LAST ONE in the county. It's a lower end model of the 65" lineup, but it has the same panel as the double-the-price top model… Just less extra stuff.

Now for the reason I feel old: I had to read and re-read the owners manual to figure out what half the features are! I figured I could just plug it in, give it a signal, adjust the picture and watch. But no; I had to hook it up to the internet and "update the operating system", and then I had to tell it to quit linking with everything in the house on bluetooth (including my wife's Lincoln out in the garage!!!). And it kept trying to hook up to our wifi (and any other signal it saw). WTF; it's a TV set not a computer or home automation system…. at least I thought!

Just give me an on-off switch, a volume control and a channel knob.

Charles

A lot of features are pretty redundant and repetitive in new TVs. Hubby wants a smart tv but doesnt even use the features its good for

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using EliteFitness

 

[miplank]

smart tv's are dumb and a waste of money...


you can buy an apple tv to add to it for less than $100 and have the same damn thing.

 

[cindylou]

smart tv's are dumb and a waste of money...


you can buy an apple tv to add to it for less than $100 and have the same damn thing.

you can have all the same apps?

 

[miplank]

i dunno what all apps the smart tv's have, but pretty sure it has the one's you'll actually use.

 

[musclemom]

smart tv's are dumb and a waste of money...


you can buy an apple tv to add to it for less than $100 and have the same damn thing.

We paid less for our smart t.v. than equivalent sized regular one, we were strictly shopping for a specific size and picture quality and it just happened to have the smart features. Husband likes the fact the Sony box is compatible with his Droid phone. Say Apple anything to that man and he spits.