Tuesday, May 27, 2008


We're getting a new TV.

The old TV is ... well ... old.

Oh, it still works. But it's old. And it's a 26'' TV.

So, we're getting a new one.

We've actually been looking for some time, trying to decide just what we want.

Sony HD TVWe settled on a Sony KDL-40V4100. That's a 40'' ... no, not a really big TV, but a good big larger than what we have today.

And, no, it's not the best TV out there. But Sony makes good stuff. And, we found a pretty good deal on it. So, that's what we've settled on.

And, we're picking it up Thursday. It'll interfere with my going to the baseball game; such is the price of technocracy.

Now that we're getting a new HDTV, we need to decide if we want to watch HD TV.

You see, we have basic cable. Runs about $43 a month. We get, oh, I count 68 channels. But it also includes a lot of channels I don't watch: QVC, Outdoor, Versus, Golf Channel, Lifetime, GAC, CMT, Food Network, E!, HGTV, MTV, BET, VH1, HSN, and others.

And they're all standard definition TV channels.

So, I went to the cable company's Website and checked on what's involved with their HD TV channels. They didn't have a whole lot of information. No pricing, no details, no much of anything.

So, I went by the cable company and asked questions. They acted like they had never been asked any questions.

But, to her credit, the young lady I spoke with did try to find out the answers to my questions.

So, what I found out is that in order to get their HD channels, I got to have their digital package. Which would up the monthly rate from $43 a month to $66 a month.

Then, TiVo complicates things.

We've had TiVo for a couple of years now. And we like it. So, I'm thinking we want a DVR.

Now, we have an older TiVo Series 2. Only records 1 show at a time. And doesn't work with HD channels.

So, we'd need to get a new TiVo if we want to watch HD channels.

What's all that mean?

If we want to watch HD TV broadcasts, we'd need to get a new TiVo. That's $300 for a Series 2 HD TiVo.

Then, $66 a month for and HD package from the cable company. Oh, wait. We'd need a cable card for the new TiVo. That makes it $70 a month. Plus the $12.95 a month for TiVo.

Or, we could get the cable company's HD package with their DVR. That would be $71 a month, with no monthly TiVo fee.

Or, we could just keep watching standard cable for $43 a month. Only, we'd be watching it on a better TV.

What are we going to do?

I have no idea.


  1. Bean just bought a Sony Bravia something or other. She was like a seven year old at a sleepover about it. *Yawn* But games certainly look better on HD, you can see the fans doing really stupid things in the background.

  2. Yeah, the one we're getting is a Bravia. I don't know what that means, but the picture looked really, really good.

  3. Unfortunately, you probably want to go ahead and spring for the cable, or you won't really be taking advantage of the TV. You should notice a *big* difference, being that it's 1080P and all.

  4. Two weeks after we updated to HD cable w/DVR .. one of the HD channels on the tv went out .. everything was purple. We don't get HD anymore. We love the DVR though, can record 2 channels at once. The drawback to HD? We use Closed Captioning a lot because of hubby's hearing ... HD has no CC. Also, the screen was scrunched up into a little box and actually was awful to watch. Could have been the channel going out - but give up the tivo and go with the DVR.

  5. RockNTheFreeWorldMay 28, 2008 at 3:05 AM

    Most HD channels only broadcast in 720p which the cable company upgrades to 1080p. The HD-DVR from Knology has been a godsend. I have never used TiVo or even wanted to but when they offered the HD-DVR for only $5 more I threw it on mainly for my wife. I find though that I use it a lot to rewind and pause live tv (especially sports). Trust me when I say that you will really enjoy the HDTV when you get into the sports. I love hockey in person but hate watching it on TV. But with HD you can actually see everything and keep up with what is going on. And football is TONS better, especially with your own replay in HD.

  6. One of these days I am to breakdown and get myself a nice new flatscreen TV. All I need to do is pull my kids out of school and I can easily afford one, or win the lottery.

  7. David: I'm suspecting that you're right; we'll hesitate about going for the HD channels, but be happy once we do.

    Jo: I'm one of those that doesn't mind the bars on the top/bottom or sides that happens when different size pictures are placed on different size screens. The Wife doesn't care for it, but I don't mind it. Pricing HD cards for Tivo vs cable DVR, we may end up going cable DVR for HD.

    RockNTheFreeWorld: Like you, I was hesitant about TiVo, until I took advantage of a special offer. Now, I can't imagine not having it. I'm thinking seriously about springing for the HD signal. Just need to justify it in my own mind.

    Jack: Yeah, I understand. Having Sears match Circuit City sale price, plus offering 18 months interest-free financing made it easier to do.

