Television's- What kind do you have?

[Cpogie]

Gee, I just got home and already hooked up a new 37" LCD, High Defination TV, what a difference one TV can make, this was totally worth every penny on sale at $699.00, the picture is wonderful and the sound terrific, now I had never heard of the brand (Olevia) but I checked the internet for reviews and all were very good, so I took the big step.... I LOVE IT!!! lol
It was easy to hook up also, but then I had my son do it for us, we are not good at hooking stuff up anymore, lol (and I was in electronics for over 30+ years,) lol

Do you have a big screen TV, if so what brand and are you happy with it??

[livesimple]

We just recently got one.. it replaced a 17 year old sony 27 inch tv! We went with the Sony brand again because everything we have is sony.. we got a 40 inch HD LCD and we LOVE it!

[Cpogie]

Well so much for the new TV, got it all set up, and then suddenly it started to make this hiddious buzzing sound, what a bummer! Tomorrow it is going back to the store, once a product fails me it does not get a second chance with me, so I am going to buy another brand tomorrow, hopefully it will work like it should!

[mom2fussbudgets]

Awww! You must be so disappointed! I hope you have better luck with the next one.

We do not have a big screen TV yet. Our current TV (in the living room, anyway; we have four televisions in this house!), is 16 years old, so we'll wait to get one when it dies.

[mom363546]

We made a major change this spring. We went a from our 19" to a 37" standard def. tv. It was a great change we have 4 tv's in the house all were the same size.I really feel like I'm in modern times even though its not high def. or anything like that!!

Carol sorry to hear about your TV I'm sure they will replace it but... the time and trouble you have to go through to get another is a shame!!

[rdawnh]

We have a 52 inch Hi def in the livingroom. It is about 6 or 7 years old so it doestnt have all the fancy ins and outs of the newest ones but I still love it. I cant really imagine watching on anything smaller LOL. We also have a 19 inch in the family room that the kids play xbox on. The only time I can even manage to try to watch somthing on that tv is in the winter because it is in the same room as the fireplace and the hubby and I curl up in there (that is more for the company than the tv viewing lol).

Good luck with the replacement, hopefully you wont have too much trouble with the store.

[Carly's Mommy]

Carol - I'm so sorry about the problems with your new tv. Hopefully you'll get everything taken care of right away.

We have had our main tv for about 7 years now, so it's nothing special. It's a 32" JVC tube television. Not a flat screen and not Hi Def either. As I said before, nothing special, but it's been a good tv so far.

The tv in our bedroom is newer (it's about 3 years old), although it's not a flat screen and it doesn't have Hi Def either. I can't remember the size (I think it's a 20") but it's an RCA and it's a piece of junk. It replaced our old 19" Sharp tv which was getting older and really going downhill (the On/Off and the Volume buttons on the bottom of the tv just fell inside the tv so you couldn't turn the tv on or off or adjust the volume without the remote control).

I would love to replace our main tv in our living room and put our 32" JVC in our bedroom, but we just can't justify spending the money right now. Not to mention, my mother-in-law would be all in our business about it since she is at our house two days of the week watching our daughter. I'm positive she would be telling everyone (my husband's family) about it and they would all be talking behind our backs about it. I know, it's silly since it's just a tv, but that's just how they are. After all, she thought we were being extravagant when we bought a washer and dryer when we got married. We even pay her to watch our daughter and we are the only ones, out of my husband and his sisters and their families, who have never borrowed a dime from them, but they still feel the need to stick their noses in when it comes to our money. Okay, I'm done ranting for now.

[mom2fussbudgets]

Family: just gotta love 'em! I'm sure we all have our stories. If it makes you feel better, then vent away! :)

[Cpogie]

Carol - I'm so sorry about the problems with your new tv. Hopefully you'll get everything taken care of right away.

We have had our main tv for about 7 years now, so it's nothing special. It's a 32" JVC tube television. Not a flat screen and not Hi Def either. As I said before, nothing special, but it's been a good tv so far.

The tv in our bedroom is newer (it's about 3 years old), although it's not a flat screen and it doesn't have Hi Def either. I can't remember the size (I think it's a 20") but it's a Magnavox and it's a piece of junk. It replaced our old 19" Sharp tv which was getting older and really going downhill (the On/Off and the Volume buttons on the bottom of the tv just fell inside the tv so you couldn't turn the tv on or off or adjust the volume without the remote control).

I would love to replace our main tv in our living room and put our 32" JVC in our bedroom, but we just can't justify spending the money right now. Not to mention, my mother-in-law would be all in our business about it since she is at our house two days of the week watching our daughter. I'm positive she would be telling everyone (my husband's family) about it and they would all be talking behind our backs about it. I know, it's silly since it's just a tv, but that's just how they are. After all, she thought we were being extravagant when we bought a washer and dryer when we got married. We even pay her to watch our daughter and we are the only ones, out of my husband and his sisters and their families, who have never borrowed a dime from them, but they still feel the need to stick their noses in when it comes to our money. Okay, I'm done ranting for now.

I had the same problem, but fortunate for me they moved away....lol all you can do is nod your head all the while you are thinking shut the He-- UP! lol They always though we had too much of everything, but it was our business and we worked hard to have what we have.

[Cpogie]

OK, I took back the defective TV, no problem returning it, went to Costco and bought a 37 inch Vizio, it is soooo nice, the picture is outstanding, the sound is outstanding, I am very pleased needless to say, hopefully this is the last time I have to return a TV, Oh! and just in time for Hell's Kitchen tonight, lol

[Carly's Mommy]

I had the same problem, but fortunate for me they moved away....lol all you can do is nod your head all the while you are thinking shut the He-- UP! lol They always though we had too much of everything, but it was our business and we worked hard to have what we have.

I'm glad you can sympathize with me on this issue. You are so lucky they moved away from you! No chance in the world that they will move away from us.

Besides my husband's parents living here, he has 3 older sisters and the only one that lives here is our least favorite. It’s sad, but she’s the sister closest in age to my husband (she’s 8 years older) and he can’t stand to be in the same room with her. She just called and left us a message to ask us to go to dinner this Sunday. It's to celebrate Father's Day, as well as my mother-in-law's birthday (so much for cooking a special dinner for my husband on his first Father's Day). My SIL wants to go to Olive Garden and asked if that was okay with us and said that if we can't afford that then we can go somewhere else. She made a point to say that she and their aunt are treating my husband's parents so we don't have to worry about that. We have been married for 8 1/2 years and she has always made little comments like this to us and I honestly have no clue why, considering that my husband and I are the only ones who have never had to ask for money from their parents. We never make comments about our finances at all around any of his family (we never even say we’re broke or how much money we make, etc.).

They're so weird - it's like if we spend money on anything then they act like we're being snobs and if we don't then they treat us like we must be broke. We just can't win. As an example - our daughter was born last July and we bought a new digital camera in September (my birthday present and nothing extravagant) to replace our old digital camera. I just wanted something with more mega pixels to take better pictures of our new baby and our old camera didn't work every time you pushed the button anyway. We even gave our old digital camera to my SIL that is such a pain since she didn’t have a camera at all. Digital cameras are so much more affordable than they used to be and most of them take short videos too. Well, first of all they said they didn't know why we were spending our money on a new camera when we didn't need one and then they seemed to think that since it took short video clips that we wouldn't need a video camera (unless you are in a brightly lit room the video quality is extremely dark). Um, yes, we wanted a video camera to take longer video of our daughter that has better lighting and sound so we bought ourselves a cheaper one for our Christmas gift and lied to his parents and told them that my parents bought it for us. Actually, we didn’t HAVE to lie, but we just didn’t feel like we should have to explain ourselves if we told them the truth. It’s pretty sad considering we are adults, we have a daughter of our own, we own our own house, etc. Even though we have done everything on our own – financially speaking – we are still treated like children.

I’m trying to think of something to say to my SIL to let her know it’s rude and inappropriate to make those kinds of comments to us repeatedly, without sounding rude myself and ruining the day, when she says something about whether or not we can afford dinner at Olive Garden – and she WILL say something. I still can’t figure out if she’s saying those things on purpose (probably) or if she just doesn’t know she’s being so rude, but I would never dream of saying the things she says to us to anyone. I really don’t think she likes us, but I can’t figure out if it’s my husband, me, or both of us. 6 or 7 years ago, in the same situation at Bennigan’s, I responded to her comment by saying that we weren’t actually going to order off of the menu and that we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches wrapped up in my purse that we would eat instead. Everyone got a laugh, but I guess she didn’t get it.

1 ½ years ago on the day after Thanksgiving I went shopping with my mother-in-law and two of my sisters-in-law. The one that is such a pain offered to lend me some money for shopping. What??? I have no idea where that came from and I just felt like slapping her! I had my own money to spend and if I didn’t then I just wouldn’t buy anything. I definitely wouldn’t take any money from anyone in my husband’s family.

I’m sorry to ramble on about all of this – I know it’s completely off topic and I don't expect you to read all of it, but that message from my SIL yesterday really got me going. She never calls when she knows we’ll be home either. She knows we both work, but she’ll call our house and leave a message at 2:00 in the afternoon instead of calling at 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening just so she doesn't have to talk to us.


OK, I took back the defective TV, no problem returning it, went to Costco and bought a 37 inch Vizio, it is soooo nice, the picture is outstanding, the sound is outstanding, I am very pleased needless to say, hopefully this is the last time I have to return a TV, Oh! and just in time for Hell's Kitchen tonight, lol

That's great that you were able to return your tv and get a new one. I've seen the Vizio tv's recently but have never heard anything about that brand. It's good to know that you are so satisfied with it so far.

Since you worked in electronics for 30+ years, can you recommend a good brand of camcorder? We bought a Sony HandyCam on Christmas Eve of 2006 and have only recorded maybe 30 minutes of tape (mini dv's) and the lcd screen just went blank. The lcd screen is the only way to access the menu, so now the camcorder is pretty much useless. Unfortunately, it only had a 90-day warranty on parts AND labor and I've heard that labor could be $200+. We paid about $300 for the camera, so I'm not willing to blow another $200 on labor charges only to hope we don't have anymore problems. I'm so upset! Our daughter's first birthday is coming up fast and we don't have a way to record it on video! :mad:

[Cpogie]

QUOTE__Since you worked in electronics for 30+ years, can you recommend a good brand of camcorder? We bought a Sony HandyCam on Christmas Eve of 2006 and have only recorded maybe 30 minutes of tape (mini dv's) and the lcd screen just went blank. The lcd screen is the only way to access the menu, so now the camcorder is pretty much useless. Unfortunately, it only had a 90-day warranty on parts AND labor and I've heard that labor could be $200+. We paid about $300 for the camera, so I'm not willing to blow another $200 on labor charges only to hope we don't have anymore problems. I'm so upset! Our daughter's first birthday is coming up fast and we don't have a way to record it on video!



I was an electrial inspector for all those years so I really don't know anything about what is good when buying electronics, I go to google and type in, for example, sony dvd reviews, and then see what I can find about the brand, how others like it, etc... sorry I can't be more help on that.
Now on to the SIL and rest of the group, I too have had my share of being hurt by my MIL and BIL AND SIL, I have done my best to tolerate them for the past 35 years, I always have taken the high road and ignored them, even when they hurt me so bad, for example, one year when my kids were small, my BIL and SIL invited me, my husband and the kids over for Christmas dinner, fine, what time should we be there? 2:00 in the afternoon, fine, we show up and they are not there, including my husbands mom and dad, (my MIL and FIL) I felt so bad I wanted to go home right then, we waited and waited and when they finally arrived all they said is we went out to Brunch, NEVER said sorry, never invited us (we lived only 1 mile apart from BIL and SIL) or anything, now how rude is that?? we are family too???? I would never have the heart to do that to anyone, let alone my own family. I don't know what the answer is, but if you do find the words, then I give you credit for speaking up for yourself, remember you only have to please your immediate family, meaning your husband and child. If they don't like it then that is their problem. I wish you the best!!!!

[Carly's Mommy]

I was an electrial inspector for all those years so I really don't know anything about what is good when buying electronics, I go to google and type in, for example, sony dvd reviews, and then see what I can find about the brand, how others like it, etc... sorry I can't be more help on that.
Now on to the SIL and rest of the group, I too have had my share of being hurt by my MIL and BIL AND SIL, I have done my best to tolerate them for the past 35 years, I always have taken the high road and ignored them, even when they hurt me so bad, for example, one year when my kids were small, my BIL and SIL invited me, my husband and the kids over for Christmas dinner, fine, what time should we be there? 2:00 in the afternoon, fine, we show up and they are not there, including my husbands mom and dad, (my MIL and FIL) I felt so bad I wanted to go home right then, we waited and waited and when they finally arrived all they said is we went out to Brunch, NEVER said sorry, never invited us (we lived only 1 mile apart from BIL and SIL) or anything, now how rude is that?? we are family too???? I would never have the heart to do that to anyone, let alone my own family. I don't know what the answer is, but if you do find the words, then I give you credit for speaking up for yourself, remember you only have to please your immediate family, meaning your husband and child. If they don't like it then that is their problem. I wish you the best!!!!

We did check out reviews on different camcorders before we bought one and thought that we picked out a simple, but reputable one. We were definitely wrong. If Sony doesn't fix or replace our camcorder, then we won't be buying anything else made by them. We were so careful with that camcorder and always kept it in a case when we weren't using it so it definitely should have lasted longer than 5 months.

That is so horrible what your in-laws did to you, your husband and your kids! You must have more patience than we do because there's no way we would have sat and waited for more than 10 minutes or so. We probably would have left a note and then left. That is SO rude and inconsiderate - and on Christmas!


Yes, they will be talking about someone else tomorrow, and probably us too. We are the black sheep of the family because we won't conform to their idea of how we should live. They are all very religious, or at least pretend to be, and we don't attend church, so we are going to burn in he_ _. I don't have any problems with anyone attending church, but we just don't happen to go. I do believe in God and I also pray - I just don't go to church. My mother-in-law is really preachy and thinks that she lives a close to perfect example of how a Christian should be, but in reality, she doesn't. She just recently got into an argument with my husband and started bringing things up, that she obviously hasn't forgiven him for, that he did in high school. Hello! He'll be 36 this year and he didn't do anything any worse than what most kids that age do. Give it up already! It happened almost 20 years ago! Anyway, my mother-in-law said some really horrible and hurtful things to my husband about the way he turned out that he just can't get over. I confronted her about what she said to him just to let her know how much it hurt him and me too. I told her that she should be proud of her son and I also let her know what a great husband and father he is. She turned things all around and said that he always misunderstands her and what she said was meant to be taken as a compliment. :confused: Um, sorry, but nobody I know stops to compliment you in the middle of an argument. She wouldn't even apologize for what she said - she just apologized that he took it the "wrong" way. I didn't argue with her, I just wanted her to know that I knew the horrible things she said and that I will always support and defend her son/my husband. She pretended that everything was fine, but she was furious with my husband that he told me about their argument because it made her look bad. Now, if you are such a good Christian woman, wouldn't you be happy that your son has a wife that he can count on and talk to when he is upset and hurting? Not her! I want to make it clear that my husband is not a wimp who has to always have me stick up for him. He was right there with me when I confronted her but I asked him to just let me do the talking because I was able to be more calm about the situation.

Anyway, since all that happened, we just fake smiles around them and pretend like everything is fine. My husband's pain in the rear sister is such a mommy AND daddy's girl - even in her 40's - and I know they were talking about us after that big blow up. I know my mother-in-law called my husband's other two sisters to talk about us too.

It would be easier on us if my mother-in-law didn't watch our daughter during the week, but we'll make do and fake the smiles for as long as we have to because we feel like it is the best place for her to be right now. We do pay my mother-in-law to watch her, (just felt like I should point that out) but it's not because she needs the money. She was already retired and their house and vehicles are paid for, but we felt we should at least offer to pay her and she jumped at the offer (which is completely fine because it is a lot of work and ties you down). Her reasoning though, was that she didn't think it would be fair to her daughters if we didn't pay her. :confused: Her pain in the rear daughter who lives here is in the middle of a divorce and has no children, another daughter that lives a couple of hours away has a son who is 22 and a daughter who is 17. The last daughter has a son who is almost 5, but dad works days and mom works nights, so he wasn't even in daycare. I don't understand her reasoning, but that's fine, we don't mind at all paying for her to take care of our daughter. We plan on putting our daughter in daycare for at least 2-3 days a week when she is about 2-3 years old just to get her used to socializing with other kids more.

Thank you guys so much for just listening to what I had to say! I know I completely hijacked this thread and went off on about a million different tangents, but sometimes you just need to vent and get things out of your head!

[mom2fussbudgets]

Thank you guys so much for just listening to what I had to say! I know I completely hijacked this thread and went off on about a million different tangents, but sometimes you just need to vent and get things out of your head!


It's okay, I did tell you to vent away if it makes you feel better. :)

My mom is the person in my family who drives me crazy. Unfortunately, it is hard to reason with unreasonable people. Do you have family members who give you unconditional love and support? Perhaps you can try to lean on them a little more, rather than on your inlaws. When my mom starts really getting on my nerves, I call my sis.

[mom363546]

I think we should start a vent thread! Keep it clean but a place where we can just get it off your chest.sometimes if you can just say it you feel soooo much better.

[mom2fussbudgets]

Sounds good to me! Sometimes it really does help if you can just talk about it.

BTW, Carol, I am glad you got your TV problems taken care of. How was Hell's Kitchen on the new tube?

[Cpogie]

Sounds good to me! Sometimes it really does help if you can just talk about it.

BTW, Carol, I am glad you got your TV problems taken care of. How was Hell's Kitchen on the new tube?

The show (Hell's Kitchen) was terrific and the picture on this new TV is outstanding!!! We love it, so glad I bought this!!!

[Carly's Mommy]

I think we should start a vent thread! Keep it clean but a place where we can just get it off your chest.sometimes if you can just say it you feel soooo much better.

That sounds like an awesome idea! It would be nice to have specific categories that we could vent about like companies/products, friends, family, work, finances, medical problems, etc. It would be great to be able to go somewhere, anonymously, and get stuff off of your chest where others can just be supportive of you.

Since you're a moderator don't you have some pull in this area? :D

[Cpogie]

That sounds like an awesome idea! It would be nice to have specific categories that we could vent about like companies/products, friends, family, work, finances, medical problems, etc. It would be great to be able to go somewhere, anonymously, and get stuff off of your chest where others can just be supportive of you.

Since you're a moderator don't you have some pull in this area? :D

Yes, there is a new thread for venting, and sorry to all for venting here in the past, I moved my venting to the new thread, lol

Here's the link to the new thread...
http://forums.startsampling.com/showthread.php?t=1659

[Carly's Mommy]

Yes, there is a new thread for venting, and sorry to all for venting here in the past, I moved my venting to the new thread, lol

Here's the link to the new thread...
http://forums.startsampling.com/showthread.php?t=1659

Sorry, I found it right after I posted here.

Julie