Buying a new TV in a time of CORVID–19

I put this here because it's these silly things that drive me to distraction. I know I am privileged, don't get me wrong. It is silly. We have stuff going on. We are better off than most. We do not have to juggle work and kids, or no work at home. We had a dilemma. 

I enjoy people posting How-To articles. Kay always has some interesting, economical things going on. They are quite clever and talented. We are pretty much restricted to hiring experts, and having things shipped.

You have seen our picture of our TV.  There is this bar down the left side. Someday soon, "She's gonna blow, Captain!" My faithful reader know how much we watch TV, we purchase DVDs to get us through the dark winter and buggy nights. We are rewatching Shetland right now. We cannot do Netflix, BTW, we just don't have the bandwidth here in rural Ontario. 

 

I assigned the research to JB. We narrowed it down to getting it from Best Buy. I was uncomfortable having it delivered. It's free shipping over a certain amount. 

Best Buy has 2 options: a) reserve it (not prepaid,) or b) free shipping.

We had questions. I phoned. They aren't answering their phones. 

We asked, and Caitlin offered to pick it up in Kanata. Thing is, she'd have to pay for it, then we'd reimburse her. I sent Caitlin an email with the one we wanted Monday morning. My clever, efficient daughter (M.Sc.!) Monday afternoon she had it for us. 

We exchanged grandkids for a television at our meeting spot. 

OK, success. It's quite a light television. I plugged it in. It's a steep learning curve.

TV remote doesn't work. I did an online chat with Shaw, and they gave me the code. The manual didn't help! I put this here, just in case.

Now, what do I do with the old one?! I put it out on the front deck, covered it with the new TV's box. I posted it on the Free or Barter Perth page. Sunday afternoon, socially distant loading and it was gone to a family who are giving it to their daughter.

Also gone, our bread machine and toaster oven. It feels good to clean out and pass them on. I simply don't use them. JB cannot eat bread, and a fresh loaf is just too tempting for me!

Mission accomplished.

The New TV Saga isn't over!

Last month I bought hubby a new TV for his sports viewing. The old TV and the TV stand belonged to our kids. It has served its purpose. It's tough to view the scores when they are off the screen on the old, non-high definition, square TV. It's not a huge new TV, just the right size (32") to fit into the TV stand. It took awhile to hook up the cables, but I did it!

The old TV

The new TV

Sadly, the old, old box wouldn't talk properly to his new HD TV. I phoned Shaw, and they put in a ticket.


We were getting messages on our on-screen guide that we needed to upgrade our dish. I'd ignored it for awhile. A couple of years back we had to have the dish fixed, and we paid to have a piece added to make it higher. Our snowfall has been amazing.

OK, phone call, I sat on hold for 14 minutes. I gave up. I tried the online chat, which proved successful. They wanted to send two new receivers. I figured the exercise room TV didn't need a new box. It was working fine on non-high-def shows.

Who knew that the propane truck would arrive at the same time as our satellite contractor? At this point our driveway was all ice. Mr. Cable Guy parked on the hill.


While the propane dude delivered his product, the other dude scurried up the computer satellite tower to cross the roof and change up the TV dish. He's got guts!

It was a dark day. I took another photo last Sunday. You can see his tracks!

 See his tracks?! Yikes.

Propane delivered, the TV dude had to back up and let the propane truck out.


Old vs. new...


Our guy brought his vehicle back onto the driveway, Mr. Propane Man left, and Mr. Cable Guy checked our boxes, indoors. JB's new TV is good to go.


All seemed good. You have to wait while the box uploads the new guides, then turn them off.
I forgot about our exercise room TV. All was not good. On the phone, again. Another $99 for a new box for this crummy, old, non-high-def TV! sigh. The dude explained that by June, the box wouldn't work with the newgrades. SIGH


We have stuff to get rid of.

They would send it by mail. It would be 5 - 7 business days. No tracking code. It arrived Thursday.
Not bad, 5 business days. I hooked it up, phoned in to activate it, and went off to see my client. It's not working with the old TV.

Since we bought the new TV, I'm getting all sorts of emails offering TV sales, as well as pop-up ads on for-profit web pages. We may have to go that route. It's terribly inconsistent, though.

March 9

March 10

 In the meantime, I'm watching Grace & Frankie DVDs while I work out. We may have to hire someone to take the old TVs away for us. We may switch the TV cabinet, put the new TV in the exercise room, and another new TV in the sports room!

As I told my first accountant husband, and the second, "It's only money!"

A new TV!

Here is our old TV, at home on Walker Ave.! Fluffy on top of the TV. He liked to play hockey from there. (This would have been the 60s.)


I bought hubby a new TV. I didn't mean to, but it seemed to make sense. You'll see! The old one was giving him a headache at the end of the day. It was the kids' TV, so it doesn't owe us anything. Hubs measured it carefully, since the space for the TV is square, and TV are now rectangular. We were good for 32".


JB did his research online, searching for TV 32" and under. (They are all marketed in inches, the US being a big influence on the North American market.) We had three choices: Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, and Best Buy. (I forgot about Staples...) He compared them, some practically do the dishes. OK, not, but they have Wifi capabilities, you can add other products, like Alexa, and the like, but this isn't what we need or want. We don't have the bandwidth for things like Netflix or BritBox, nor do we need it. We did want one with the ability to take headphones.

 Consumer reviews for the ones in Crappy Tire were bad. Home Hardware didn't have any in stock. The joys of rural living! Best Buy had free delivery. We weighed options, and hubby went to his computer to order it. I heard swearing. I ordered it for him on my computer!

It was to arrive on Tuesday. We were lunching with our aunt on Monday, so that was fine. I checked online, and they said Friday delivery.


Awaiting the arrival, I removed the old TV, which hubby asked if I could lift FIFTEEN TIMES!


Back to the computer: it said 'notice left,' but there was nothing at the house, nothing in the mailbox.

We waited, patiently (SNORT). The notice arrived about the usual time our regular mail arrives. Off to the drug store, where our Canada Post outlet plays out. It is incredibly light. I could lift it with one hand.



I had a supervisor..


Only one problem. This is a converter box for a non-HD TV. It took awhile to figure that out. I couldn't find a HD connection. The new TV is HD. I did an online chat with a Shaw Satellite person, turns out our other two boxes need replacing with the new HD channels. It's amazing how one things leads to another.


These are simple problems. I kept myself busy, while viewing Facebook photos of various friends at the beach, in warmer climes. I did a 90-minute snowshoe. Winter isn't for chumps!