Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Buying A Bigger TV

I’m not sure any of you have noticed, but we have a tiny TV. Well, some of you have definitely noticed because you keep laughing at us and commenting about how overdue we are for a bigger one. And as the resident man of the house, I have to say I agree. Our little 26-incher made sense in the old house, where our den was so narrow that I could practically change the channel with my toe…

Final Den Take 2

But now that we have a bit more space in our current living room (we actually miss the cozy-ness of our first living room, but love having extra room for Clara to play/run around), the phrase “we really need a bigger TV” gets uttered anytime a subtitle pops up, a news ticker rolls across the screen, or we have anyone over to watch a movie with us. Yeah, we can’t read those things without standing up and walking halfway across the room. But a new TV is something we’ve just been putting off and putting off, which is surprising considering how much TV we watch.

Living Room1

But ever since we got the tip that February and March were the best times to buy a TV (supposedly these post-Christmas, post-Super-Bowl months are the television industry’s slow season, and when demand is low, prices can drop) we’ve been waiting for the right moment to seize the day and just upgrade already. And after a bit of research, a bit of chatting with my brother-in-law Martin (who went through a vigorous research process of his own a few months ago), and a bit of price checking – we narrowed it down to these two TVs – a Vizio and a Samsung, both sold at Target:

TV Decided Between Two

They’re both LCDs, both 1080p, and both in the neighborhood of 40″. They were also both eco models that only cost $17 a year to run, so they’re very low on the energy scale (the lowest we saw was $15 a year for a costs-double LED). The around 40″ size wasn’t any magic number that we calculated, it’s just what we arrived at after discussing that we wanted something big, but not crazy-big (and when we held up a tape measure at home, it felt right). Both had 4+ star reviews on Target, Amazon, Walmart and a few other sites that came up on our Google search. Any idea what we ended up choosing?

Naturally, we went for the $100 cheaper / 2″ larger Vizio. But that $449.99 wasn’t our final price. You know us and our coupons…

TV Coupons In Store

The reason we wanted to buy our TV at Target was:

  • They were having a temporary price cut – taking it from $479 to $449
  • We have a Target credit card, which gives us 5% off every purchase – knocking it down to $427
  • Target randomly sent us an “additional 5% off all HDTVs on top of the 5% for using your card” coupon (I think coupons like these go out to Target cardholders) – shaving it down to $406
  • We had a couple of leftover Christmas gift cards, which left our final out-of-pocket cost at $356

Which isn’t bad considering our much tinier TV was purchased for about that much five years ago (we think that old TV will either go into another room or get craigslisted). So after 15 months of staring at our too-small TV and saving up/stalking sales, we brought that baby home. And Burger couldn’t have been more excited to watch… the news? Seriously Vizio? You thought this lady was the most exciting graphic to show on your box? Can’t a guy get an exotic underwater scene with fish and coral in all colors of the rainbow? Or at least a charging bull or a running horse or something with a little speed/excitement?

TV 3 Vizio Box

Before we set it up, we wanted to try to capture exactly what sort of an upgrade we were making. So here’s a pic of our old TV:

TV 1 Before From Couch

Ridiculous, isn’t it? It’s a bit exaggerated because this is a small picture of a small TV, but you get the idea. So we broke out the new guy just for comparison’s sake. It’s starting to look a bit better, right? It’s also starting to look like we’re gonna need a bigger media console too (we’ve been planning to build something from scratch or retrofit something from the thrift store, so we’ll keep you posted).

TV 4 Both TVs On Stand

Here’s that view from the couch with the new TV on. Hey look, now you can actually tell that we were watching Cougar Town now! As in, all of the letters are readable now (again, this isn’t a life sized photo, it’s a small picture of a TV across the room, so in person it’s a lot bigger and reading small things like the subtitle are now no sweat). Whew.

TV 7 After From Couch

Oh and we tethered it to the wall with a wire that came with the TV along with a screw and heavy duty anchor (we may eventually mount it on the wall, once we figure out what’s going on under it so we can determine the height, etc). But for now this will at least keep it from tipping.

TV 5 Tethered To Wall

Hopefully this is just the beginning of updating that whole area of the living room. We definitely think it needs a bigger piece of furniture – preferably with more storage and a bit more height – to ground our big new TV friend. But until then, we’re just happy to give our squinting muscles a break… and of course we’re happy to have the Cul De Sac Crew back in our lives.

TV 6 After From Ottoman

Is anyone else making any television upgrades lately? Or just watching some good TV? Now that the book shoots are done, maybe we’ll actually have time to watch the boob tube again! So much catching up to do. But you know we’re up to date on The Walking Dead so nobody spoils that for us. Haha.

Comments

  1. Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says

    Definitely a great update. I am so blind I wouldn’t have been able to read the subtitles either. On a different note I am not sure I have seen a head on shot of that wall before. I like it with a set of doors on either side of the tv. I just love your den.

    Reply

  3. Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says

    Wow, you can finally see what’s on the screen! ;) No new tv for us, but I remember buying a flat screen and ditching the big clunker we had. And, it was a Vizio. Great brand and we’ve had it for almost 5 years now. Enjoy some time relaxing. :)

    Reply

  4. Deanna @ TheChangingHouse says

    We bought a 46″ tv four our basement (once renovations are completed) after Christmas because it was on sale. We thought “temporarily” we’ll keep it in our bedroom (until the renos are done) and replace the itsy-bitsy tv we had in there…… I don’t know why we didn’t replace it sooner! We’ll need to buy another tv now! It’s like we were blind and now we can SEE! ha!

    Reply

  5. Karen says

    If you are thinking of mounting the tv on the wall, check Ebay for mounts before spending $200-300 on one through a retail store/website. We purchased 2 mounts through Ebay for around $40 each. 3 years later, they are still holding strong!

    Reply

    • Stefanie says

      I got a mount for my 42″ TV at Walmart for $20. I also bought one for my mom and dad. Such a great deal. =)

    • Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

      I bought a mount for our 46″ for less than $30 (and free shipping) on Amazon…a couple months later and it’s still on the wall. It isn’t a fancy mount although I think it can tilt up and down a smidge.

    • Nora says

      I recommend wayfair/csn for wall mounts. I used to work for them in that department. The staff is/was pretty helpful with getting the correct mounts because they’re so specific.

    • Alisha says

      What about the wires/plug?

      When flat screens first came out and the commercials and magazines were showing them mounted on walls and above fireplaces I couldn’t wait to try it myself (er, or my husband’s self) but it seems all the wall mounted TVs I encounter in real life are awkwardly spaced from the wall (more protruding-Hospital-room-TV mounted style then flush-to-the-wall-HGTV-reveal mounted style if that makes sense) with a MESS OF WIRES HANGING OUT THE BOTTOM. The wires just kill me.

      We were planning to hang our 32″ flat screen friend over our fireplace eventually, but now I fear what to do with the wires–especially when there is a chimney behind that wall somewhere! Anyone have any suggestions?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh John and I tried! We really did. But having both been in advertising, it was just too close to home for us. It frustrated us when clients wouldn’t buy good campaigns just like it did in the business! Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • Martha says

      That’s why my nurse sister can’t watch House. Having to deal with rude, egotistical doctors at work means you don’t really want to watch them to relax! :)

    • Kari says

      Exactly why I can’t enjoy “The Office”. As a CPA I see plenty of conference rooms and awkward folk on a daily basis!

    • Kristin H. says

      Oh my gosh SO glad I am not the only one!! My hub is a chef and we can never watch any of the cooking competition/restaurant shows!! I always end up screaming at the judges on tv. It’s not pretty.

      And ps. Walking Dead was crazy the past 2 weeks!! I don’t know how we’re gonna wait till Fall for more episodes!

  8. Robin @ Our Semi Organic Life says

    LOVE it! We still have the little tv just like you did and can’t wait to upgrade! Now only 1.75 years until hubby graduates and we can buy all the things I’ve been dreaming of. haha! maybe we’ll get a bigger tax return next year and find some good sales. I’ve been thinking of getting a target credit card just because I shop there so often. Think its worth it? We always pay them off each month.

    Reply

  9. Staci @ My Friend Staci says

    Congrats on your upgrade! The part about the news lady on the box really made me laugh out loud.
    If you have space, I’d recommend storing the old TV to put in Clara’s playroom once you get around to it. Then once she’s old enough to play unsupervised, stick her in there and you can spare yourself several hours of kid TV blaring throughout the house! ;) It’s what my mom did… we turned out fine… haha!

    Reply

  10. Rebecca says

    Never heard of tethering the TV to the wall behind it. I have 2 large flat screens in my house and many friends/family with them as well (and some with 50+ inches) and no one has ever done that. Guess that is a Vizio tip thing since it came with your tv. Good idea though if it’s low and there are young kids in the house.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, it’s safe for kiddos and helps me worry less that if someone walks into the table or something that it won’t tip since it’s so much bigger than the TV we’re used to!

      xo,
      s

    • Reenie says

      A week or so ago on the news they were showing several incidents where flat-screen TVs had tipped over onto a child….often times killing the child =(

    • Linda says

      I’m so glad you tethered it to the wall – three kids here in the Chicago area died because the TV’s were not secured (and in some cases were also on really flimsy, not made to hold a TV, type furniture). People tend to do that when they get a new TV and move the old one to a bedroom, playroom, whatever…you never think how easily they can become unbalanced.

      It really wouldn’t hurt for people to start requesting/demanding that the all stores start carrying tethers for their TVs.

      I still have my Sony Wega – size is still good for my small living room, picture quality of still great, but darn that thing is heavy!

  11. Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate says

    My husband and I recently got an awesome big ol’ HDTV, but we went a different route. Because everyone wants a flatty-flat TV, (official term, I swear!) those now “old fashioned” fatty-fat TV’s are worth less than nothing.

    My husband’s co-worker bought a plasma screen-TV and gave us his “old” HDTV for free, which we gladly took. Yes, it’s big, but that’s really a non-issue. The picture is fantastic, and it was definitely within our budget.

    And the funny part is that my husband’s friend told us that the picture on our new TV is actually better than the picture on his new TV.

    Love free stuff!

    Katy

    Reply

  14. Elizabeth says

    New TV looks awesome! My boyfriend and I have a 46 inch Sony LCD TV in our living room, and we love it! He got it at a “Black Friday” sale in Canada (they do it to stay competitive). Right now it’s the only TV in our place that we use.

    We also have a 13 inch (yes – 13 inch!) TV in our bedroom that I’ve had since 8th grade. It hasn’t been plugged in for months though because it’s just way too small. I’m on the lookout for a decent priced 32 inch TV!

    Reply

  15. Brenda says

    Given how much TV I watch, I probably should go ahead and save for an upgrade. The TV I currently have is a hand-me-down from an aunt, and it’s pretty small. Oh, and it’s old. As in it has turn knobs and built in rabbit-ears old. I can’t use a remote to adjust volume or turn it on or off. And it’s square, which means the sides of live TV regularly get chopped off. Now that I’m typing this, I can’t believe I’ve never even thought of upgrading! Guess I just figure that it works, so that’s the most important thing.

    Reply

  17. Carol N. says

    We have a really big living room too and just upgraded to a 60″ tv. We found a great price and pounced (it was our late Christmas gift to each other) and then the next Sunday we noticed it was $100 cheaper so we went back and got the new price. Sweet! And we love it. We have enjoyed it for everything from football to old movies.

    Reply

  18. Ginny @ Goofy Monkeys says

    Congrats on the new TV! I would have gone bigger :) But I think you’ll love having something bigger to watch your favorite shows.

    I know you guys are Dexter fans during the fall, but what are you watching right now??

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The Walking Dead! Well, that just ended. We also watch The New Girl, Awake (so good!!!), Bethenny Ever After, Thirty Rock, Modern Family, The Challenge, and The Voice of course.

      xo
      s

    • bridget b. says

      you guys watch Awake?! i’ve really been trying to get into it since it seems like the perfect thing to fill the void in my TV watching left by the end of LOST and Medium. but there’s something about it that makes it hard for me to pay attention. i have to keep rewinding and rewatching scenes to keep the two worlds straight.

      i guess i’m used to watching too much reality tv where everyone is yelling. but, is it just me, or does it seem like everyone on Awake talks in hushed tones all the time?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, it’s true. I love the premise so much, but I’m not super attached to the characters yet. I’m hoping they grow on me though, since the mysteries every week are fun and John and I love trying to figure out who orchestrated the crash and why (and which reality is real).

      xo,
      s

    • Jessie says

      Bridget, one thing that helps me distinguish the two worlds is the look of the worlds. The world where the son is alive, you’ll notice is very dark and “greenish” tinted, and there is a lot of green (green clothes, green furniture, green dishes, etc.). The world where the wife is alive is very crisp and warm and is tinted red. And of course there’s a lot of red all about. I like that they do this, because I would get frustrated trying to look at his wrist to see if he’s wearing a red bracelet or a green one.

  19. margo says

    We are upgrading an old dresser into a tv stand/entertainment center in a few weeks!!! I’m so excited to hide this garden hose size pile of wires and cords!! I will be documenting it on my blog and it will be white with gray insides where the drawers had been. the new tv looks great! good job!

    Reply

  20. Hannah says

    Yay for new TV’s! I bought a new one last February actually, and it was a similar upgrade (26 to 42). I got an LG 42LE5500, and I LOVE it!

    Also, thanks for showing that you anchored it to the wall. Unfortunately, there was a death locally about a TV that fell on a little girl. Safety first!

    Reply

  21. Emily says

    YES! We are so in the market for an upgrade. We still have the huge “tube” TV and haven’t splurged for the “flat-what-everyone-else-is-using TV.” We’re still shopping, but this random light green stripe that appears here and there on the TV is about to make us make the trip sooner than later! I need to get my hands on some coupons.

    Reply

  22. Penny says

    We just upgraded our TV and my awesome hubby mounted it on the wall above our fireplace. Huge improvement! And we’ve ditched cable and are now relying on Netflix and Hulu Plus. And we added The Walking Dead to our queue. And we just finished our taxes. Lots of excitement!!

    Reply

  23. Paula says

    Can you use the old TV as an additional computer monitor? I used to have an extra monitor hooked up to my laptop and LOVED it. You can have separate windows open, look at things on the larger screen – it was great. I think most TVs can be used for this, but I don’t really know (what I had hooked up was an actual computer monitor).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, that thing was tiny! It’s so funny how we thought it was 32″ in our memory and then we measured it and we were like… uh… it’s even smaller???

      xo,
      s

    • Kelsey S. says

      Sherry, were you measuring on the diagonal? One of those tricky things with TVs is that the measurement they give is from corner to corner, not straight across. So who knows, you may have had a 32″. Either way, I’m glad you’re happy with your upgrade!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, I was measuring it on the diagonal! We just thought it was bigger than it was- it’s funny in the store all the tvs look smaller since Target is huge with giant ceilings!

      xo,
      s

  25. Kate says

    The hubby and I recently started watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix and we just can’t get enough! I think we watched 12 episodes last Sunday when we were in our post St. Patty’s Day couch-coma.

    Reply

  26. Emma says

    Yay upgrades! We use a shaker style dresser for our TV, and the two larger drawers provide great DVD/games storage, while the top two drawers are great for the remotes, etc. Jealous that you’re up on The Walking Dead – we opt for Netflix over cable, but wish season 2 were available already!!! :)

    Reply

  27. Amber P. says

    Did you love the season finale of Walking Dead?? I did! Now I can’t wait for season 3. Good job producers of the show. You will get to see all the gory details with your big TV next season!

    Reply

  28. Justine says

    Our new (bigger) TV was the one “home decor” thing my husband got excited about. I let him take care of all the details because, honestly, I have no idea what’s good and what isn’t!

    Reply

  30. Melissa Mitchell says

    It’s always a big day when you upgrade the TV. The first thing we watched on our new 40-incher was American Idol… I swear I could see Paula’s pores (I’m dating myself- we updated a while ago…)

    I DID go from a 9-button flip phone to an iPhone 4s over the weekend. Talk about upgrades… I have so much info now it’s almost system overload…

    Reply

  31. Melanie @ Mailbox Journey says

    Yay! About darn time, lol.
    It looks so much better, and the room looks more balanced. We actually mounted our tv over our fireplace a few months ago and love it!

    Awesome deal too!
    We have 2 big flat screens.
    1 42 in. which we got off ebay for $400 about 4 years ago and my boyfriend’s co-worker gave us his 46 in. for free because it was no longer working, we took it in, and my boyfriend fixed it! So we got a $400+ tv for free :)

    I didn’t know you guys were Walking Dead fans, that’s awesome! I can’t wait until Season 3. I just wish a zombie would eat Lori & Carl already though. :-X

    Reply

  34. Danae says

    My husband and I just upgraded our tv too! And from Target no less! We went with the 55″ plasma they had on sale for an AMAZING price and loooooooooooooove it – our previous tv was an old-school one that he had had since college, so this was a major upgrade. Glad we aren’t the only ones who took the plunge in March – it feels like such a random time to buy a tv, no?

    Reply

  36. Jane says

    Woo to hoo guys!! I am telling you once you are hooked to a larger screen, theres no turning back. You are going to love it.

    Reply

  37. Danielle says

    I have to say I’m surprised you two didn’t go for an LED television, which is the same as an LCD television lit by LED lights instead of incandescent lights, considering how much less power they use and how eco-friendly you like to be!

    Then again I guess you’ve used incandescent light bulbs in places throughout your house too. . .

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      This TV is also an energy saving/eco version, and was about half the price of the LED ones we saw, and just costs $17 a year to run, so it’s very low on the energy-use scale (the lowest we saw was $15 on an LED one). It’s a balance with us. We compost, use cloth diapers, have a rain barrel, drive one car, recycle, use CFLs, and have all energy star appliances, but we don’t eat all organic or wear all organic clothes, since we can’t afford to. So it’s really just a give and take with us, where we try to be as green as we can within our budget!

      xo,
      s

  38. paige says

    I think it would have been a wiser decision to go with the Samsung even for the extra price. Samsung’s are made with high quality materials and have a much better picture quality. Although I have a feeling picture quality isn’t a huge concern for you.
    Ikea has a pretty cheap and awesome wall mount we use with our 42 inch samsung! 14.99$ I think.

    Reply

  39. JMJE says

    Man, I love Cougar Town. I wish more people watched it. All of my friends refuse to believe that it’s not just a show about cougars. And I definitely approve of your upgrade:)

    Reply

  40. JR says

    We did upgrade to a Samsung LED 40″ from a Sony LCD a few months back… bad Sony experience, it was dying on us. Cool upgrade though… enjoy your new TV.

    Reply

  41. Thais Bessa says

    We also have a 26 TV that was fine in our flat in London, but certainly looks ridiculous in the new house. It is wall mounted because the idea of a TV falling on our daughter creeps me out. I had never seen this wire thing, it seems very safe too! But I guess we will stick to wall mounted, it is so comfortable to watch as our bracket swivels and tilts, pleasing everyone. Not to mention not worrying at all about TVs + kiddos.

    Reply

  42. Ashley Jensen says

    Psh, my husband went to “look” at tv’s one came home to tell me he bought a 52″ flatscreen, PS3 and surround sound. He isn’t allowed in Best Buy alone anymore but I absolutely love all of it. Walking Dead season finale was AWESOME!! Walkers on a leash, what?!!

    Reply

  43. Louis Cameron says

    Congrats on the new TV!!

    If you guys end up mounting it, I would highly recommend the Philips Simply Straight Wall Mount. My fiancee and I live in an older house (early 1900’s) and we use it to mount our 32″ bedroom television. It was easy to attach to the wall and the television feels very secure, even after putting a little pressure on it, it doesn’t move at all. You can semi see it in action here, excuse our mess of wires and the sunflowers I brought home. http://i42.tinypic.com/5tw860.jpg

    Reply

  44. Kristen Swift says

    Congrats on the new TV. Good to know the prices are the lowest in February and March. My husband has been wanting an HDTV for the “man cave” in the basement that’s in serious need of a makeover…maybe the promise of that new TV will be motivation for us (or him) to paint and organize in order to get the man cave officially set up.

    Also, you two have great choices in TV :) My husband and I are obsessed with Modern Family, Awake, the Voice, and I love Bethenny Ever After (can’t get him to watch it!)

    Reply

  45. Jill says

    I absolutely love this post because we went through the same thing a couple of months ago. My husband and I had a 19″ flat screen in our living room. Of course we wanted a bigger TV, but there always seemed to be something else we needed more. Well after much ridicule from our family, friends, and even the cable guy (it’s really sad when the cable guy comments that our 19″ was the smallest TV he has ever seen in a living room) we decided to upgrade. We also went with the Vizio, but opted for the 55″. We have really enjoyed it! We can actually see who has the ball when we are watching basketball on TV now!!! Congrats on your new TV!

    Reply

  46. Laura says

    OMG! I knew you guys were cool but that fact that you watch The Walking Dead confirms it! I’m a big fan.

    P.S.

    Nice TV :)

    Reply

  47. Alana Lescure says

    Hi John and Sherry!
    I told my husband about this post, and he replied “wow, they really are Super Savers.” Lol. Also, Walking Dead season finally..so good!

    Quick question on a different subject: I bought Rustoleum hammer spray paint and had to go to Home Depot twice to exchange because the can would stop spraying. Have you used this or had this problem?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ugh, yes. One in about five cans is faulty so I just return it when that happens and try to buy a few at a time so it doesn’t result in another trip to the store if one doesn’t spray.

      xo,
      s

  48. Clarissa says

    Congrats on the new TV and before I read down to see which TV you picked, I secretly wish you picked the Vizio (great that you did). I did a crazy amount of reserach and landed on my Samsung 52″ and it’s been only about 5 years and I’m already seeing issues (fyi – watching Walking Dead where everything black is showing neon green makes for sore eyes and a headache). They had a class action settlement for their faulty TVs. In case your readers are disappointed Samsung owners, here’s the info: http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

    Reply

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