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…
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.
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:
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…
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?
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:
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jillian@TheHumbleGourmet says
I used to get horrible headaches from squinting at our too-small TV screen. Definitely an upgrade at least in terms of eye health!
Joy Franks says
We upgraded to a 46″ television and then bought a sofa table that was the perfect height for the tv. We needed something a little taller and all the other tables we considered were too short. The sofa table was part of the coffee and end table set that we bought last summer.
Robin says
We had a 27″ clunker (which was up from the one we had before!) but upgraded with our T-return to a 32″ Sony and we LOVE it! We thought the 40″ would be too big for our place-plus, it’s still huge compared to our old tv! And my dear husband is watching Castle with me! Yay! I don’t know if y’all watch it, but I LOVE it!
Suz McA says
The lady on your TV box is Hannah Storm – ESPN Sports Center host :)
YoungHouseLove says
We have learned that! Thanks Suz!
xo,
s
Katrina says
The part about the news lady on the box made me laugh! She is on Sportscenter (oh the things I learned after getting married) and so they are totally targeting these to sell to guys.
Enjoy your new TV! We bought a new 46″ over the summer and its lovely!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- someone else mentioned that! And pointed out that they probably wanted a sports game on the screen but it might have been a rights issue! So funny!
xo,
s
Chris says
Had to send this one on to my daughter and son-in-law, they are moving in June and expecting their first baby in August. Right now, they are looking to upgrade their ancient TV from college days and a friend said to look in Costco, but I love Tarjaaay :-) Happy Spring!
Sarah says
I recently refinished an old dresser to use as our tv stand. I posted pictures of the dresser with our tv on it here http://reneweduponadream.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-turn-old-dresser-into-beautiful.html Our tv is 10 years old & isn’t even a flat one. It’s just your average, small screen but large “butt-end” tv that is MEGA heavy. Nothin’ fancy. I don’t even really know what LCD & HDTV & Plasma or any of that even means. We do have a small space though, & it works just fine sooo… I think we just don’t understand what we’re missing probably. Oddly, neither of us is really concerned about getting a new one for a long time.
YoungHouseLove says
So pretty! I love the dresser makeover!
xo,
s
Sue says
Awesome! We stalked deals at Target too, since we had wedding gift cards, and ended up paying $25 out of pocket after opening a Target charge card to further sweeten the deal. We also got a wall mount kit from amazon and floated the TV over a smallish bookcase. The eventual plan is to chop a couple holes in the wall and run the wires through so we don’t have to stare at that unsightly mess!
Christa @ a*typicaljourney says
Do you guys notice a huge difference in the fluidity of the image?
I know when we upgraded to our *cough* 55″ 3D Plasma *cough* (my fiance loves his toys) I felt like the image was moving at an awkward pace, which I later discovered was due to the increased refresh rate. It was like someone had set it to 1.1X fast forward… not obviously fast, but it still looked like everything was moving just a scooch faster than it would even happen in real life. It really tripped me out for a while!
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t notice that. Maybe it’s a plasma thing since ours isn’t plasma? No idea!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Mine is plasma and doesn’t look like that…maybe some setting is off?
Val says
OMG, how intense was The Walking Dead finale? Were you not totally screaming at the TV? “Andrea!! You’re forgetting Andrea!!! Go back!!” It was pretty exciting television (understatement of the year).
When we got our First Time Homeowner’s rebate a few years ago, I gave my husband carte-blanche to pick out a new TV to replace our seriously old and battered college one with the purple streak across the screen. I’m not sure if I’ll ever live up to that standard of Wifely Awesomeness ever again. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we were berating the screen!
xo,
s
MJB says
Unsolicited advice: keep your old TV. I’m sure you’ll find a space for it. My husband loves the old TV in the garage, aka “man cave,” for catching sports scores when he works on other things. If nothing else, put it in the guest room or your office.
I really limit our TV watching (no TV during meals, no TV in bedrooms, no TV on as background noise, etc.) But sometimes you need more than one TV, especially during football season in our house!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks for the advice!
xo,
s
Ashley C says
We bought a 37″ Vizio about a year ago, and we looove it. :-) Ours did’t come with a tether. I wonder if they just started doing that, or if we didn’t get one because ours is smaller…
YoungHouseLove says
Perhaps some of the larger ones have them? Or you’re right, it could be a new initiative. I hope all of them start coming with them!
xo,
s
Marie says
About 2.5 years ago five different households in our family ended up with 32″ Vizio tvs. There were good deals at both Walmart and Costco at the time. Other than some of the lettering fading on the remote, I couldn’t be happier. Yes, you can hook your tv up to your computer. You just need a computer monitor cable and the little white thing since you have a Mac. We have to do that for watching movies on Amazon since we don’t have a fancy DVD player or TiVo, etc. After we did that I would come home to find my husband’s laptop on a tv tray connected to the tv just for fun!
Hannah says
I like that you guys don’t feel the need to hide the TV or the fact that you like to watch TV while working on projects, because I am the same way! I like a TV to have a place in the room, not to hide it. Though I have to say I’m surprised you didn’t go bigger given the huge scale of your living room. It must be your low table that makes it hard to get a feel for the real size.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, it’s really big in person! Once we have it on a bigger table it’ll easily take up all that wall space between the sliders!
xo,
s
Erin C says
I’m curious what you think about having a Target credit card? I have always operated under the only-one-credit-card philosophy so I don’t build up any debt but with twins we shop at Target A LOT! Have you found having the card is worth-it?
YoungHouseLove says
We pay our card off each month, so that’s our rule. Pay it off in full, and if it gives you a discount for using it, well, that’s awesome! It’s cheaper than paying with cash so we do it!
xo,
s
Nicki says
Congrats on the new T.v.. I always get teased for not having the latest and greatest in tech stuff (I just got my first nano this Christmas and a somewhat dumb smart phone last year), however a couple of years ago I bought myself a Vizio 32″ 1080p that I found at Target in Java Brown..Woot. I didn’t know they made dark brown T.V.’s. Anyway the Vizio is great so far!! Good choice.
Susan says
Nice upgrade. Until last year we had the same 19 inch in the basement and 26 inch upstairs. Family came over on Thanksgiving and became angry…actually angry, about watching football on such a small tv.
We found a freebie flat screen that’s over 60 inches. I thought, YIKES, too big. But turns out it’s actually perfect tucked into our living room nook. Don’t fear the huge tv. Enjoy your new set up!
Kcie says
Oh my gosh you guys! Congrats! I know the feeling of getting a long overdue T.V. for a great deal. Two years ago, we still had a 36″ tube T.V. that was like 7 years old..We did a lot of research on the T.V. we wanted and got the perfect one for us that was also in the 40″ range. We love it so much. I am super stoked for you guys, you should watch Clash of the Titans on it in blue ray!
Amy @ The Button Casa says
“Can’t a guy get an exotic underwater scene…” I read that as, “Can’t a guy get an exotic underwear scene…” the first time. It made me laugh. I couldn’t really think of the TV after that :D
But back to your post. I’m dying to get my hubby a bigger TV so I’ll keep the February/March thing in mind.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, you’re not the first one to read it that way! Maybe John secretly had underwear on the mind?
xo,
s
Megan says
You should keep the old TV for either the guest room or the eventual play room. Guests sometimes like to unwind in their own space. Also, as Clara gets older you know she is going to want to watch her own shows that may be on at the same time as yours. We are a one TV household, but if there were more than 2 of us around I feel like we’d have to have another TV. Just my two cents. :) P.S. – So glad y’all can enjoy the subtitle on Cougar Town now! They’re always so clever!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Megan!
xo,
s
Andrea says
This is so much better!! We recently upgraded from a 19″ computer screen to a 32″ 3D HDTV, well, TV. We hardly ever watch anything but films but we love the new view nonetheless!
I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with for a bigger media console!
Yvonne says
We have a 42 inch, don’t ask me what type, TV and a year ago or so we bought the IKEA Besta Burs TV unit in grey and we love love love it. It’s very sleek and has a lot of storage. It’s also very sturdy and easy to keep clean. You don’t see any finger/hand prints from our toddler girl either though you would if you got the black one. I have to say it’s one of the best IKEA buys ever!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds gorgeous!
xo,
s
Tonya says
Hey guys be careful! I had the same exact tv stand from Target and when I got a bigger flat screen it totally bowed in the middle. I was the saddest girl in the world:(
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Tonya! We really need to replace the cabinet soon- so maybe we should craigslist it asap – before any bowing!
xo,
s
Carrie says
I had plans to buy a new tv around this time too, I had an 11 year old HUGE tv (well, it was only 27 inches, just was a huge junk in the trunk tv) that I couldn’t move by myself and since I’m living the single life now that was no bueno. This independent girl likes to be able to rearrange without calling a boy to come help. But my daddy bought me a new tv for Christmas so I can spend my tax refund on something else! Like a new tv stand. :)
I am 33 years old and have never bought a tv. That’s just crazy.
p.s. When I looked at the pic of your den I thought “That was the coziest room ever. I bet they miss it!” and then giggled at your next line. I would love a room like that but with a two dogs who have a combined weight of 150 lbs it wouldn’t work out. I actually want to move now JUST so I can have a living room with a sectional. Cause the couch is really crowded. :)
Stephanie says
I bought the 40″ Samsung that you didn’t go with — same sale from Target! — because I know a few others who have similar Samsung HDTVs and love them. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase!
Kate says
We have three Vizio televisions in our house and they are awesome (I’m singing that last part and you should be thankful you can’t hear it because I can’t carry a tune)! My husband did a ton of research and I kept telling him to just buy one already. Well after about a year of research he did just that and showed up with a 55 inch Vizio. I think you will love it too!
YoungHouseLove says
Yay, so glad to hear so many great things about Vizios!
xo,
s
Mary says
I thought I splurged on a $2000 tv in Jan. and didn’t notice for 2 weeks that the TV I bought (at Costco) wasn’t the one we had picked out! I checked my receipt and sure enough it was a cheaper one. So I went back and the one that was originally on sale for $2000 was now $2300 and the one I accidentally grabbed was marked down from $1750 to $1500. So I kept it. And got the price match. And I feel like I “saved” $500 somehow. HA! All the hours we spend watching, may as well watch something gorgeous!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s awesome! So glad you noticed!
xo,
s
Kelsey says
where did you get your couch :) lol i love it
YoungHouseLove says
Ikea! It’s the corner sofa and add on chaise in the Karlstad line!
xo,
s
Hailey says
No new TV for us – I’m still hauling around my box of a TV. Awesome deal on your new TV though! Whenever I decided to get a new one, hope to find an amazing deal as you did!
Juliana S says
I like Cougar Town! Now you can finally read the clever little comment they make each week below the Cougar Town title!! Did you watch the episode with Scrubs cast throughout? Loved it! I was a big fan of that show as well.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! So funny!
xo,
s
Trisha says
Love that you are Cougar Town fans! We need more of them if the show is going to survive!!
Kristin says
We had a tiny CRT TV until a year ago… splurged on a 42” Philips Ambilight and love it.
We noticed one funny thing that really showed us what an upgrade we were making: The new TV has a dual screen feature which shows the TV picture in one half of the screen (making it about quarter the size of the full picture) and teletext on the other side (a TV feature available in europe which shows the TV program and some infos). Well, finally we noticed that the dual-screen picture had the same size as our old CRT TV, so we can actually still compare now how tiny our old TV was :-)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny!
xo,
s
christine says
I would suggest purchasing a TV just before the superbowl. We purchased our 46″ LCD 1080p from Target the week before the big game and scored a deal of $379! That was the sale price.. no gift cards or anything. Just a suggestion for any future TV purchases.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s a great deal!
xo,
s
amanda says
Cougartown, yay, love it! I’ve been needing to get a bigger tv too. My problem is, I tend to over-research things and it takes me forever to buy something cuz I want the best quality for the best price.
Also, not sure if you’re aware, but Target has coupons on their website you can print off. They change regularly and it will be cash or a %age off of everything from groceries to cameras to clothing. I use them a lot.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart!
xo
s
Nic H says
Isn’t it amazing when you realize what you’ve been missing?! My husband and I were living in Asia for the past 5 years and had not owned a TV since before we left. That means that for FIVE YEARS we watched everything on our 14in laptop screens. Insanity. Shortly before this past Christmas, we gave ourselves the gift of a glorious 42in Insignia. We really don’t watch much TV–two shows per week plus the occasional movie–but we still could not believe the difference! Enjoy!
Jody says
Just bought a 24″ LED tv for the master bedroom. It will replace the old CRT that has been living on my dresser for too long and is mainly used only when I fold the laundry. The new tv will be mounted to the wall on a swivel arm so that it can be tucked away on the wall beside the dresser when not in use. Can’t wait to get the dresser space opened up.
Jason says
I had a Vizio 42″ and took it back, the speakers were making an audible buzzing that you could hear unless it was on mute – very annoying. The guy in the store told me on a later visit when I happened to see him that several other people had brought them back with the same problem.
I ended up with a Samsung which I love and fortunately was made afer the years where they had problems with colors and not turning on(I hope), etc. such to say that no brand is problem free.
My old roommate had a Vizio and still does and it was the greatest, so that’s why I went with one originally. So, just make sure there is no buzzing before the return period ends and you should be happy!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! We checked and there’s no buzzing! Whew. Oh but we did hear that Samsung is in a class action suit for faulty TVs, so you might be entitled to some compensation. Someone shared the link a ways back in the comments, hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jason says
Yay!!! I’m sure it was a certain production group that had the issue. That’s great! I was sad to have to take mine off the wall and take it back, but it’s ok I like the Samsung. They didn’t have a Samsung 42 so I had to get a 46, but it is fine, not too big. I will keep viligent about recalls, I know my old boss has one of the ones that wouldn’t turn on eventually, but they got it replaced.
I agree with everyone on the brackets, I think they make money off the mounting brackets, but mine wasn’t too bad I don’t think. Mine was pretty easy to install and it’s easy to get the tv on and off the wall portion of the bracket. It ended up being relatively easy to run the wiring above the fireplace( I know some hate that and I wasn’t sure either, but there was no where else for the tv and now I love it actually) from the attic, because it’s a ranch – I’m sure you’ll have no trouble if you go that route being ranchers like me!
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Laura says
My husband and I were just talking last night (for the millianth time) about upgrading our TV. We are still using the TV I bought at a garage sale before going off to college! This thing is ancient! Thanks for your TV shopping tips!
Claire says
We bought the same TV during a Black Friday sale in November 2010 and still LOVE it! Funny thing is, our old living room was closer in size to your current one and we had a tiny 24″ tube TV. Then we moved into a muuuuch smaller apartment and upgraded to the flatscreen. It is sort of ridiculous. I think our current place is about as narrow as your old one! Pretty comical.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s funny! I bet it’s like being at the movies!
xo,
s
dave says
that’s espn’s hannah storm… not some ‘news’
YoungHouseLove says
Dave, you uncovered the fact that ESPN is not on my regular channel surfing routine. Let’s keep this our little secret…
-John
Tina Bland says
We just upgraded our basement TV – AKA the Man Cave TV. I’ll have pics on my blog to come, but this is the one we bought, from best buy – we have a credit card there too and get all the rewards so we didnt pay full price, but I don’t thik it was too bad over all for a 42″ LED 1080p and all that jazz. Actually, the hubs bought a SONY 40″ last week and didnt love it, so we switched it for this one, it was a better buy I guess? It’s his man cave space, so I’m letting him call the shots on the TV;) Nothing like have a good TV!!! We are re-watching LOST on ours, picture is great!!! Enjoy yours, it’s a much better fit!
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/RCA+-+42%22+Class+/+LED+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+HDTV/2877143.p?id=1218359086614&skuId=2877143&st=SKU: 2877143&cp=1&lp=1
YoungHouseLove says
Love that you’re rewatching Lost on it! It must be so crisp and exciting!
xo,
s
Jasmine says
Actually we also just got a TV for our Master Bedroom last week… its a Samsung and its 3-D!!!! Talk about AMAZING movies and picture quality in the comfort of our home but we also waited.. and I also wasn’t about to spend full price. So we got it on clearance! AND open box! which reduced it even lower and they gave us the 3-D glasses for FREE! can’t beat that!
YoungHouseLove says
So cool! Nice score!
xo,
s
Lori says
We didn’t buy a flat screen tv but bought a 1080p projector instead. We now have a 180 inch tv when it’s on. We will never pay $15 (Los Angeles prices)to see a movie in the theater again. And I love that we don’t have a giant black box in the room when it’s off.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cool!
xo,
s
Aubrey says
I don’t believe that you guys could ever have time to watch tv with how much you accomplish in a week! Hopefully having the bigger tv will make the little time you have to relax even more so relaxing.
My husband is obsessed with bigger and better electronics. We just bought a 65 inch flat screen after Thanksgiving and the thing is bigger than my fireplace! I would love to do built ins around it to make it all fit together someday, but for now the tv is the focus of the living room. It is the only decor decision I have really let him have in any of our 5 houses, so I am ok to let it be!
Barbi West says
I seariously read the one line as “Can’t a guy get an exotic underwear scene…” I snorted out loud thinking hmm, Sherry must not have proofed this copy, lol. Silly me!
One thing to consider when you decide on a console or whatever, don’t go too high. We made that mistake and had aching necks for weeks and finally realized we needed to mount the tv closer to eye level when sitting on the couch.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahaha, it’s repeatedly cracking us up how many folks read underwater as underwear!
xo,
s
Elizabeth@ wake&gather says
When you said an exotic underwater scene I read it as exotic underwear scene. My immediate reaction being “jeeze, john you’re already getting a big TV, tone down the testosterone!”
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah, it’s so funny how many people read it that way!
xo,
s
Lacey says
We just bought a new TV this weekend. We upgraded from the 18″ clunker we bought almost 10 years ago, to a Toshiba 32″ flatscreen. So wonderful! I feel really rich, and like I am watching a big screen TV :P I wish ours had come with an anchoring cable though … I just had to purchase some from Amazon to make it babyproof. Although I still have a really hard time imagaing that this thin TV could be deadly, when compared to what we had!
liz says
Funny, I have had the Target card for maybe 5 years now and didn’t get that HDTV specific one. But they DO send me coupons for toddler items when I don’t even have kids. So somehow I must have bought lotion and vitamins there years ago which tipped off their tracking system that I might be pregnant… a la the teenage girl who was pregnant and Target spilled the beans to her father: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
YoungHouseLove says
It’s so weird how Target targets people! So funny that you get baby stuff. Off to read that link!
xo,
s
Amanda says
Lol… my husband and I still have a 24″ old school television. His parents gave it to us when they upgraded to a large, widescreen television. It’s not really all that old, it’s just not flatscreen, widescreen, HD, or very big.
We keep talking about upgrading but it’s definitely low priority.
Margaret says
Wasn’t the finale of the Walking Dead awesome? So many revelations! So much intrigue! Quelle drame! Makes up for all those dumb episodes on the farm…one zombie kill in an hour does not count. It just doesn’t.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes it was crazy good! Now I can’t wait until fall!
xo,
s