I have a chance to buy a 50 TV for 200 bucks

[Metspitzer]

My niece says a friend needs the money. My Google searches didn't turn up anything that seemed reliable.

How do you find out if the TV is legit?

[Nate Nagel]

if it's not HD, it's not worth $200 anymore. I just gave away a 53" projector. Didn't want to move the silly heavy thing again. Can buy a brand new TV that kicks its ass for $500 or less. Can buy something really nice for under $1K. Old TVs just ain't worth it anymore.

I did keep the DTV converter box though just in case I need it someday. (friend that took TV has cable but no antenna)

nate

[HeyBub]

Each week I see at least one 50", or thereabouts, TV for FREE on Craigslist.

That said, projection TVs are a HUGE piece of furniture and you need a large room to make them viable. Watching a projection TV in an ordinary room (say

12x12') looks awful.

For ordinary TVs, you should sit 3 to 6 times the screen size away from the box. For a 50" TV, you should sit no closer than 150" away (twelve feet). Is your room that big?

Check here for more specs:

[Steve Barker]

Run it by the local police station before you pay him.

[trader4]

How about typing the make and mode into google. Then you'll know what it is. If it's an old projection TV, then maybe it's worth that if it's HD and in still in good shape. If it's a plasma or LCD, then it must be hot.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Is this a fairly new flat screen? If so, it is worth the money if not a stolen set. Check to see if they have the original receipt or at least the manual. If it is a projection TV, they could not pay me $200 to take it.

[Vic Smith]

About 35 years I was mowing my lawn with the reel mower. A guy stops his car in the street and approaches me. Tells me he just bought a gas mower and is going over to a friend's to give him his electric mower. But the friend was just going to pull the motor for some other use, and not pay him anything. He'd rather see the electric mower put to its intended use and make a few bucks. I didn't really believe a word he said, but the story was good enough to get me to the trunk of his car. I gave him 20 or 40 for the mower, a lightly used Sunbeam, and used it for many years. To make myself feel better, I didn't repaint it.

--Vic

[mm]

What if you put your tv in your neighbor's house, facing the window, and he did the same with you.

Then you woudln't need a big room.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I think the rules have changed a bit for flat screens. There is a limit as to how much the eye can see so getting two feet from a big screen is silly, but you can still see it clearly. The old CRT with 525 lines could not be viewed close because all you'd see are the lines. HD cured that.

I also read that once you decide what size TV you want, buy the next size bigger. Most buyers thought they should have done that after getting their TV home. I agree and did that. I was set on a 42", but my wife like the

47" better. I'm glad we did go bigger.

[Jim Yanik]

Metspitzer wrote in news: [e-mail]:

ask for proof of original purchase,or the operators manual that's supplied with every TV,any sort of documentation that would come with a new TV. No stolen TV seller will have the operators manual.

Does the TV come with it's matching remote,just a generic remote,or none?

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Old TVs just ain't worth it anymore"

I don't know...

The $15 garage sale 19" "almost-had-tubes" model that I had in my basement died after many years of faithful service.

I looked on Craigs list and found a 21" flat screen Sony for $40 dollars. I planned to offer the guy $30, but when I went over to look at it, I found a young-20's couple sitting on the floor of their apartment making up the name cards for their upcoming wedding. They certainly didn't look rich, so I considered the extra 10 bucks to be a wedding gift and gave him the full $40.

I figured any guy that was stuck tying ribbons around little packages of almonds on a Satruday afternoon deserved the cash.

Anyway, the "old TV" is in great shape and well worth the $40, at least to me.

[DerbyDad03]

[e-mail]:

re: "No stolen TV seller will have the operators manual."

That depends on where it was stolen from.

Items stolen off the truck or out of the warehouse, etc. would still be in original box with all the original paperwork.

DAMHIKT

[clare]

innews: [e-mail]:

And also be much more likely than being stolen from a house. A 50 incher is not a grab and run proposition.

[aemeijers]

On 6/17/2011 2:08 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: (snip)

I hear ya on that. TV I am listening to (and maybe glancing at once in a while) right now is a 27" glass Sony I bought for $100 bucks a couple of years ago, off CL. I'm too cheap to go HD till all my glass TVs die, and as well as the Sonys are holding up, that may be awhile.

[DerbyDad03]

I've currently got a 42" HD, a 19" glass, a 21" glass, four 13" glass, and 2 computers with TV cards in them.

There's a 13" in the garage and in my workshop.

Only rooms without a TV are the bathrooms and the kitchen.

[aemeijers]

Similar situation here- 1 27" tv in this living room, a 27" and a 19" in the other one (19 hooked to converter box and tripod-mounted antenna, for when satt dish is acting up), 1 14" in kitchen, 1 trashpicked 13" in each of 3 bedrooms (seldom used), and a junk 13?" one in basement in case I ever get off my ass and sort out the mess down there and set up a workbench. 8 altogether?

But at least I have the excuse that I live alone.

Oops- forgot the little 8-inch HD flatscreen I bought for road trips to relatives who are too snooty to watch TV, so I can at least watch the late news after they go to bed. (They don't like microwaves either, so if I want a cup of tea, I have to fire up the damn stove. Told them I'm gonna bolt a locked steel box to the wall of their storage room in basement, and fill it with the stuff I need when I visit....)

[Ed Pawlowski]

"DerbyDad03" wrote

Gosh, I feel inadequate with five sets. Family room, office, bedroom, sewing room, grandson's bedroom. 3 flat, 47, 32, 32 2 glass, 19, 19

[Nate Nagel]

anything that has a CRT is old tech at this point. A brand new TV, at least 720p, comparable to the 21" you bought used, can be found for around $100 if you wait for a sale. (a good one that can also be used as a computer monitor - I have a 25" one - which is probably roughly equivalent, because it's 16:9 not 4:3 - and mine cost me under $300 w/ shipping from Newegg)

I'm a cheap bastard, and HATE buying new stuff, but since the introduction of HD broadcast DTV I gladly gave away all my old TVs. I was a late adopter but once I fired up my first HDTV there was no going back. (now my roommate is giving me crap because I haven't bought a big screen to replace the projector yet, but I figure it'd probably be a good idea to wait until the house sells and I have disposable income again... just sayin')

Plus, the new ones are much smaller and lighter than an old CRT... MUCH...

nate

[DerbyDad03]

[Bob Villa]

"Glass" could mean "plasma" and CRT is less letters!?