Aug 5, 2009 -- 9:10AM, LinsE wrote:

My mother said she might buy a new TV and I told her they would be HD.  Then I mentioned the cable company

charges more for the HD channels.  So, how do you even start helping someone look for a new HD TV when they

have no idea about the technology?  I don't want her to get a big fancy TV if she doesn't understand or won't

use special features.

I guess the questions are what her budget is and if she could use HDTV in the first place.  I know my mom would never go for it because she's afraid of technology and being a depression era child, is very conservative with $$

An idea I have is to get a copy of Consumer Reports with a HDTV review in it.  They usually have clear and concise descriptions that should help clear things up for her.  If you narrow it down to a particular brand and maybe model, say Panasonic, you could download the manual and go over it with her before she even buys.

hope this helps!

Tim

Aug 6, 2009 -- 3:08PM, LinsE wrote:

Thanks, Tim.  I subscribe to Consumer Reports and ge the annual Buying Guide, so I would look that up.  It doesn't

really help with some things, like - would my mother ever use the 'picture-in-picture' feature -- or any features,

really, LOL! She is very frugal with her money and also not inclined to learn the new technology, so it's a challenge.

Man, I'm with your Mom there ... picNpic is an awesome feature! It's still available on some hdtv's but it's getting hard to find. The good news is I've noticed it's the less expensive models that are retaining it. That works for me.

I used it often when bad weather is approaching or keeping an eye on developing news, etc.

A pretty funny story: when the boys were teens, we went and bought one of those huge projection tv's. There was a tornado warning on so I'd gone in the den to finish watching my movie and do the picNpic thing with the local weather channel. Well, it just all went wrong and they died laughing when they got home. Seems that model had 32xpicNpic and not knowing how to use it, I had 32 different little screens running at the same time and it was just a mess. Not one of those channels was either of the two I was looking to watch. I have not touched that remote since that day! What would you call remote phobia?

Aug 9, 2009 -- 9:05AM, LinsE wrote:

Keven, that's tooo funny -- that sounds like the phone calls I get from my mother!  She had to get a new remote control

for her cable and didn't ask the tech to show her the features.  She phoned me this morning to ask what channel was

a certain station.  I pleaded with her again to let me show her how to use the features (like looking up a TV show)  but

she said she's just fine the way it is..............:::sigh::::

LOL! My goodness - I so totally understand. Thing is if they'd learn to use the features, it makes everything else so much easier and "richer".

it's down to $168...look for model number LC195EM9 in stores

Sep 12, 2009 -- 10:18PM, Cooldaddy wrote:

Consumer report is good for some things but NOT  A/V gear! Try HOMETHEATERMAG.COM or SOUNDANDVISION.COM  for reviews of TV/AUDIO gear

Very true, but they lay things out in simple terms for people to grasp the concepts.  I think that's what LinsE's mom was needing.