When Diane retired 14 years ago, she bought a Toshiba TV as a retirement gift to herself. Diane liked the built-in DVD and VHS players as well as the crisp color on the screen (state of the art back then!). We connected the Toshiba to the Time Warner Cable and everything was copasetic until TWC morphed into SPECTRUM. SPECTRUM sent us a letter declaring they were going 100% digital TV. All of our TVs would require their digital cable boxes. I called SPECTRUM and ordered the digital boxes. When they arrived, we found out that the digital box connected to the TVs with a HDMI cable. The Toshiba TV was too old to have a HDMI port.
So Diane and I went to BJ’s Warehouse where we found the SAMSUNG 28″ HDTV for $199. We didn’t need a big screen HDTV (we already have a 65″ SONY 4K HDTV in our living room). The new Samsung, like the old Toshiba, sits on a dresser in the computer room (aka, Patrick’s room) and is used basically to check THE WEATHER CHANNEL or scores during football season. Setup of the digital boxes was easy. “Activation” over the phone by SPECTRUM took longer than I wished. But, everything is set up and working fine. This is our second SAMSUNG HDTV. Costumer Reports ranks SAMSUNG at the top of their HDTV recommendations. If you’re a SPECTRUM subscriber, be prepared to transition to 100% digital HDTV. Do you like your TVs or do you want to upgrade like we did?
Bought a 55″ Sony 4k tv about a year ago and am very happy with it. Never heard of Spectrum. Must be a regional thing.
Steve, we love our 65″ SONY 4K HDTV. We’ve had good luck over the years with our SONY products.
Way to stimulate the economy! We have done our part for the Florida economy the last three months.
We went digital when we were with Time Warner too. With Fios, Jackie wanted a Smart TV to more easily connect to Netflix, etc. We have two Samsungs and are happy with them. I hope Fios expands up there. It’s a lot more reliable and easier to deal with than TWC/Spectrum.
Jeff, we like our Samsung HDTVs, too. TWC/Spectrum rules most of Western NY. FIOS is still unavailable in many areas here.
We also have Samsung and like it. Although I want to be able to get FIlmstruck and I guess I have to get a Roku to do that. Woe is us. We need Patrick.
Patti, we have friends who have Firestick and others who have Roku. We have the SPECTRUM digital cable boxes that do pretty much the same thing.
Like Steve, I’m not familiar with SPECTRUM. We live in Comcast Land, and have to put up with their Xfinity system, which we hate.
That TV is too small and apparently rarely gets used, so why bother? We like our 42 inch Panasonic, but I suppose it will have to be replaced some day. I’d like bigger, but this house has an AV cabinet, and it would take a contractor and wall removal in a load-bearing wall to enlarge it, so we’re stuck. Still we don’t watch very much, so what we have it fine.
Rick, we seldom use the Samsung HDTVs in the Guest Room or the Computer Room (aka, Patrick’s room) so we didn’t spend a lot of money on those units. They’re just for guests and convenience.
We bought a Sharp tv around 100 cm (40 inches), one of their last ones before they left the market and are happy with it. But we don’t watch too much tv anyway – my wife’s a bookworm just like me. 🙂
A bit OT:
I still remember when 25 inches were the biggest size and they were so expensive – 2000 Deutsche Mark (700 $ at the time), almost a month’s salary …
Wolf, the first American TVs only had 9 inch screens! Now, some television manufacturers are predicting 100 inch HDTV screens! Crazy!
I’ve thus far finessed the all-digital requirements of Comcast by living with a small CRT Philco tv in my bedroom. It’s connected to VHS (yes I still have tapes worth watching occasionally) & DVD players. That’s it. If I want to watch whatever’s coming over the cable I have to go downstairs.
Art, sleep experts say the bedroom should be used exclusively for two activities…and TV watching isn’t one of them!