The holidays are coming around the corner, and I figured it would be nice to get my grandma something nice. She's always getting me great gifts, and I feel like I never get her anything she can really love.

She literally either reads the newspaper, or watches the news all day long on TV. Her TV is probably older than half the people on this forum, and is no larger than 24" if I recall, and I think the speaker was muffled (blown).

I decided I want to get her a flat screen so she can watch TV in style. I narrowed it down to 32" and I wanted to stick with Samsung as that's what I've always used here, and had no problems.

Here is the TV I choose, I used samsclub as I have good credit there and it makes it easier to I can pay for it at the end of the month:

Price at checkout $300 (free shipping) - http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/pr...ab=allProducts

Few questions/worries:
*Keep in mind she's 89*

1. Is this a good tv for the price? I know it's 720p, but read that it doesn't make much of a difference in smaller sizes. Anything bad about this TV?

2. I have NO IDEA if she has HD channels. All I know is she has DirecTV, although I'm sure one of the most basic packages. She lives in a 65+ high rise building...Will it be difficult/possible to get HD in her apartment?

3. If the cable is ran through an association, will I be able to add HD package?

4. How bad will SD look on the TV in the meantime? Or if she ever wanted to watch something not available in HD?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

 

Well I have some input as I just got my grandma one. She's 82.
She has a 32" tube that was dying. Basic non hd digital cable. She has no need for anything modern. She couldn't work it anyway. She's deaf & uses the CC on the TV so audio don't matter. Picture doesn't either since she's on a tube & has been forever.
So with that I got her some walmart black Friday special 32" LCD for $229. Brand is Sceptre. Online reviews didn't seem too bad. It's only 720P but as I said, doesn't matter.
1 Direct TV should be able to add that for a small fee. But she may need a new box & may have to pay for it.
2 SD tv should look ok at a distance. Close up it will look like crap. My bedroom TV has only sd & that's what it looks like.

 

Nice. I actually just saw some "Sceptre" TV's when looking online. I'm a bit confused though...Did you get her HD programming, or just stuck with the SD programing on the new TV? Did it look any good? I do realize her old TV was dying...

 

A word of caution on SD content and widescreens. My wifes g'rents have a wide screen with SD content and have burned in black lines on the sides of the screen where the image is cropped. The screen is basically ruined because they never watch content that fills the screen.

 

Samsung >> Sceptre

IMHO.

 

It's not ruined if they'll never watch it in widescreen. But is it a LCD?




It's pretty hard to find anything but a widescreen set nowadays.

 

If I understand correctly, you cannot go higher than 720p with a screen smaller than 37", so you are getting the best resolution possible. Any widescreen TV will have settings for the picture size with 4:3 & 16:9 ratios (if not more). The 4:3 picture will be like the standard tube TV you are replacing. 16:9 will stretch the SD signal to fit the widescreen and make things look slightly fatter. The 4:3 setting will have the bars on the side like mentioned previously, but TV burn in technology has come a long way to protect the TV. It is almost a non-issue today with higher end TVs. Samsung is a great choice and always my #1. The SD signal should look as good or better than her current setup especially with the smaller 32" screen. She likely will already have locals in HD so her CBS is good to go. (I've realized CBS is the most watched network b/c all the old people with nothing to do watch it.) Sounds like you got a good deal.

 

Just don't let her go all Requiem For A Dream and shit.

 

Nope. Didn't change anything cable related.
I haven't gave it to her yet. It's a Christmas gift.

 

Thats a badass gift for her

But if shes 89 will SD and HD really matter? Especially if shes been watching tv off an old 27 inch tv for a good while. I understand you dont want to half ass but just saying since I think youre over analyzing the gift a bit

 

I agree, don't bother with getting her HD and I think DirectTV has a lot of free HD, correct? Just set the LCD to zoom so the pic fills the screen. Yes, it may cut something or distort it a bit but she won't notice.

 

I don't even think they make SD tvs anymore.

I was in this position a few months ago. I ended up buying a 32" Colby for my grandma. It's a cheap Chinese brand but it has decent reviews. She doesn't care that much about picture quality or sound quality. She went from a 17" CRT that needed a digital converter box.

I wouldn't spend the money on a Samsung or other first tier maker.

I think more important than quality is how easy to use the remote and interface is.

 

^ Almost any new TV will be better picture than what you are replacing. +1 on the ease of use and visibility for the remote. This is what you should key on for your selection IMHO.

 

Burned screen? Must be a plasma. LCD TVs do not use phosphor, and therefor will not suffer from a burned-in image.

OP, a cheap TV is always a cheap TV. Don't get her the best TV in the store, but choose a nice mid-range 32" and upgrade the cable box to HD. Gr'ma will thank you.

 

Colby, Scepter, Element, and TV's of similar quality are junk. Will they give you a picture? Sure. They are still poorly made and use cheap parts. If they have any issues, you throw them away. No one will fix them. For an extra $100-$200 you can almost always get a TV from a reputable company that makes a much more solid set.

Also, someone mentioned 1080p not being available on TV's smaller then 37". That is not true. They are more rare, and not really necessary at that size, but they are available. If I was in the market to get an inexpensive set, I would probably look at LG. The quality is better, the picture is better, and it won't run you all that much more money. It's your grandmother, don't skimp on quality to save a few bucks. I just lost my grandfather this past year. Take care of them while you still have them. Even if they do not know the difference, knowing you gave them quality is worth the extra money.

Also, it's funny all the comments about SD looking better on newer TV's then old CRT's. SD looks like SHIT on flat panel TV's. I would rather have an older CRT if I had a choice if I only had SD signal available.

 

I replaced a 26" WS CRT HDTV with a 32" LG LCD, the SD content looks better on the LG than the old Toshiba. And 32" LG is 1080p.