Ages ago, Mirinda’s TV at the flat, decided to cut people’s heads off – I remember posting about using her cowboy hat to make up for it. If that wasn’t bad enough, the various components also started to fail. Eventually, all she had was the DVD player – the TV refused to show anything else. She told me she needed a new TV.
Clearly it would be a flat screen. I worked out the optimum size for the flat (37”) and set about researching what she’d need. She then threw a spanner into the works by saying she wanted a cheap Smart TV. Apart from a screen that would leave people intact, it had to have built-in wifi so she could stream content from the Internet.
I can state, quite confidently, that there isn’t one. Not a cheap one, that is. When I told her the price list, she blanched and said she’d think about it.
Following a very long period of thinking, she finally said she needed the wifi, so, last week, I bought one. It was delivered to the concierge yesterday (I don’t mind leaving things there if I KNOW about it) and I went up today to collect and install it.
I’m very happy to say that I had absolutely no problem collecting it. The thing is, I had the little bit of paper, necessary to release goods. I didn’t need any ID or anything. The guy was nice as pie.
My second surprise was how incredibly light it was. After looking at the monstrous box it came in, I was a bit concerned I’d need to hire a mule to get it upstairs but my fears were groundless. The box was so light, it just floated beside me with the slightest of taps to guide it round corners.
The old TV, however, was an entirely different matter. It felt like it had been bolted to the floor when I tried to lift it. It is massive (not the screen but the rest of it) and took an awful lot of groaning and grunting just to get it out of the way. I wasn’t sure how I was going to throw it over the balcony rail since I’d never be able to lift it that high.
I didn’t waste a lot of time worrying about the eventual resting place of the very old school telly because there was far more fun in store.
I carefully unpacked the box, marvelling at the technology that can fit things into a box so well, and laid it all out, reading the set up instructions before starting.
It took a while. Not because it was particularly difficult (well, for anyone with a bit of technical knowledge or someone under 20) but because each bit that had to be set up, had to go off somewhere and load it then examine it, drive it around the block a few times, take it out on a date and make sure it came home by the longest route possible.
So, effectively, I sat and watched it run through all manner of program installations with my occasional human inputs. But, boy, was it worth it!
The TV is brilliant! What an amazingly beautiful bit of technology. It took me back to when I worked at Telewest and we were introduced to the fledgling beginnings of High Definition transmissions. Stevie and I were invited to stand in front of three small televisions and watch herds of wildebeest move slowly across some arid plain in Africa. We took our time, examining the three images, deciding the third one was the best. Well, this TV leaves those three sitting at a wet bus stop waiting for transport that’s never going to arrive.
I took my hat off to Mr Samsung (to be fair, it was already off because, not only was I inside but also it was extremely windy in and around the Wharf so I’d removed it as soon as I emerged from the Tube). I seriously think it deserves a name.
Mirinda was suitably impressed when she returned from work and had a jolly good play. We watched an episode of Desperate Housewives on it and the image quality was so amazing, it looked like they were all in the lounge room with us (Bree was particularly frightening). The TV also has 3D (for viewing 3D content rather than making 2D plus one) but I’m not sure how much more three dimensional it can get.
All in all, a most satisfactory purchase.
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Oh, and by the by, Ben and Monali had a baby boy (George) yesterday, which I guess means that they can finally stop having kids.
Congrats to Ben and Monali , wow what a TV we thought ours was great that the girls got us but that ones sounds really great. still don’t think me and dad would be able to work it. love mum