I took the HD plunge and am somewhat underwhelmed [View all]

[midnight armadillo]

new tv, tivo, etc. After adjusting FiOS service to reflect our actual usage we cut that bill by $50/mo. Took advantage of football season sale, had a gift card, got a refurb Tivo Premiere and transplanted a 2TB disk drive (already owned) into it...out of pocket expenditures was fairly mild, certainly compared to what many people I know spend on TVs. Also it may help with my son who is on the road to nearsightedness and reduce eye strain headaches for my wife since the old CRT was fuzzy and small for the room. Not that we watch that much tv, but they were both physically unhappy with the old arrangements.

So, fine, we spent some money. The guides all called for a 52" or greater TV due to the distance across the room (13ish feet). I couldn't abide the thought of something that large in the room so went for a 47" LG LCD. Blah. The picture is nice, no more eyestrain trying to read text on the screen, but it's friggin' gigantic. I find myself having to look around the screen to see everything. I find this very distracting. It also completely dominates the room as a giant black rectangle when off, which I really wanted to avoid. I don't know where those nutjobs recommend a 52" or greater TV, or who buys those giant sets. Maybe it's because I don't watch sports or something. I think I'm going to return the TV and step down to a 42" which will be slightly more discreet when wall mounted. And still be bigger than the ole CRT and good enough for Lego Star Wars on Wii.