Hello, computer and television service question for you smart people..HELP...

V

Valerie A

New member
...a dinosaur please...? I am a senior lady who loves todays technology but knows nothing about it. Now I am in a position to buy some of these things. BUT I just do not want any more monthly bills coming to the house. Is there some sort of wireless way I could get on line with out an internet service provider? Or at least the cheapest way to get on line that works ok?
Next, I can for the first time in years, buy a decent tv set. How can I get away on the cheap for getting a few local channels to come in decently? (I dont need a whole bunch of channels really). (Unless they are really inexpensive). AND what kind of tv is best, I am confused between the lcd, blu ray, ect also SO many brand names. I dont want to buy fm wal-mart, would rather find a store that has trouble shooters available if any problems. I am a senior lady that wants to go as hassle free as possible but still have some of the wonderful thing you younger people enjoy...THANK YOU for any help you can offer or just your opinions are valued too... thanks , blessings to you for giving your time and knowledge.. oh ps I am in the Northeast USA...
 
Internet:
Either talk to who you get telephone service from, or cable TV service from. If you are far from a big city, you may have to do satellite which is far from cheap. They have nearly price fixed on internet services, simply matching the competition's price, since they don't have to compete (running at / near capacity).

TV stations:
If you live in a big city, you can usually get a dozen or more digital stations with just a good antenna. If you are far from a city, you may have to talk to a local co-op.

TV:
You will pay more to purchase form Best Buy, but they do have roving service staff available. The best TV right now in terms of energy usage is LED-backlit LCD. Standard LCD uses fluorescent lighting, so the "scan rate" is slower. Next most energy usage is plasma. And finally the big tube-type TVs like you probably have now use the most.

60Hz refresh rates are very inexpensive, and may be OK for you, but younger guests may be bothered by "flicker" problems. 120Hz is better, and if you want to do 3D (little content there right now) go with 240Hz.

Go for a contrast ratio of 30,000:1 or more. The colors are better, more realistic.

Resolution of 720p is most common in TVs near 32" and smaller, whereas 1080p is most common in larger TVs. The higher the resolution, the more pixels are squeezed into a picture, the "finer" the picture for a given size. I personally get the 1080p TVs exclusively.

Be sure and get a surge suppressor for power to this TV. It is essentially a computer. It may even have an ethernet / network port (and some free and commercial TV content can come via that port in most cases).

As to brands, the name brands (Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, and so on) will have easier controls, better menus, and just make more sense to operate. The older brand names have bought out, so you cannot trust they have the same "quality". I'd ask questions at the store you go to. And you may want to talk to them about installation anyway...

Blue Ray:
This is a denser format DVD that can carry 3D programming, full length "long" movies, and content that is at full 1080p. Blue Ray players can play DVDs too, but DVD players cannot play blue ray disks.
 
Back
Top