{TV shopping}

I started shopping for a new TV last month and wasn't sure what size I wanted, (our last one was a 42" plasma and it was great and all but was older - almost 6 years old - and it was having issues - as in the remote wouldn't work, due to several moves the buttons on the side weren't working properly - and then due to it being older the bracket to hang it on the wall wasn't made for that old of a TV - and me being me and just having MJ and the hormones raging out of control, I SOLD THE DARN THING 'cause that was the last straw for me, to the dismay of my hubby).

I knew I didn't want to have the same size TV again and knew I wanted to go smaller but also knew hubby wanted something larger then my little 19" LCD that we have been watching TV on for when family and friends come to watch a movie with us.

I already had the bracket up on the wall, (one that doesn't tilt or do anything fancy), and one of the things I checked was how far apart the spacing was for the TV mounts on the back of any TV I was thinking of buying, ('cause that was an issue with the old TV), plus I knew it had to be 1080p and not 720p (this was very important to hubby).

The next thing I looked at was how many things I could have hooked up to it at once, (I wanted the Wii, Xbox and DVD  player to all be hooked up at the same time), this was a hard thing to find in a LED and in anything bigger then 40" so I kept my search to the LCD type of TV because the plasmas were just too heavy and seemed bulkier then the LED/LCD type flat panel TV's.

I finally settled on a 37" LCD "Dynex" (what sort of name is that anyways?), and I am very pleased with it because not only is it smaller and fits the wall bracket nicely but I don't feel like it over powers our livingroom and all my electronic equipment can all be plugged in and I don't have to worry about the kids changing out the cables for the game systems which means I don't have to either!

Most importantly it was on sale and a great buy. I am cheap I mean frugal and don't buy expensive things on a whim (unless used) so this did take some time in looking and I asked alot of questions and looked at way too many TV's. This TV was fairly light compared to the plasma we had before (took 2 people to lift the plasma and I could lift this one all by myself without struggling) and the color and clarity of the picture were/are really nice (important to me because I just see things that most don't due to being a photographer).

Now I just have to figure out how to hide all the cords hanging down so they don't drive me bonkers, (which won't be hard just need to find the right tools to do it with - which everyone seems to be out of right now or I am just too worried about other things to find them)...

So when you are looking for a replacement TV be sure to know what you want out of it and make sure it will have all the hookups you need and if not make sure you can adapt your equipment to fit the other cables the TV may take. Bigger isn't always best and as I learned brand name doesn't necessarily mean your getting a quality product, sometimes generic is best.

I hope that my experience will help you in finding your perfect TV. I know I learned alot and finally found a great replacement and it's the "perfect" size for our little family.