Pls share your tv setup so dh&I could finally enjoy our evenings!

[lovebebes]

long story short...if i posted a picture of our tv you would surely ask what is this thing. Its gigantic..and not in a good way. I dont know how old it is..it was given to us by friends who got a flat screen a few years ago.
I think we are the last people on the planet with such a television. We are not total dorks and use imacs and iphones haha but we NEED a tv! At night when there is not much energy left for anything and the kids are tucked in we are dreaming of being able to snuggle up and watch a movie!
I have NO clue what is the best way to go about this. We are going to buy the tv itself in the next month and Id like to start figuring out what else we will need, what is the best way to set everything up so that we have access to good content. Do we need a web ready tv? How to stream? (i dont even know really exactly what that is, i mean i can sort of guess but i know nothing). I have heard about something called Roku...about people streaming through their Wii console..and it is all so scary and unknown lol.
Please help, I miss doing something with Dh that is fun and requires no energy. (ha).

[elbenn]

As for the flat screen tv, check slickdeals as they often have some awesome buys on there.

I think Roku is a good way to go (you can buy it on Amazon)--it is a little box and you just plug it in and it works with your wireless setup. Roku gives you access to netflix streaming, hulu, and Amazon video on demand. Netflix and hulu have monthly subscription fees, but you don't have to subscribe--if you don't, you just won't have access to it on your Roku, but your Roku will still work with Amazon video on demand (you can rent movies/tv shows).

Do you already have a dvd player? If not, you may not even care about one since you can get so many movies/shows on netflix streaming and video on demand.

[arivecchi]

We have 3 Samsung flat screen LCD TVs and they have been great. No issues and we have had them for years.

We got an Apple TV and love it! We can buy/rent stuff from itunes (and also have it on our macbook pro and ipad), get netflix and even play our pics on TV. Love Apple TV!

[AnnieW625]

We have a 27" Toshiba analog flat screen (http://reviews.cnet.com/direct-view-tvs-crt/toshiba-32af42/1707-6481_7-20651864.html) tv that we bought in 2003. I'd love to replace it with a 40-42" LED tv, but I am not in any hurry.

We have the cable company (Time Warner) DVR (we used to have TiVO, but the TiVO never worked quite right and died a couple of years ago so we just went with the cable company DVR and have been happy). Our cable company has limited free on demand and we use that too, esp. DD1 for cartoons. It's $17 a month for the box and service.

We have Netflix (last month at the old rates!:boogie:), and am not sure if we'll keep both features. I might renew Amazon prime or look at Apple TV for streaming (although we don't have Wifi and an old TV so that might not be worth it). DD1 watches most of the streaming content.

We have a standard non blu ray HD player, but if you end up getting an HD tv it's probably best to go ahead and get a blu ray player because you'll still be able to watch old dvds on it and pretty much everything esp. new releases will be blu ray.

[SpaceGal]

In my bedroom we have a Sony Google TV...and I LOVE IT!

You can watch streaming Netflix on it, it streams Pandora, and you can web surf to some extent. Others call it a glorified/giant andriod. I really like it. It's not the fanciest (in terms of specs) but it has a lot of abilities to do things. We figured we didn't need the best graphics but having options to do things without having to make sure we hook up every gadget known to man to it. So with ours we have a PS3 hooked up to it when we want to watch blu-ray or play a game.

We have the 40" version...but the 32" version is on slickdeals today for $420.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3258843

Downstairs we have a regular Sony flat screen and it's fine...but if I want to watch Netflix I have to use my PS3 or Wii.

[lovebebes]

thanks to everyone who replied.

elbenn-we have an ancient dvd player that i wouldnt mind throwing out :)

is Amazon video on demand good? Is there a huge selection or just so so? I suppose i can go on there and try browsing it..love amazon.

Arivecchi-Apple tv sounds intriguing and i love all things apple, so I will be checking that out!

and yes, ill be checking slickdeals for the tv...now starting to wonder if it may be worth it to wait until november sales..

[Tondi G]

get an LCD or if you want to spring for it an LED tv. I would also get a Blue ray player that can back play your DVDs too. Our neighbors have Roku and they really like it.

Our LCD tv is an LG. We have had it for 5 years and it's been a good tv. Costco is often a good place to look.

[elbenn]

With the holiday weekend coming up, there might be some tv deals. If there are, they will probably be on slickdeals. If you are planning on getting a new dvd player, you can get one that streams netflix. I have a blueray that does that, but I prefer the Roku because it lets me search new shows on netflix right on the tv (as opposed to going to your laptop and putting them in your queue).

[kristenk]

If you're looking for a new DVD player, I think I have one to recommend. DH recently purchased this blu-ray player from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G8HXXO

It can connect to netflix or amazon streaming video as well as some other stuff. (I don't really pay too much attention to our tech purchases...) DH had been eyeing blu-ray players for a while but didn't want to spend the money. He decided that this player was worth it (and only cost $165).

[WatchingThemGrow]

We probably have a similar TV, recently upgraded to it from the ILs' move. Bonus: comes with a DVD player, that we have not used. We do enjoy Tivo, though, and very basic $13 cable. We can record/keep all the public tv channels, the main network shows, etc. We miss things like HGTV, ESPN, Lifetime or whatever else is good, but we see those on vacation :)

[smiles33]

We splurged on a 50" Panasonic flat-screen plasma TV and got it for under $1000 a couple years ago. I see Costco has GREAT deals on flat screens so I would start there to get a baseline to compare when the other retailers like Best Buy have their sales. We also got our wall mount from Costco and love that.

We also have DirectTV service. We started with Dish Network but changed last year as the service was terrible. I would love to do just Netflix or Hulu, but DH is a big sports nut so he has to have his college sports package.