This weekend, after 8 years of faithful service, my plasma tv finally started malfunctioning. So I ordered a new one. It’s on the way, delivers tomorrow.
So I took the old one apart, and used canned air on any part that looked like it might benefit from this. After re-assembly, it works perfectly. No returns on the new one, and I know I won’t sell or give away the old one - I goes into the game room. But my life would’ve been better if I’d waited a few days to order. So I’m in the entirely irrational frame of mind that I would in fact have been happier if the old one had stayed broken, as I’d feel less stupid. In other words, one tv is preferable to 2. At least initially. This is as first-world a problem as it gets.
A kid with a golf club can remedy this situation very easily.
You have two TVs and two eyes.
You do the math.
You are in the rare category of first-worlder who doesn’t consider it essential to have a TV in every room of your house.
But yeah, been there. I do usually try to fix things before looking for a replacement, proportional to cost. (I am technically adept enough to get pretty deep into matters before giving up.) But I have objects around here that have been replaced and then decided to work just fine. Arrgh. What in the hell am I supposed to do with six Ferraris?
You could ship it to some hungry kids in Africa.
I’ll drop by after work.
I did something similar, yet cheaper. I was rearranging cables and I saw that the tip of the plug for my wireless router came appart when I unplugged it. I messed with it and put it back together but it would not power on. So I ordered a new one. When connecting the new one I saw that the old one wadn’t plugged in to the wall. My displeasure was only mitigated by the fact that the new router is much better than the old one. Which also means I don’t even need the old one to cover the area of the house that used to have crappy reception.
it is good to have a backup tv and phone so that you aren’t pressured to replace rapidly when the good/big/fancy one goes out.
these spares are also good to plug in during thunderstorms and unplug your larger units, so a lightning strike doesn’t take out your expensive stuff. small 7 or 9 inch LCD tv sets can be battery powered for loss of electricity situations.
electronics shopping is complex and best done slowly and non-paniced.