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My parents have a first generation CRT based HDTV that in the last year started displaying a reddish tint and emitting discrete audible frequencies when certain colors are shown. Apparently, the noises are of such high frequency that my parents can’t hear them at all and naturally, feel less inclined than me to have the TV replaced. So one day on IRC, this guy expresses to the channel his excitement over the news of his newly ordered TV having been shipped. I asked him what he got and he says a 61″ 1080p JVC DLP over at tigerdirect.com for $1899 with free shipping. Wow, what a good price I thought (Best Buy had the same TV for $2400) and my parents do need a new TV. Within three minutes, my order was placed. I had slight reservations afterwards about whether my parents would be pleased or not with the gift, since they hate seeing me spend the kind of money I do on crap they see as useless (ok, $1600 on a Tag Heuer IS somewhat of an extravagance) , but given that our current TV was doing stuff its engineers never intended, the status quo was no longer tenable. About a week ago during dinner, I told my parents about the gift I got them for Christmas and prefaced it with “Ok, Dad you’re probably gonna be pissed but….”. I had just gotten done telling them it was 61 inches when my dad goes “Is it DLP? …. I HATE DLP!”. To give you some background, my dad used to sell TVs back in the day and is a self-proclaimed expert in TV technology — 12 years ago. A lot can change in 12 years and I told my dad that DLP couldn’t be any worse than whatever we have at the moment and it’s not like he was willing to shell out the cash himself to replace the TV. The man is stubborn and continued to insist he did not want a DLP. Oh well, I’m sure he’ll change his mind once the TV comes.

Update: TigerDirect sent me the wrong TV. I got the 70″ instead!!! (which sells for $1000 more at the same site)