We're Going High-Def!

Today we bought something that we've been saving and contemplating for the last 3 years.
A new TV! We headed to Best Buy first thing this morning and hung out for a half hour or so while we debated what all we wanted to buy. We ended up with a Sony 40" flat panel HDTV, a Sony Blu-Ray disc player, a special surge protector-type thing for electronics, and a wall mount for the TV. Best Buy threw in 3 free Blu-Ray discs. They also gave us money off of each product since we were buying several things at once. I am beyond excited since, up until this point, we've been watching our movies and shows on a 19" tube TV from the 80's. I can't wait to see what all I'm missing in all those movies and especially Lost. There are so many scenes where everything is dark and I have no idea what's happening, but I'm sure that is all about to change now that we'll be watching in hi-def.

We learned a few things as we've researched over the last several months. First, the Blu-Ray player will play regular DVD's and upconverts them to be hi-def, so that's nice to know considering that Blu-Ray discs are ridiculously expensive. I'm used to picking up DVD's for 5 bucks at Walmart, I'm not about to start paying $30 or more for one movie. Second, all TV's are the same. If you look at them on the wall at Best Buy or wherever, there are some differences, but ultimately they're all pretty much the same. We got an awesome deal on the Sony which is why we went with that one, plus that's a familiar brand so we're in hopes it will be trustworthy. Of course our current TV is a Hitachi and it's obviously done us well. Third, you can buy a radio-frequency remote control that can be used on anything wherever it's at. For example, our plan is to eventually put the DVD player in our hall closet. Due to the TV being mounted on the wall, we don't really want cables running everywhere or the need for a stand of some kind for the DVD player, so instead we'll have it put away and this remote will work even with the player out of sight in the closet.

I can't wait to get everything hooked up and running. I think Garrett will be in shock when watching all his favorite movies and shows on this big, high-def TV. Hopefully we won't all become complete couch potatoes.