I remember the very first black and white television, I remember my Dad bringing our first one home to us excited kids.....a 9 inch screen sitting inside an incongruously ginormorous cabinet. It was akin to watching an animated postage stamp...and we loved it!! I can even recall the first ever show we watched on it...a Popeye the sailor man cartoon.

I remember the first colour TV, I was married by then with two kids of my own. We weren't very well off in those days but we were the first ones in our street to own one of the new fangled sets....I always was a gadget freak!

Yesterday my lovely wife and I went out shopping to buy a new flat screen TV for our bedroom. It's not that we are now too old to amuse ourselves in other ways in the bedroom, it's just that sometimes the old back and other assorted aches and pains dictate that a little lay down is in order and it's nice to have some kind of entertainment on hand that doesn't require any physical exertion.

WOW, I just could not believe the vast array of different TV's one has to attempt to pick from. Long gone are the days when all one had to worry about was the size of the screen!! There were; plasma, LCD, LED, HD,[i:2qyzxx9j] full [/i:2qyzxx9j]HD, 3D, 50hz, 100hz and 200hz. Not to mention the different contrast ratios, viewing angles, response times, USB inputs, HDMI inputs, etc. etc. etc.

Whatever happened to standardization!!!

After about an hour of serious head scratching we finally bought one. Goodness knows if it is the [i:2qyzxx9j]right[/i:2qyzxx9j] one, but it [i:2qyzxx9j]did[/i:2qyzxx9j] fit our budget. Perhaps that is the general idea after all, you have xxxx amount of dollars to spend and there is guaranteed to be a TV available to fit your bill.

I haven't connected the new set up yet, we first have to remove an old 26" Panasonic CRT TV which must weigh at least 130 pounds. I can barely lift it, carrying it is certainly out of the question. So here we sit, my lovely wife and I, waiting for some strong young feller to happen along so we can ask him to move the old TV for us. I wonder if the 7th Day Adventists or Mormons are due to knock on the door today.....the Lord [i:2qyzxx9j]does[/i:2qyzxx9j] work in mysterious ways you know!

Cheers.....Jim