Uh Oh

We bought a flat screen this afternoon. After watching nothing but streaming video and iTunes on our 15" laptops for two years, we are now watching basic network TV and Hulu on four times the area.

So why now? My parents are visiting next week for Thanksgiving and for months I have been saying that I thought my dad would go stir crazy without one. Then yesterday I read an article on Black Friday specials that confirmed the rumor of a $250 32" LCD at Target, which is about 40% off the normal price. That had my hubby sold but I reminded him that my parents were arriving the week before Thanksgiving and would be leaving on Black Friday.

Nonetheless, we were in Target today and I see him walking toward me with a 32" LCD in the cart. "It was the last one," he said. Although it was $299, he said paying an extra $50 was worth having it here in time for my parents.

Of course when we plugged it in it didn't catch any channels on it's own, so it was off to Best Buy for an $40 antenna. That seemed to work. While he went to get an S-cable, I watched a travel show on Hawaii broadcast in HD by a local NBC station. It looked so good! I was being seduced.

When he got back, we hooked up his laptop to the TV. I was worried the streaming video wouldn't look so good on a large screen, but Fringe looked crisp and smooth.

So I have invited TV back into my life--am I worried about getting hooked on it again? A little. There is something about the size of this thing that makes the experience so much more immersive than watching it on a tiny laptop. But then again, without the basic cable content ofVH1, MTV, Food Network or HGTV, I don't think it will have much power to suck me into marathon viewings. Pray for me nonetheless.