19年使ったブラウン管テレビが、とうとうお亡くなりになったのは引越し直前の1ヶ月半前。本日、後継者がいらっしゃいました。引越しのドタバタでテレビを購入するところまでなかなか行き着かず、大相撲キチガイの主人が”相撲が見れない!”と騒ぎ出して1週間（実は、大相撲は9月13日に始まってしまっているが）、やっと本日テレビが来て、明日ケーブル会社が工事に来る予定。明日の夜からは我が家のリビングで朝青龍の取り組み（彼は朝青龍さえ勝てば機嫌がいい人間）が見られます。
テレビ購入にあたっては、consumerreports.orgやzdnet.comやcnet.comなどで製品レビューなどを読んで、やっぱPanasonicでしょと思ったのだけれど、いざ店頭に見に行ってみると日本メーカーの製品は、画像の色の鮮度が他とくらべて物足りないように思えて（日本人は謙虚な色がお好みかな）、かといってSamsungは韓国に負けるようでいやだし（へんな競争心とは思いつつ）、MagnavoxやVizioなどのアメリカ・メーカーも敬遠したいし、、、結局行き着いたのは、中庸をとって（？）Philips（オランダ）。”Philipsのカミソリはよく切れたぞ！”と主人が訳のわからない一言。店頭には行ったものの、結局オンラインのほうが安いし、家まで運んでもらえるので、ネット購入。
アメリカでは今年6月12日をもって地上波デジタル放送へと完全移行しました。ケーブルTVが嫌いな我が家は、地デジでローカルチャネル（日本語放送もあり。これとかこれ）をタダで見るのを楽しみにしていましたが、借り家のため屋根にアンテナを立てる訳にはいかず、かといって室内アンテナだとどうやってもきれいに写らず、結局ケーブルTV（Time Warner）を契約することに。電話とインターネットもバンドルして、ケーブルTV（200チャネル+DVR+TVJapan追加)とデジタル電話(国内かけ放題＋日本まで8セント/分）と高速インターネット(up to 10Mbps)で締めて月々146ドル。まんまとワナに引っかかった気分。
Our old TV which served us for 19 years passed away right before our move at the end of July. Today a successor arrived our home. We have been way too busy to worry about a new TV, but my husband who simply cannot live without watching all those Sumo wrestling matches started screaming, " We need a new TV now!" Actually, this season of Sumo matches has started last Sunday, so he missed couple days already. Tomorrow, cable person will come and do the installation. He will soon be yelling at the screen.
We looked at consumerreoprts.org, zdnet.com, cnet.com and other sites for information and reviews. We sort of decided on Panasonic, but once we were there in the store to actually have a look, all those Japanese products did not look too great with much subdued/less vivid color (probably Japanese like more "natural" color), and thus we decided to pass on them. Well, so Samsung? We didn't want to admit that the time to yield our position in electronics to Korea is approaching! Pass! Magnavox and Vizio? Well, also pass on those cheaper American products. So we settled on Philips (Dutch). My husband added, "Philips make really good razors." So what? I was not quite sure how to respond to that comment, but I was happy we finally agreed on the make. Well, we were in a store, but found out it's cheaper if we go online plus you get it delivered right to your door, so we decided to make a purchase online.
Since they now have completed the transition to digital television in this county and there are many stations around here, we have been so much looking forward to watching those local channels free. We even have couple Japanese channels too. We are not allowed to put up an antenna on the roof, tough, since we are renting the house. We tried a room antenna with amplifier, but simply could not get crisp pictures. After all we decided to subscribe cable TV (Time Warner). A bundle of services, which consists of cable TV (over 200 channels+DVR+TV Japan), digital phone(unlimited local/long distance, $0.08 to Japan/min) and high speed Internet (up to 10Mbps) costs $146 per month. We are one of those typical consumers who were trapped by up-selling and cross-selling.
