Gifts That Make One Speechless
My parents purchased a 46″ flat panel plasma TV a few months ago. To say they love it would be an understatement. My dad could talk for hours about how great the picture is, how amazing the TV is, etc. I am not really into electronic gadgets and having the latest and greatest, so I don’t really follow a lot of what he’s talking about, but I am happy that they are so happy with their purchase.
My parents are visiting us right now for a week (we live about 1000 miles away from them) and yesterday a 37″ flat panel LCD TV arrived for us. With an upconverting DVD player as a bonus freebie (which I only vaguely understand what that even means). My dad works in a position where he earns gift cards to major retailers as performance perks, and he did exceptionally well this past year with that. He decided to turn his perks into Best Buy gift cards, and used them to buy us the TV as well contributed to my spouse’s goal of getting a Playstation 3 so that my spouse would have enough money to get it now (which my spouse did, it is on its way to our house as I speak).
To say I feel overwhelmed would be an understatement. My dad said that he wanted to get us something that we would enjoy but would never consider doing for ourselves because we have other priorities for our money right now. And he was right - the TV is amazing and we both really like it, but we would never have considered buying one for ourselves.
We’re not getting the HD upgrade from our cable company though. We wouldn’t want to go crazy and turn a gift into an ongoing bill for us. The old TV is going to our August yard sale. Maybe we’ll recoup some of the energy usage costs. 
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July 10th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Oh how cool!!!
About the HD- if you’re a sports fan, it’s a must. If not, no biggie:)
July 10th, 2008 at 8:20 am
wow! cool dad!!!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:29 am
would your parents like to adopt me?
very nice of your parents to do that for you!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:01 am
You should check with your cable company before you make the decision not to go with the HDTV. Maybe you already have looked into it, and I know that companies vary, but our cable company offers network channels for free as long as you have basic cable, and if you already have digital cable they give you 15 or so other channels for free (HD versions of channels you already got).
Alternatively, you could buy an inexpensive HD antenna to pick up the over-the-air stations. I have never done it myself, but I have some friends who do it and get excellent quality TV out of it (no snow in it like old rabbit ears).
Just a thought!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Awesome, enjoy the new toy.
I bet your husband will be pleased with the quality from his PS3. I was happy when mine decided to go with an Xbox 360 instead; otherwise we’d practically need to upgrade to the high def tv for him to truly get all the benefits out of the PS3. Sometimes I still scheme and dream about getting him a nicer tv, though. I know he’d appreciate it. 
(But car parts are always loved more as far as mine goes!)
July 10th, 2008 at 9:16 am
You should definitely look into getting HD antenna. If you can get over the air reception, you will find that picture quality is so much better than analog cable picture. We got the antenna earlier this year and ditched cable and our picture quality is so much sharper. Best of all there is no more cable bill to pay. Antenna cost us $40 at Amazon, which would have been about two months’s basic cable bill.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:39 am
that’s so cool! and a really thoughtful way for them to approach the gift - big points to your parents. no, it’s not practical, but it’s a fantastic present all around. enjoy!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am
How wonderful! Your hubby is going to be really excited when his PS3 arrives!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Just 37″? What a cheapskate, huh? Just kidding of course, nice score.
I think that’s what the perfect gifts are anyway: Things that we would like but would never buy for ourselves…
July 10th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Aren’t generous parents the best? My father bought us a new entertainment center and really wanted to buy us a new larger TV to go with it (so he’d have something good to watch TV on when he came to visit). I wouldn’t let him at the time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one ended up at our door one day.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:01 am
The beauty of a gift like this is your gratitude. And the fact that at some point, you hope to be able to do the same type things for YOUR children. Enjoy it!
July 10th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I’ll join the chorus recommending the HD hookup, be it through cable, antenna, or that option I don’t understand that lets you get at the unencrypted HD channels already being fed down the cable line.
Having an HD television without HD signal is like opening the windows instead of using your central air conditioning … you’ve got it … it’ll cost a bit more to use it … but when you do, boy, you’ll enjoy it.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Awwwwww! So sweet!
Have to second the HD pros. It’s $10/mo xtra for us, but fab. Wait until you watch a DVD on it!
If your old TV is a CRT type (not LCD, etc) then you’re probably going to save energy. You could also put the new TV and the other gadgets on a Smart Strip and limit phantom energy drain as well.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
How sweet of him!!! Your hard work is really paying off.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Makes YOU speechless? It makes ME speechless!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Wonderful gift, wonderful parents! Enjoy.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Holy COW! It is so great.