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GeneralRe: Fight Club Pin
HobbyProggy8-Dec-14 2:36
professionalHobbyProggy8-Dec-14 2:36 
GeneralMy Hero Pin
codejet7-Dec-14 22:59
codejet7-Dec-14 22:59 
GeneralRe: My Hero Pin
peterchen7-Dec-14 23:29
peterchen7-Dec-14 23:29 
GeneralRe: My Hero Pin
codejet7-Dec-14 23:39
codejet7-Dec-14 23:39 
GeneralRe: My Hero Pin
CBadger8-Dec-14 3:10
professionalCBadger8-Dec-14 3:10 
GeneralRe: My Hero Pin
PIEBALDconsult8-Dec-14 3:56
mvePIEBALDconsult8-Dec-14 3:56 
GeneralRe: My Hero Pin
CDP18028-Dec-14 7:29
CDP18028-Dec-14 7:29 
GeneralMy Excellent Home Electronics Adventure PinPopular
Alan Burkhart7-Dec-14 16:48
Alan Burkhart7-Dec-14 16:48 
About 16 months ago I bought a new RCA home theater system. Surround sound, Internet content, the works. Brought it home and hooked it up to my antiquated (22 year-old) RCA TV by way of its RCA cables and was thoroughly enjoying it.

About 30 minutes after the warranty expired it began giving me problems. Eventually it quit working altogether. My son Googled the symptoms and found a lot of people were having the same problem and that RCA wasn't especially concerned about it.

This past weekend I headed off to Walmart to purchase a new system. I absolutely was not going to buy another RCA unit and finally settled on a nice Phillips system for $179 out the door. I spent the next hour unplugging all the speakers and related misc from the RCA and then wired up the Phillips. That's when reality set in. My old RCA TV didn't have an HDMI connection and the Philips system didn't have RCA jacks. Carelessness on my part.

I couldn't really afford a new TV, so it was off to Gold Mine Pawn and Gun to see what kind of deals they had on a decent-sized flat screen TV. Came home with a 32" Samsung with all the toys for $120, and stopped back at Walmart to grab an HDMI cable. Now we're ready to roll, right?

The Phillips was defective out of the box. It'd power up, but never finish booting itself or whatever Blue Ray systems do. It was essentially a brick. By now I was frustrated enough to eat scrap metal and spit nails. Back to Walmart I go to exchange the Phillips - after taking it all apart and boxing it up. Walmart is decent about exchanges and refunds so I quickly had my money back. I almost went back to get another Phillips, but instead bolted out the door and returned to the pawn shop.

The nice young lady remembered me from earlier and asked if the TV had malfunctioned. I explained my situation and she guided me to a brand-new, never opened Samsung system. Seems that the original owner had purchased it a week or so back, and his car engine went down literally on his way home with it. The retailer (not from Walmart) wouldn't take it back so the poor guy pawned it to have money to fix his car. It retailed for $249. I got it for $175... four bucks cheaper than the Phillips.

Hooked it all up and it worked great. A better system feature-wise than either the Phillips or the RCA. Later that day however I was running an errand and suddenly steam was billowing from beneath the hood of my trusty old '89 Jeep Cherokee. Ended up having to replace the plastic coolant reservoir which had cracked. This caused me to wonder if perhaps the Samsung system was cursed, given the previous owner's similar problem. Have not yet inquired at the local Catholic church about having an exorcism performed on a Blue Ray player. Smile | :)
Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.

GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
OriginalGriff7-Dec-14 20:19
mveOriginalGriff7-Dec-14 20:19 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 3:51
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 3:51 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
HobbyProggy7-Dec-14 20:48
professionalHobbyProggy7-Dec-14 20:48 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Mark Parity7-Dec-14 23:13
Mark Parity7-Dec-14 23:13 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure PinPopular
OriginalGriff7-Dec-14 23:26
mveOriginalGriff7-Dec-14 23:26 
RantRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
User 101325467-Dec-14 23:40
User 101325467-Dec-14 23:40 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
HobbyProggy8-Dec-14 1:05
professionalHobbyProggy8-Dec-14 1:05 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 3:56
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 3:56 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Clark Kent1238-Dec-14 2:04
professionalClark Kent1238-Dec-14 2:04 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 15:41
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 15:41 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
dandy728-Dec-14 6:41
dandy728-Dec-14 6:41 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 7:45
Alan Burkhart8-Dec-14 7:45 
GeneralRe: My Excellent Home Electronics Adventure Pin
dandy728-Dec-14 8:37
dandy728-Dec-14 8:37 
GeneralFace palm - another fender bender... Pin
charlieg7-Dec-14 7:01
charlieg7-Dec-14 7:01 
GeneralRe: Face palm - another fender bender... Pin
Tom Deketelaere7-Dec-14 7:43
professionalTom Deketelaere7-Dec-14 7:43 
GeneralRe: Face palm - another fender bender... Pin
OriginalGriff7-Dec-14 8:00
mveOriginalGriff7-Dec-14 8:00 
GeneralRe: Face palm - another fender bender... Pin
Tom Deketelaere7-Dec-14 10:10
professionalTom Deketelaere7-Dec-14 10:10 

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