I admit that for the major portion of my life I was overly interested in technology, especially electronics, and ESPECIALLY, especially anything having to do with broadcasting, whether receiving or sending.
And I've always been handy with tools, primarily because I like doing that kind of stuff. I think I got that from my mother's daddy who was quite a craftsman.
But in recent years, say the past ten, I've let the new innovations get away from me. For an example, I have no need for an I-Pod. I probably have nearly 1,000 CDs of the music I love, and a stereo that's big, I'll admit, but will drown out any kid's booming car driving down the street.
Patty has been after me for more than a year to upgrade from the old Sony 24 inch TV set that we've had for a very long time. She wanted a flat screen high definition TV that could be mounted on the wall. "The grand kids expect us to have one, and it'll be a great way for us to watch "Dancing with the Stars," she told me.
So between her and her son, Randy, they figured out which TV we should get, how big it should be...the whole works. My only criteria was that it had to be a Sony. So they ordered a Sony KDL-4024100 from Walmart's web site. It's a 40 inch job.
It arrived and after we unpacked it, I learned that it didn't come with the parts to mount it on the wall, and further, if you want the one Sony sells, you're looking at about $225 for 5 or so pieces of metal and a handful of screws.
So I went shopping. I bought a wall mount from Fry's. $125. Millions of parts and a quadrillion ways to mix and match the parts so it would fit the customer's TV. It didn't fit ours. Then I bought another style from Target. $100. Half as many parts, but it was too small to reach across the back of the TV.
After church I stopped by Home Depot to rent a tile wet saw. While I was there, on a whim I looked to see if they had a contraption to hang our new TV. They did, and I hung it today by myself (important because most of them are so awkward that they require two people). There are only four parts plus a wide selection of screws so that there will be the right ones for every TV. It cost $125.
So I'm writing this piece to save you from misery. Buy the Space Saver Mounting System, Model #30630. If you know how to use a level and an electric drill, you can easily and quickly wall mount your flat screen TV. And thank Home Depot for carrying them.
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS
DALLAS
214 503-8563
1 800 314-7110
Our 43rd Year Selling Texas
Bill - Sounds like you got yourself a super-super Sony with all the accessories. It will be an adjustment going from a 24" to the bigger flat screen. You'll wonder how you ever got along without it until the next bigger, better system comes to the market.
Hi Bill...my husband is really handy too...he would be so jealous!
So how was dancing with the stars this evening...on your new flat screen?
Well, Carl and Ceil, the thing is definitely big and I like the fact that it doesn't have all of that baggage in the rear. But to tell you the truth, this thing is going to take some getting use to for me.
Miss Joanie, watching Dancing.... followed by our very FAVORITE show Boston Legal was quite a treat. But if you saw Dancing... you saw Cloris Leachman make a total ass of herself. Either she's eaten up with dementia or she's one crude, overbearing, foul-mouth woman. I hope they don't let her come back again. Ever.
Bill
thank you Bill, I am in the process of choosing which flat TV to buy, now I know where to go to find the right pieces to hang it up. I appreciate the savings too.
Antonio & Alexia Cardenas, "The Realtors In Motion" www.ListedbyAntonio.com
Antonio and Alexia -- You'll probably save at least $200 if you buy the Sony we got from Walmart on line, and they ship it to you for less than 20 bucks. We got ours within a week.
Bill
Yeah Bill! Don't we love Home Depot and Lowe's?!!!!
It is always such a good thing when you find a tool that will make a job go together without a half dozen trips back and forth to the store. Congrats on getting it mounted.
Bill,
Do you think the next accessories and or exclusions we are going have to deal with is the mounted flat screen tv?
Bill,
Technology has advanced so much over the years. You have to be in heaven with all the new stuff that's come ut. I like the flat screen TVs and have one in my office. They're great!
The TVs scare me when they're mounted on the wall, so we have all of ours on their bases. It just seems they can "just fall" out of the blue if they wanted to and that's an expensive TV to fall. Hope you got no-hassel refunds from the other places. I Tivo'd Boston Legal last night, but good to know it was a good one.
Jon, you've got me tagged. I love all of the new stuff, not that I particularly want to own it, but I am so interested in learning the science behind its invention/creation. When I was in radio a long time ago, if we did a remote, we had to send it to the station ona dedicated telephone line. It took loads of time and expense to set the things up.
Now radio people show up with a small transmitter affair that is no larger than a shoe box, raise a small antenna on top, and wham-mo, the signal is on its way to the station. No fuss, no muss.
Donna,
I understand your concerns. I had them, too, but here's how I reasoned my answer
If you've ever watched a picture fall of the wall, it doesn't fall forward, it falls downward, often times staying flat against the wall as it travels. So the science/rational here is that a TV that has very little thickness and lots of length and width will fall close to the wall and not fall away from the wall. Sheetrock AND the wall's framing have extreme compression strength and very little tensile strength. Bottom line: If the frame holding the TV has been screwed to one or more studs, it isn't going to fall forward or down.
Thanks for your comments.
Bill C, I'm back after a hiatus for the past six months. Thank you for caring. I hope you and Patty are OK. I'm really sorry about Galveston Island. I realize a big part of your life is tied up there.
I don't particularly like dancing with the stars and now I dislike it even more. It ran so late here that Boston Legal came on very late. Too late for Irene and I to stay up to watch it.
Bill Roberts