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Sorry to hear you're having your first disagreement. I'm not married yet so I don't have any real advice for your situation... but I can tell you my guy is the same way. He is obsessed w/ tvs. He has a nice 42" that he doesn't think is big enough and he HATES my boxy old 27" clunker. He threatens to take a hammer to it on a weekly basis :)
We are moving in together in February and he said he wants to get a new/huge tv at that point (i would rather not). However, I really want a great dane and he thinks that we have enough pets (he has 2 cats I have 1 dog). So we made a trade. He can get his big tv and I can get my big dog. I know you said there is nothing that you want of equal price... but what about something of equal importance? This could be your chance to paint your bedroom purple or something! I don't think you're ever going to agree on every decision, so it is important to do overall compromises (this for that kind of thing). Just my 2cents.
If I were you, I would do some research on what is the right size TV for your room. First you will need to measure your room. Then go online and look up what size TV is good for the distance you will be watching it from. It is possible that the TV he wants will be too large for the room anyway! And if you can show him that fact in a diagram from a home theather company, then I think he will start to see your point. If the TV is too large you won't even be able to see the whole screen at once!
i'm sorry you're arguing. don't take this the wrong way but i laughed to myself a little, because FI is obsessed with tvs and he already has a perfectly nice flatscreen. he is insisting that he needs a bigger one. what is with men and tvs???
I have the exact same comment as snmcdowell. Make sure the size of the TV is okay for the room you have...otherwise it will be hard to see it. My FI wants a bigger TV but our living room is teensy tiny, so not only would it look stupid, but we would not be able to see it correctly.
We have a pretty large TV in one room and it is basically worthless except for sporting events. Most regular shows are very distorted on it, unless you have the HD package from your cable or dish company. I would try to convince him to go for a smaller TV now and then maybe later when you have more money and a place to put a larger TV, you can purchase it then.
I agree with snmcdowell. Do your research and come to him with that. Also, talk about what kind of cable package you have cause missasb is right. For that size tv you need HD, even for sports!
Also, I don't know if this would factor into your decision, but those ginormous plasma TV's are HUGE energy drains, your electricity bill will go up by a fair amount. I think I would tell him if he wants to watch sports on a gigantic TV he can go to a bar or to his parents. It seems like a silly reason to spend almost double on a TV.
No offense to your husband. But I am siding with you on this one. 42"-55" should be more than enough!
Thanks for all the input!
We already have the HD box for cable, our roommate had a HDTV in her room and when she moved out a few weeks ago we decided to hang onto the box b/c we knew we'd need it. We also have a HDTV in our room.
I found a few articles online about viewing distance from large TVs so I'll be measuring the living room when I get home tonight!
Seriously, what is up with men and TVs?? My Dad and brothers aren't like this, I mean they like TV but they realize that 73 inch is a little excessive.
@CorgiTales: LOL, I would like another kitten :)
Haha, guys and their tvs crack me up!
Not sure if you've already done this, but after you take measurements and figure out optimal viewing distance, maybe go to Best Buy together so you (or rather he) can really look at LCD vs plasma vs rear projection side by side. Then he can compare quality and aesthetics. This may be fighting dirty, but if you tell him the larger TV is too ugly to look at all day, and you'll need to cover it up with a sheet or blanket, and put all his gaming systems/speakers/DVDs in a cabinet, he may see the light. With a slightly smaller flat screen the accessories can go easily in the TV stand and he can have them handy all the time, plus no covered-up TV. (I think covering up the TV would actually look pretty weird in a living room, but he doesn't have to know it's just a negotiating point.)
Another factor making the case for a slightly smaller flat screen might be portability-- plasmas can't lay down flat since the gas leaks out of the tubes, and the rear projections are going to be insanely heavy to move.
If he really doesn't budge on the issue, see if you can get one with a 30-day return/trial policy just in case you get a huge TV home and he decides you were right all along.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
i say go the flatscreen/lcd/plasma and as long as the room can handle the size, the bigger the better - spend the money now if you can
we have a older house so we have big rooms so we have a 65" plasma with cinema seating - hubby chose of course... the seats even have cupholders and storage space for remotes/chips ect (hes such a guy). its not what i wanted - i wanted something a bit more stylish but he was so darn excited about it plus our thing is to stay home & watch DVDs as we dont go to the movies often
oh, when we first got the 65" we looked at it, laughed and would say "its big!"... now i look at it and say we could have gone bigger
oh - and if you can afford it - Tivo.... hubby loves it, the way he talks to it is like having a mistress in the house but its very clever and tapes all the stuff you like that you are totally clueless that its on, like the other night it taped 1am Bridezillas for me :) (its a repeat but i was still happy to watch it again)
Ahh, the tv fight!! I can't even tell you how many debates DH and I have had on this topic!! Just so you know, I say this while my hubby is watching tv on his (now our) 10 foot projection screen. Anyway, it's cool and all but if he had wanted to get it after we got married- forget about it! When he did get it, we'd only been together a year so I didn't have any say. What I love about it is that it IS awesome. What I hate is that it takes up an entire wall of our living room, which looks ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. His argument is ALWAYS that we can put it up (it pulls down). Do we? Never! AHH! It drives me NUTS!
Anyway I tell you this story because it is an example of what my mother taught me- sometimes, in marriage, you just have to choose your battles. A tv isn't worth it to battle over. We as women will NEVER understand men's obsession with big tv's. What we get is aesthetics. They don't. So, if this is one of the most important battles you can think of, then honey, saddle up and fight the good fight! But if it's not? Just accept that it's not worth fighting over.
In terms of first married purchases and power struggles- I don't necessarily think this sets the tone for your marriage. It's about compromise. We just bought furniture & a new mattress. Some things were important to me, and some were important to him. We compromised. And not always on the exact thing important, but on the scheme of things... THIS is most important to ME, so we do THIS... and THAT is most important to YOU, so we do THAT. For example, we bought a new tv for our master bdr, because he wanted to keep his really old rear projection tv (like you're talking about! EW!). I said no. If we are going to have the screen take up the entire living room, we're not having ANOTHER tv take up the entire bedroom. His way with the tv in the LR, mine with the bedroom: a nice flat screen hung on the wall. Sleek and takes up very little room (He still thinks it's too small.. that was a huge debate.. but I won!) I think it's all about give and take and compromise and talking it out. Sorry this was long, but I hope I helped. Good luck!
I am in total agreement. My bride and BFLFE(best friend for los evers) bought a 26 inch monstrosity for our bedroom and I was sooooo miffed! I slept on the pullout for like 4 days (which felt like 4 oceans of time)! Then whacha!, I realized it is all about making her happy and that we will make it through as long as we communicate our feelings honestly from now on. We talked it over and downgraded to a 19 inch and it is like 2nd HONEYMOON all over again! Best of luck and hope this helps!
@at mona.... choose your battles, yes! i really didnt want the custom made high back fully reclining leather cinema seats with cupholders but he did - and guess what, they dont bother me anymore
@ eloping- you don't need to be rude.
as an addendum to my post, i wasn't intending to brag or flaunt or anything like that. we too are financially stable but by no means living in luxury- which is why i thought my story is a good example because his tv thing is ridiculous and one of the things that i could talk about until i was blue in the face, i think it's so ridiculous, the obsession with size. the point i was trying to make was that it might not be about finding the best solution to THIS problem, but to find a good way of handling the many times that will inevitably arise when it's about who will "win" the argument. it doesn't matter what any of us think you should do, what matters is how you solve the problem and how you end up feeling about yourself and your voice in your marriage based on how you handle this problem. Again sorry if i offended.
mona I don't think eloping was trying to be rude--it is a compromise if you trade off what is most important!
And let us know how the measuring/tv debacle turns out daisybride!!! I know we'll be doing this a short while after getting married, too.
@Mona... im seriously sorry if i was rude in anyway and i sincerly apologize if it comes across that way - seriously, i dont understand why you thought i was so im very sorry if i came across that way!!! really, i read your post and was cheering what you were saying and then equating it to something that happened to us. yikes.... im the first to know when im being a smart a*** but i really didnt mean to come across that way in my post above!
I don't get what was really rude about that comment, but sometimes we can just take things the wrong way... you can't interpret tone on the boards. :) haha I've been a public enemy around here a few times. Eek.
Anyway... Boys like their toys. A big screen tv to them is like our beloved Kitchen-aid mixer or our first born. I think your compromise is extremely reasonable... however if it's that important to him (and you can afford it) so he can watch football & whatever with his buddies-- I say let him have it! Let him be the "cool kid" for the rest of the year lol
Thanks again for all the great advice!
@eloping - We have a DVR which is like tivo and I LOVE it. I never watch shows when they are on anymore, I always wait until it's like 15 minutes in so that I can fast forward through the commericals :)
I measured the room last night and it is actually big enough for that 73 inch, barely. We also measured out what that would look like in the room and he agreed that it really would be too big. We talked about it and decided that a 60 inch would be best. There is a Best Buy moving sale at a local store this weekend so we will check that out. Since he came down in size, I am thinking that the rear projection might be ok. We can put a rear projection tv on a nice looking TV stand as long as it's not over 65 inches and they are a better price than the LCDs. (He has something against plasma, idk).
I get the compromise thing and we are usually pretty good about it. I was trying to figure out last night why this bothered me so much and I think I know why, at least in part. When we were at his parents house, we started talking about getting a new TV. When we talked about it in the past, he was fine with the 55-60 inch but his Dad kept saying that he wouldn't be happy with that and that he should go bigger (remember, his Dad has a 73inch). My husband was really easily convinced that he did need to go bigger and then all of a sudden it was like they were ganging up on me and telling me that it needed to be bigger. I get annoyed when I am told what I want so I think that was the spark that got me so upset.
We will see what happens this weekend!
@ eloping.. Sorry then, thanks for clearing that up, I read it the wrong way I guess!
@ DaisyBride.. Have you looked at Costco? They had some great deals on TV's awhile back and that's where we got ours because it was such a good deal we finally agreed on size/getting rid of his big old one.. you might be able to get a tv bigger than you want (to please him) but yet a flatscreen that could be hung (to please you) for the same cost. We compared at Best Buy and Costco was a significant amount cheaper at that time.
UPDATE -
A local Best buy store had a huge sale this weekend where they sold floor models and excess inventory from all the Baltimore area Best Buys. We got a 58 inch plasma for $1700. He loved the GREAT deal that we got and the size/quality of the tv (650mHz or something) and I love the fact that it's a plasma and not ginormous! (BTW, we got one from inventory, not a floor model b/c we were worried about the lifespan of the tv).
Now we just have to decide if we are going to hang it on the wall or not :)
DaisyBride: Definitely do some wall-investigating before trying to hang the TV and don't be surprised if it's a total fail ;o) We live in an old apartment building and FI was insistent on hanging the damn TV. (We only have a 37 inch I think) We bought all this hanging/anchoring stuff, and many $$$, hours, and holes in the wall later, the TV now sits on a stand. The wall practically crumbled when we tried to put the anchors in, but we've never had trouble hanging anything else, installing lighting, etc. Good luck!
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We've been married over a month now and we are about to make our first big post-wedding purchase, a new TV. Our old one is dying (like if you watch it too long, the picture goes out and you have to turn it of for a few hours). We have different views on the importance of a TV and it's decorative value. I think that 55-60 inches would be great (I'd be fine with 37inch too but I'm trying to compromise). He agreed with me on the 55-60 inch until we watched the football game on his parents 73inch TV over the weekend.
I also think the TV should have some decorative value. We have one living room (as opposed to a basement "den" type room) so I'd like it to look nice and I'd like the TV to be mounted on the wall or sitting on a nice piece of furniture. He'd rather spend that money on a bigger TV.
I started to realize last night that maybe the details of this "fight" aren't as important as the fact that this is our first major purchase/power struggle. We were great about wedding related purchases and I think a large part of that was because even though those were more important to me than him, I'm super frugal and he knew that I thought everything through. I feel like with this, he will get the biggest TV that he can possibly get for the money that we decide to spend. So he'd rather get a big ugly rear projection TV that would be too heavy for a nice stand over a slightly smaller and nicer looking flat panel TV. A small part of me can't help but think that if I give up all control on this, it will set the tone for the rest of our marriage. We talked about me spending the same amount of money on something I want but I honestly don't want anything that bad and I'd rather put the money twards the mortgage! Am I crazy?
Just to note, we are fairly financially stable, not rich, but stable. We own our house but there are improvements that I'd like to make to the house and I'd like to pay off our second mortgage. We don't have credit card debt or anything. We do NEED a new tv and I'd like it to be one that we keep for a LONG time, so I don't want to buy something now that he'll want to upgrade in 2 years.