Yesterday, I placed a large flat screen television out in the trash. It is, as far as I can recall, the first time I have ever literally thrown away a flat screen television.
The television was a 55″ model made by Visio — perhaps not the world’s greatest brand, but a decent brand as far as I am concerned. When Susan rented her condo space in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago she needed a television the living room and asked for some advice. I suggested going to Sam’s Club (who would deliver the television) and pick the largest one you could find for less than $400.
In an previous post I detailed how, after 13 months of ownership, the TV developed a problem with its display. This was not caued by overuse or abuse. If I had to estimate, in the 13 months we owned it we probably turned it on less than a dozen times. When we moved it back to Oklahoma from Washington D.C., it was repackaged in its original box surrounded by the original packing material. Despite all of that, something inside the TV malfunctioned and the screen began displaying static across the lower portion of the screen — not so much as to make it unwatchable, but more than a TV (especially one that was barely a year old) should show.
I contacted Visio and after providing some pictures and performing some remote troubleshooting, it was determined that yes, the TV was broken. and, more importantly, it was still under warranty. Visio mailed me a check for the price of the television and told me to keep the TV. Of course, a $400 TV with a bit of static at the bottom seems like the end of the world, but a now-free TV with a minor glitch seemed like something I could live with, and so I did for a few months.
That is, until last month when I turned on the television and discovered that the entire system was wrecked. It was as if the television would draw pixels to display pictures, but never undraw them. Within just a few seconds, the entire screen would be filled with a gigantic smear of lights and lines and colors — great if you’re into pop art, but pretty useless if you want to watch TV.
The solution came in the form of a Black Friday sale. Best Buy had a TCL 55″ flatscreen television on sale for $188. I think TCL is on par with Visio. It cost half as much as the one it replaced and was half the weight. After turning on the TCL television I was forced to login using my Amazon account (the options were to do that, or be limited to a limited set of features with no access to the app store). By the time I had jumped through all the required hoops including scanning for stations using my digital TV antenna and setting up all my apps (Plex, Pluto, Tubi) it’s possible I spent more time working on this television than I spent watching the last one.
That left me with one final dilemma… what to do with the old TV. These things are not really designed to be worked on, and I’m not sure who would even do it. It’s certainly beyond my technical skillset. None of my local “icanfixit” friends wanted it. With Facebook Marketplace full of $100 used 55″ televisions and new ones costing $188, a completely broken one doesn’t have much value.
And so, with little pomp and circumstance and less dignity, the television was placed by the curb for big trash pickup and recycling, next to a refrigerator that died and the recliner that broke. The whole pile is being monitored by a grinning inflatable gingerbread man from Temu, too dumb to know someday he’ll be in their shoes. In the old days an old CRT television placed by the curb there was always a chance that a neighborhood kid or a local scavenger would snatch it up before it made its way to the dump, but I don’t suspect anyone will rescue this one.
Two houses ago, I purchased my very first flatscreen television. The technology seemed like a miracle from the future at the time. It seemed unbelievable that I owned a television that could be hung on the wall. Roughly 20 years later, it seems just as unbelievable that I would be setting one out by the curb as trash.
