My wife and I got married a little over two years ago, and since then, we’ve been watching things like Who’s Line is it Anyway? on a trusty 20-inch television with a traditional cathode ray tube. The TV sits at the foot of our bed and, because of the height of the footboard, both of us have to prop ourselves up in order to see the bottom third of the screen.
Now, if there were any financial planners in the Operation Gadget readership, they’d probably say that we should get a taller TV stand so that we can see the TV without piling the pillows behind us. But, we revel in solving problems by upgrading around here, so I decided to look at flat-panel TVs to see what it would cost to replace our current TV with one of similar size.
The best all-around deal I’ve found so far is the 20-inch Sharp AQUOS LCD Flat-Panel TV. This is a TV that weighs only 34 pounds and is less than three inches thick, so we could probably hang it on the wall and do away with the TV stand entirely. The AQUOS line is a significant improvement over earlier LCD-based TVs: it has 170 degree field of view and it is bright enough to be placed near windows and other light sources. The version shown here is a 4:3 model, so it’s not made for HDTV.
Amazon.com has a really good deal on the 20-inch versions of the AQUOS, as I write this. It comes in three colors: white, silver, and black. I’m torn between the white and the silver, but, I’d probably lean toward silver if it were to be hung on the wall of my bedroom. Before I do that, I probably ought to ask my wife….