OTP - ARRRGGGGH!!!!

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d'huit - 23 Apr 2005 21:44 GMT

damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
connections, thinking kitties might have played with the spaghetti, but no.
replaced batteries, not that. it won't even turn on and has been
misbehaving for about a year now, until it just up and quit working today.
we had it repaired once about 5 or 6 years ago, but i can't haul a 100+pound
tv in for repairs. and i know i can almost replace it for what an in house
repair would cost. i know that 14 years is getting up there in age for a
tv, so even if i did have it repaired, it might go tits up again and soon
anyhow. and yes, it was pricey back then and i'm not sure i can afford to
pay the same $1500 for a replacement, even on installments (on my budget),
but i might if i can get the features.

i'm trying to figure out if there is anything out there that is comparable
to the proscan features that are awesome and that i love using--- like
skipping commercials, pic in pic with swapping, instant language
translation, sap, dolby and surround sound, channel recognition, sleep mode,
digital clock on screen at an instant, being able to visually see what's on
20 channels simultaneously (and being able to narrow that down if i want to
focus on just a few channels and then instantly going to whichever one i
choose to check out and back to the multi-screen again), muting sound,
going with bottom of the screen text instead of sound, preprogramming the
channel to change automatically when there is a program i'm really wanting
to see, but i'm just killing time watching something else in the meantime,
on screen reminder memos, zooming in and zooming out while watching a
program, instant recall of what i missed during a program---so i can see if
i missed something important, freezing the frame. stuff like that.

i've checked online at costco, sam's club, target, walmart and best buy, but
i'm not getting enough details about the features of different models

:-( do you guys know of any good tv's that sound comparable that i should

check out?

kate

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Duckie - 24 Apr 2005 01:58 GMT

Gee Kate, I am just lucky that mine turn on and off
with a remote. My favorite feature on two of our tv's
is the closed caption. With my hearing loss, it is very
handy. Seeing the channel on screen and the time if I
command is about all I have. My mother can see what she
wants to watch on screen but that is because of her
cable box - not the tv. Sounds like the perfect feature
to have in a machine. What did the proscan call that
feature.
Duckie

> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> kate

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d'huit - 24 Apr 2005 04:34 GMT

> Gee Kate, I am just lucky that mine turn on and off with a remote. My
> favorite feature on two of our tv's is the closed caption. With my hearing
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> feature.
> Duckie

i have a slight and what seems intermittant hearing loss (mainly consonants)
too and loved the closed caption feature. i also love foreign films and
loved how that could function to translate too. there was some brilliant
thinking that went into the features of that set. i guess i must have
misled you into thinking i could do the "on demand" thing with that set. no
(that on demand is a function of the cable network. the proscan could only
do just 5 seconds of recall/rerun of a program that was scheduled
programming and that i happened to be watching. but that set does do
something none of today's models can---today's higher end sets can do split
screen between a dvd player and the tv, but the proscan could load your
screen with mini screens of sheduled channel programming running congruently
and let you flip back and forth between them and back to the multiple
screens effortlessly, kinda like watching 20 tvs at once. i'm going to
miss that and the zooming in and freeze frames. oh well, if i get nostalgic
enough for it, i can always sneak upstairs (once that set is repaired) for a
techy fixe, i suppose.LOL

kate

>> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
>> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>>
>> kate

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Duckie - 24 Apr 2005 02:09 GMT

I poked around and there are several for sale on Ebay
but doesn't mean they work but the price is good.
http://search.ebay.com/Proscan-Tv_W0QQfkrZ1QQfnuZ1QQfromZR8QQfsopZ1
Looks like RCA manufactured the Proscan if that helps
with looking for a new one.
Duckie

> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> kate

Signature

_('>
(_<_)

_
_('< -quack
(_<_)

_
__('< *QUACK!*
<_{__)

_('< "|,,|_"
(_<_)

_('< "AFLAC!"
(_<_)

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d'huit - 24 Apr 2005 04:41 GMT

boy, i looked at that link and thought---oh goodie! parts! but my model is
a PS27150. knew it was made by rca at the time we bought it. think i'll
let the repair guy worry about parts. i'm sure they'll figure out where to
get them. was told that proscan hasn't been manufactured in 3 years. too
bad. it was a lot of fun have and to use. ain't it always that way
though?---make a great product and bury it, cuz it was too good.

kate

>I poked around and there are several for sale on Ebay but doesn't mean they
>work but the price is good.
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
>>
>> kate

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d'huit - 24 Apr 2005 04:22 GMT

ok. soooo, i took my proscan tv's manual and went out doing some homework
to try to find as many of my old features as possible on a single set.
went to best buy, magnolia, walmart and two repair shops (at one, of which,
the asian repair guy got all excited after reading the manual and offered to
buy my 14 year old tv for $200 sight unseen, him knowing it was broken and
not knowing exactly what was broken. hmmmm . . . that got me thinking it
might be worth fixing, maybe or maybe not).

it appears that even on the highest-end, latest and greatest tv models of
any brand (of analogues, HD, flat screens, lcd and plasmas, even the huge
theater systems), no television model has even one third of the proscan
features and most have less than a quarter of them. a customer service rep
from panasonic (servicing best buys, who is his customer) happened to be in
the best buys store and actually made copies of some of the pages from my
manual. said his company has been upscaling panasonic and he wanted to
show them some of these features. lotta good that did me.LOL i actually
found it kinda weird that this proscan tv has been around for so long and
these companies, like panasonic, don't already know about these features?
felt like i was in the twilight zone. that didn't even make sense to me.

anyway, after discussing it with alex, he thought it was a good idea to get
the old set fixed and put it in the guest room where it wouldn't get as
heavily used.LOL so, i just zoned out picturing myself sneaking upstairs to
the guestroom to watch tv.LOL was thinking this sounded a bit too whacko
for even me. so, i told him about a set i saw at wallyworld. at
wallyworld, there was a 27 inch rca with a few decent features. one feature
i really liked, called "five favorite channels" that you program onto one
button. most of the other features are standard fare---none of the
commercial skipping, pip and all the other lovely stuff i got spoiled by.

anyway, i thought, this is silly!---it could take months for a repairman to
track down parts for the proscan (since they told me proscan hasn't been
manufactured for 3 years---i'm always dubious about stuff like that, but . .
. it could be true.) and i'm NOT sitting around missing my sg1, atlantis,
er, my u of w stuff and gilmore girls for months. nah-unh. i'm positive
that 27-inch rca cost less than the first 13 inch color tv butch and i
bought for our bedroom and that wasn't even cable ready umpity years ago.
so, i asked alex what he thought. he said it was up to me and he was ready
to go back there with me to get it if i wanted him to. so, i bought the
$228, 27inch rca and my poor son had to figure out how to get that heavy
monster into the house from out of my rav4 (just remembered. i have to put
the seats back!). he did figure out how to and he set it up with all the
other components he kept adding to bring his father and me into the 21st
century, cuz he believed we were too enamoured by technological museum
pieces. so, now, i can take my time, watching sg1, atlantis, er, my u of
w stuff and gilmore girls while waiting for the proscan to be fixed---and be
put into the guestroom.LOL this is insane.LOL

kate

> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> kate

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firechief - 24 Apr 2005 05:16 GMT

Kate wrote:

> and yes, it was pricey back then and i'm not sure i can
> afford to pay the same $1500 for a replacement, even
> on installments (on my budget),

Kate, don't forget that mandatory digital is coming. The
date has been set back -- stations complain there are
not enough viewer and viewers complaining there are
not enough programs (sounds like the 50's with color).

If you could come up with $1,500, would that investment
be worth zero in 2 or 3 years when the FCC demands
a total switch to digital? Or would you have another
$500 for a converter box. Digital will not be compatible
with analog, like color and B&W were because the FCC
demanded they co-exist. No such luck with digital TV.

At this stage in the game, if I ever needed a new TV in
the near future, I would purchase the least expensive
TV at an exchange -- Costco or Wally Mart for you.

... Wink --- I'll do the rest.

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d'huit - 24 Apr 2005 05:31 GMT

> Kate wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> the near future, I would purchase the least expensive
> TV at an exchange -- Costco or Wally Mart for you.

uhohhhh. i didn't think of that. i have no idea if the new set is digital
ready or not. but at that price, probably not, huh? drat.

kate

> ... Wink --- I'll do the rest.

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Don Kirkman - 24 Apr 2005 21:18 GMT

It seems to me I heard somewhere that firechief wrote in article
<UbFae.64165$A31.60908@fed1read03>:

> Kate wrote:

>> and yes, it was pricey back then and i'm not sure i can
>> afford to pay the same $1500 for a replacement, even
>> on installments (on my budget),

> Kate, don't forget that mandatory digital is coming. The
> date has been set back -- stations complain there are
> not enough viewer and viewers complaining there are
> not enough programs (sounds like the 50's with color).

> If you could come up with $1,500, would that investment
> be worth zero in 2 or 3 years when the FCC demands
> a total switch to digital? Or would you have another
> $500 for a converter box. Digital will not be compatible
> with analog, like color and B&W were because the FCC
> demanded they co-exist. No such luck with digital TV.

> At this stage in the game, if I ever needed a new TV in
> the near future, I would purchase the least expensive
> TV at an exchange -- Costco or Wally Mart for you.

I pretty much agree, Chief. We just went through the same decusion
process when our 1980 or so 27" Sony began turning everything green and
orange (for the second time; we had the tube rejuvenated about four
years ago and it worked like new for a while).

We settled on a "HDTV-ready" 32" Sony LCD rather than having to change
again in a few years; it has a lot of the features Kate seems interested
in, with separate VHS-DVD-HDTV inputs, pause, nice on-screen
adjustments, but no built-in HDTV tuner and a price that is probably out
of Kate's range though prices seem to be coming down now. We had a size
constraint--a preexisting cabinet that would have meant a major room
adjustment to fit in anything larger.

These small sizes are scarc around here--everybody seems to want 50"-60"
monsters. :-)

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Don Kirkman

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Cindy - 24 Apr 2005 14:54 GMT

As far as skipping commercials..Well with the new satelite services they
have the Tivo(Direct TV) and Dish has one too... My daughter loves her
TIVO...But I don't know what other features are there. I know you can watch
the program at the same time.Freeze frame, and have "instant replay" and not
miss anything..Or record your favorite shows and come back later and watch
them...
Sounds like your old tv is a TV lovers dream....I know my husband would have
loved it when football season was here...LOL...
Hope you find something that you love...
Hugs Cindy

> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> kate

Reply to this Message

d'huit - 24 Apr 2005 15:56 GMT

> As far as skipping commercials..Well with the new satelite services they
> have the Tivo(Direct TV) and Dish has one too... My daughter loves her
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Hope you find something that you love...
> Hugs Cindy

it actually WAS my husband who bought that tv, because he thought it was so
cool.LOL it was his baby, for both football and baseball<g>. i was content
with my 1970s tiny black and white set; spent most of my preference time
outdoors, in those days, anyway. i simply learned to love using the
proscan, over the years. but hey, i was also satisfied with an antenna on
the roof. basic cable tv, was his idea, too, then the sci-fi channel and
history channel. we tried the whole cable package for a very short time,
but thought it was unnecessary.

looking at the model number last night, it hit me that it was actually a
27inch and not a 30---stuff like that didn't matter to me---and you could
see only 12 channels simultaneously on it. it must have just seemed like 20
to me, i guess.LOL now that i think about it, i think i wanted to replace
it with something similar, just cuz it was butch's baby. guess it really
must be a tv lover's dream when a repairman wants to buy the broken set. so
that's what the guy meant about it being tivo-like---now, that makes sense!

think i goofed in not buying an HD-ready replacement. couldn't find
anything in the manual that indicated it was HD ready and for 200 bucks, i
doubt that it is. oh well, it'll do the job in the meantime.<smile>

kate

>> damnit. the 30" proscan television that i have loved since 1991 seems to
>> have given up the ghost, once again. i've checked and rechecked all the
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>>
>> kate

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Cindy - 24 Apr 2005 23:39 GMT

I hope you enjoy it... I know that they say all tvs will be that soon, but
soon to them could be well, a lifetime to us..
Hugs Cindy

>> As far as skipping commercials..Well with the new satelite services they
>> have the Tivo(Direct TV) and Dish has one too... My daughter loves her
[quoted text clipped - 66 lines]
>>>
>>> kate

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