If you see a terrific price on a TV you like, grab it. Which brings us back to Best Buy, where prices in the Magnolia section range from about $2,700 to $6,000.
My faithful, 27-inch Panasonic TV that had served me well for nearly 20 years finally died. It had been convalescing for at least six months, during which I increasingly had to slap it on the back like burping a baby to get the picture to appear. Then with a quiet "poof," it was gone -- a fate awaiting my budget if I stuck around Magnolialand.
"For what you paid for it back then, you could probably get a 42-inch flat-panel TV now," Patel said.
Still, nothing I saw at Best Buy and its competitors grabbed me. In this era of YouTube and Hulu, most of the TV I watch is available online.
I miss the all-news channels, but when a huge story breaks, these channels usually go live online anyway.
It just didn't seem like the time to spend at least several hundred dollars on a TV.
Besides, I need to get some new furniture. That sofa in the Magnolia section looked mighty comfortable.
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david.colker@latimes.com
