TV is on the fritz...

[Manedwolf]

Unlike my "middle class" family, most of the "lower-income" kids at my daughter's school seem to afford premium cable TV

Well, you can thank Section 8 for that. When you're paying $400 for a $1600 apartment, lots of extra money for giant TVs and cellphones and spinner wheels.

[280plus]

So I was up in Beantown at the Marriot, the tv was... LG Goldstar... 

Funny though, the remote would only change 2 channels at a time, if you pushed the channel up/down button it would skip the very next channel and settle on the one after that. Oh well, back home anyhoo. Glad to get out of the traffic nightmare that is Boston. I hadn't driven there in years, it's gotten a LOT worse. So much for the big dig clearing things up... 

[atomd]

Well, you can thank Section 8 for that. When you're paying $400 for a $1600 apartment, lots of extra money for giant TVs and cellphones and spinner wheels.

Don't forget the diamond encrusted gold teeth too! I remember reading some study where they found that the lowest income areas paid in the highest amount for premium cable channels. They also found a similar trend with extra cellular phone services.

[K Frame]

The community next to mine is a gov't assisted co-op.

It's always annoyed me quite a bit to see the number, and type, of new cars that stream in and out of that place. Lots of high-end autos that I certainly can't afford.

Maybe I should ask Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to spread some of their overseas donation money my way because I have to keep pace with the "poor" people next door.

Funny, I have a Janis Joplin tune running through my head right now for some reason...

[280plus]

It's like Karma man... I've had this cell phone for a while now, never looked at it closely. Guess who the mfg is. LG... 

Called Best Buy, $100 to come out and diag and then $150 hr to fix plus parts. They're not even in the door and it'll cost me nearly as much as the TV did. 

Par for the course. I recall a while back when I fixed window AC units. I looked at a Sears one and the compressor it needed cost more than a new unit. And that's not installed, that's just the compressor. It's all a big scam folks... 

[Firethorn]

The consumer electronics retailer said its stores were instructed to stop selling analog products on Oct. 1 and it will now sell only digital video tuners.

Just to be a bit pedantic, but Walmart sells CRTs with digital tuners.  You can even get HDTV ones.  Almost bought a 32" CRT HDTV a while back.

Par for the course. I recall a while back when I fixed window AC units. I looked at a Sears one and the compressor it needed cost more than a new unit. And that's not installed, that's just the compressor. It's all a big scam folks... 

It happens.  I've read Consumer report's recommendations on repair or replace for consumer electronics and appliances.  Generally speaking, if it's been longer than a year out of warrenty you're generally better off replacing.  This goes for everything from refridgerators to TVs.  Washers/Dryers are about the only exception.   They get a few more years.

[Manedwolf]

BTW, regarding section 8 and giant TVs...I just saw the most brilliant combination store for the financially illiterate.

A combination payday loan and rent-to-own electronics and furniture place.

I am not kidding.

[Ben]

It's always annoyed me quite a bit to see the number, and type, of new cars that stream in and out of that place.

At the risk of contributing to thread drift...

One of the things that bugged me about Hurricane Katrina is the TV footage of the "poor" neighborhoods, where satellite dishes were sticking out every which way. One month's worth of Direct TV could easily buy 72 hours worth of food and emergency supplies for a family of four.

[mtnbkr]

Yup.  I didn't have cable/satellite for nearly 8 years, have never owned a new car, and generally live "poorer" than familes that bring in half what I do.

Chris

[Scout26]

A combination payday loan and rent-to-own electronics and furniture place.

Sometimes I really wish that I did't have ethics..........

[Brad Johnson]

It's amazing how many people will pay $50 a week for 20 weeks to purchase a $400 washing machine.  All they had to do was set back that same $50 in an envelope for 8 weeks and they could have paid cash.

Back to the thread topic, I got my Consumer Reports yesterday.  They had a whole spread on "High Def" TVs.  Unfortunately, they spent a preponderance of their time extolling the cost-to-benefit ratios of 720p-rated sets, recommending several as Best Buys and "good opportunities to get ready for the all-HD future of television."  Most of the time CR is a decent reference for general concerns.  But every so often (especially when it comes to electronics) they seem to have a collective case of acute cranio-rectal inversion.

Brad

[Firethorn]

BTW, regarding section 8 and giant TVs...I just saw the most brilliant combination store for the financially illiterate.

A combination payday loan and rent-to-own electronics and furniture place.

I am not kidding.

Gosh, yesterday I saw an ad in the paper for 'The military club'.  They offered a 32" LCD TV for $1600, or $75/month for 36 months($2700, youch!).

Walmart was offering a 32" HDTV LCD TV for $749 in their insert into the same paper.

I'd almost do what some others suggested - offer fellow troops a cash loan @ a flat 15% interest.  They'd have the TV from walmart paid off in a year, not three.

[280plus]

When I was in the slush was $1 on $5, for every $5 you borrowed you paid back $6. Per payday period IIRC (two weeks). You could make some good $ as long as you had the muscle to ensure payment. 

[Bogie]

That's more like sharking...
 
When I invoice, I tell folks 30 days or 1.5% extra, which works out to a bit over 18% per year.
 

[280plus]

As a matter of fact, I BELIEVE that by law you as a debtor (not a credit card or bank) are not allowed to charge a rate more than something like .9% per month for late fees on your invoices without having a preagreement with the customer to allow more. Meaning you MAY get more but without an agreement prior if the individual wants to fight it, you lose all but the .9%. It's been a while since I learned this so I'm a little sketchy on the details. All I really remember is that I tried to do the 18% myself and ran into some trouble with it.

[Firethorn]

As a matter of fact, I BELIEVE that by law you as a debtor (not a credit card or bank) are not allowed to charge a rate more than something like .9% per month for late fees on your invoices without having a preagreement with the customer to allow more. Meaning you MAY get more but without an agreement prior if the individual wants to fight it, you lose all but the .9%. It's been a while since I learned this so I'm a little sketchy on the details. All I really remember is that I tried to do the 18% myself and ran into some trouble with it.

This would most likely be state law.

And I'd get out of it due to the 'preagreement'.  I'd have a written contract.

It sounds like the .9% would be if I, as a business, offer to bill people.  IE I do some electrical work for somebody and bill them $400.  They don't pay up in 30 days, I'm allowed to charge .9% per month.  That's ~10% interest per year, depending on compounding.  Assuming I don't do something different in the contract they sign before I do the work.

[280plus]

Yup, that sounds about right.

[grislyatoms]

When I was in the slush was $1 on $5, for every $5 you borrowed you paid back $6. Per payday period IIRC (two weeks). You could make some good $ as long as you had the muscle to ensure payment. 

I did that when I worked grading and clearing, but my rates were a lot higher. $ on the $. I made almost as much doing that as I did working. Boss found out about it, told me to stop doing it. Then he started doing it.

I wouldn't be able to do it now, I have developed a conscience over the years.