<p>I just can’t wrap my head around a 52" screen- yes I have seen all the * dudes* @ Costco, transfixed by the screens- it doesn’t matter what they are showing, a Mariners game ( ok then I would watch), LOTR for the 33rd time, or Beavis & Butthead- they are glued.</p>
<p>But I watch tv on my computer- I would have to go next door to watch it on something that was * almost* as big as I am.</p>
<p>I have seen this IRL unfortunately- I have a few kids in my classes, whose parents have different criteria than they for majors & coursework, and they are constantly distracted by parents expectations. ( even when parents don’t live in this country)</p>
<p>well you are just environmentally correct zoosermom- although I thought I was pretty short at 5’2" ( & 3/4" s)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I did once like to sit in the first few rows at a movie theatre, but that was when I was about 11, if I did it now, my neck would be stuck like that for a week.</p>
<p>EK, you’ve got me by 3 3/4 inches!
My son is now in fifth grade and some of his classmates are bigger than I.
A 52 inch screen would take over my entire house.</p>
<p>Count me in the “petite” club at 5’2". However, I need to have that 52" TV ( don’t have one yet), my eyes are failing me and everything needs to be magnified.</p>
<p>My neighbor (whose D is a soph. at a small private school and taking on loans to be there) recently bought a 72" plasma screen tv for his GARAGE!</p>
<p>laptop (with external speakers) + low-end digital projector + blank wall = 100" to 120" image, easy. Add a used home theater speaker setup from craigslist, and you may never leave the couch except to get more popcorn. All for a lot less money than a 72" plasma, assuming that the laptop is already purchased. </p>
<p>Some local colleges around here use this same kind of setup ramped up (rented sound system and gigantor inflatable screen) to do outdoor movie nights. Very cool.</p>
<p>My patience ran out with the 52 inch TV AND the vacation to the Carribean (although he downgraded from Apple something to Apple something else…but it didn’t dawn on him NOT to go).</p>
<p>The 52 inch TV and the cost of the vacation would almost cover the money he’s whining about for at least the freshman year.</p>
<p>I don’t see what’s wrong with having a big TV. We have one. It’s not plasma- it’s LCD which H thinks is better. I think it’s 42 or 45 inches or something like that. We like it. The prices really fell about a year ago and my husband really likes that kind of stuff. However, we aren’t expecting to get financial aid, either. Wish we could…</p>
<p>All inclusive package trips can be very economical paired with a charter flight, esp if booked last minute. Minnesotans do it constantly to get out of the cold. A few years ago the 4 of us went to Mexico, had an apartment at a resort complex for a week for a grand total of $1600 (air included). I kind of view it as the budget option.</p>
<p>I can’t figure out why other posters wouldn’t understand DadII’s viewpoint: <em>Of course</em> one would prioritize spending money on large screen TV’s and Caribbean vacations over spending money on tuition. I look at it this way: Your neighbors can easily tell whether or not you have one or more large-screen TV’s. It’s generally possible to tell from a short conversation whether someone has actually been to the Caribbean, or just purchased tanning lotion and a good guidebook (+ Photoshopped “vacation” pictures). But, really, how can you tell whether your neighbor’s children are well-educated? So the choice is clear-cut.</p>
<p>mom of wild child- it isn’t only that purchasing of a tv that is bigger than what will fit into a van seems a little extreme, it is just that those sorts of purchases aren’t generally made by someone who describes themselves as poor.</p>
<p>Why this obsession with how he spends his money? It is none of our business. Maybe he has a mother in law who is a shut in and would enjoy watching HGTV more clearly. Maybe he is wisely putting a lot of money aside for retirement. Maybe he really values being cheap and that conflicts with his consumerist side. It doesn’t matter. If his comments bother you so much, just shrug it off. I would hate for my every thought and decision to be so analyzed.</p>
<p>twomules, while you have a point that it is none of our business how DadII spends his money, I think there is a reason all this stuff comes up with members. For starters, DadII has posted many times that he is “poor” and that he makes around $120K. I don’t know anyone who calls that income poor. </p>
<p>Secondly, DadII “cries” that in order for his child to go to college, it will require a FREE RIDE. I do not think that is true but each of us decides our own value system. I believe DadII even had some funds saved up for college for his kids (wish I did, sigh). He doesn’t seem willing to borrow loans for college for his kids, though many in that income bracket need to do so since they can’t afford college outright from their yearly income. I understand how difficult it is to afford college for two kids in that income bracket. Believe me, I’m livin’ it! I also have one in a 3.5 year grad program that we are funding. I’m gonna be paying for a long while. I ain’t complainin’. I wasn’t demanding a free ride. We applied for FA and got it and it has helped a great deal. DadII should also qualify for some aid. </p>
<p>Problem is, on the one hand he’s crying he can’t afford ANY money toward college (S is to get a free ride) but at the same time, he is choosing things that many of us who are funding college must do without in order to make college happen for the kids. Now, we are all free to spend how we wish and have different value systems. But DadII has come onto CC a lot to get help in how to make his situation work. And since he has done so, and shared about his “dilemma” with funding college, I think he does open himself up to such critiques and feedback. </p>
<p>PS…I don’t even know what a plasma TV is. I don’t get to buy items like that.</p>
<p>I’ll have to admit we were one of those lucky ones who upgraded on TVs this year. Had a 27" in the family room, sitting on an entertainment center. Then bought a 49" LCD that we had mounted above the fireplace. The mount has a swivel arm that allows you to turn the screen toward the kitchen or toward the outer wall of the house. And my eyes are not as good as they used to be, although I am still without corrective lenses. But when we put up that TV, I gained a new appreciation for watching things, and do watch more movies now. There’s probably about 15’ between the couch we tend to sit on, and the TV, and it just seems like a perfect size.</p>
<p>Nothing against large TVs! I could see how nice that would be. </p>
<p>I think the reason it is being mentioned here is in contrast to needing a full ride for college but being able to do things like Caribean vacations and getting household items of this sort. I don’t begrudge anyone who has or does these things! But don’t expect a free ride to college too. You are not THAT needy or poor.</p>