I owe my generous aunt yet again. This time she gave me…my first flatscreen TV! She upgraded to a new TV, so she gave me her old one. Whoo!
This TV opened a ton of new possibilities for me. I can get a Blu-ray player. I can get an Apple TV or a Roku box (when I get internet again). I can get a gaming system. But my first order of business was to finally get over-the-air TV in my room, which required buying a second antenna.
I’m going to talk a little about the TV, the new antenna, and the setup between the two.
The TV
The Toshiba 26LV610U is a 26” LCD TV that was released in 2009.
After years of owning nothing but those huge, clunky TVs, I was blown away by how slim and lightweight this new TV is. It has thick black bezels with a decorative white trim around the edges and an inverted T-shaped base. The Toshiba logo glows in the middle of the bottom bezel, though you can turn it off in the settings (which I did because it’s distracting). A speaker grill extends along the bottom bezel—and the sound quality is fantastic.
According to the specs I found online from CNET, the 26LV610U has a resolution of 1366 x 768, which is 720p. The screen is very crisp as long as I don’t sit right up on it. It’s so clear and beautiful that I feel like I’m at the movies sometimes. I like how I can change the picture size. I can make it fullscreen or pick from different widescreen aspect ratios, almost like how you can change the way the computer displays a desktop wallpaper for the best look. This feature especially comes in handy when I’m watching a VHS tape. I change the picture size so it doesn’t look as crappy.
There’s not much going on on the back of the TV. It has a ton of color-coded inputs and the usual coaxial port. I wish there had been at least one USB port. Still, there are two HDMI ports that I can work with in the future.
A built-in DVD drive is another fun feature. The slot-loading player is located along the TV’s left side. While I was excited to have the feature, the whole two-for-one deal predictably turned out to be too good to be true. I could only watch a few episodes of a show before the player got too hot, which would cause pixelation or disc skipping. Disappointing but not a big deal. I connected my standalone DVD player to the TV instead.
The Antenna
I’ve been wanting over-the-air TV in my room since I set up an antenna and converter box with the living room TV. The overall cost of another equipment bundle (~$45) has not been in the budget. With this new TV, however, I was able to significantly cut that amount down. I remembered from my previous research that more recent TVs are cable-ready and only need an antenna to get a digital signal. I could pick up an antenna for as little as $9.
After I did a successful test run with the living room TV’s antenna (the Magnavox MC346), I started the search for an antenna of my own. There were cheaper models available, but I wanted another MC346. I couldn’t find it anywhere online. I’m not sure if it’s sold out or discontinued. Fortunately, my dad found a different Magnavox model, the MC325n, at Family Dollar for $16.
The MC325n looks quite different from the MC346. It doesn’t have rabbit ears, for starters. It’s a black square approximately as thick as a composition notebook with convex ends. On the back, there are two vertical divots that you can use to hang the antenna on the wall—which explains the extra long cord snaking out of the bottom—and a green power indicator light.
In addition to looks, the MC325n differs from the MC346 because it’s an “amplified” antenna. It supposedly covers 40 miles, which is twice the MC346’s range. The extra distance comes from its “detachable amplifier.” The antenna plugs into the amplifier, which plugs into the TV and the AC adapter.
And it works well. The picture is clearer. The audio doesn’t get out of sync with the picture, though that’s probably because the signal doesn’t have to pass through anything extra. I also enjoy not having to adjust rabbit ears anymore.
But on the rare occasion that the signal blips out, you have to pick up the whole antenna and walk around the room with it in the air until you find something again. It’s very inconvenient. I thought I had found a good spot on the wall that caught all of the channels, but I ended up lying the antenna on top of the DVD player when two of my favorite channels stopped coming in.
Moreover, we didn’t get any new channels. Several new channels popped up from the county over during the channel scan, but none of them would actually come in. My dad was especially disappointed that the antenna couldn’t pick up a channel that had moved to a lower frequency either. That’s the only thing that stopped him from taking the antenna for himself.
Using the TV/Antenna Combo
How do the TV and the antenna work together? They get the job done, to be sure. But the setup isn’t quite as smooth as the antenna/digital converter box combo in the living room.
I blame most of the issues on the remote. I don’t have the remote that originally came with the new TV, so I reprogrammed the ONN universal remote I had been using with my previous TV. It works well for basic functions, but everything else either requires a workaround or doesn’t work at all.
For example, the “Guide” button doesn’t do anything. I expected it to bring up a list of the available channels that I could use to easily jump from one to the other. But nope. I can’t key in the channels manually either because there’s no button for the dash in the address. I have to keep flipping until I reach the channel I want.
The “Info” button, however, performs some of functions you would expect from the Guide button. It brings up general information about the current program, including a parental rating, a summary of the episode or movie that’s on, and the channel’s resolution. Most of the time, that’s good enough for my purposes. All I care about is being able to watch TV. Everything else is nice to have but not mandatory.
Conclusion
I feel like a ton of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I don’t have to worry about negotiating a schedule to watch my shows or being accused of hogging the TV anymore. You have no idea how many arguments and tension this new TV and antenna have ended.