Hello, We have an older Sony CRT with no HDMI cables. I have a Zoom brand cable modem connected, via a cable, to an Apple wireless rounter (A Base Station, they call it.) This gives us wireless internet in the house. I have a Roku box connected to video inputs on the TV. This is the old three color system, with white red and yellow pin inputs. The cables for this were in the box with the Roku. The Roku has wireless capability so it works off of the router signal when just plugged into the TV and the power source. We do need to switch between video feeds on the TV to get to the Roku, but this is a simple matter of pressing a button on the TV remote. If you have something like "video 1, video 2, video 3" selections and you only get a blank screen, those inputs are marked as such on the back of your TV and you can use them. If you only have one set of these, you may have to swap out the cables if your DVD player uses the inputs. This might be a good argument for getting a Netflix enabled DVD player or game console. If your DVD player is a good one and you can't see spending the money, you should consider the Roku. The base model today is $59.99 at Roku.com. The website lets you see the back of the device, so you can check out the input areas to see if it matches what you have on your TV. They are very backward compatible in general, so I'm sure you won't have problems there. I bought the XD model ($79.99) for when we upgrade to a better 1080p HD in a couple years, plus it supports the wireless "N" protocall which is the newer, fastest level of wireless and it matches our router. I may have wasted $20.00 because we don't use the internet while watching the Roku and my guess is with the way HDTVs are developing, our future TV will have Netflix ability built into it and we won't need the roku box. Oh well! All it might take for you to get up and running on DSL: call your provider company and ask them for a wireless DSL modem. You might be able to get one for free from them. This will give you wireless in the house and your Roku box will be up in a jiff. When we had DSL we had the wireless router and were happy with it. There was an initial problem with not being able to acess the internet while on the wireless phone, but that is a setting on the modem that can be changed with a quick call to your provider. It is a simple fix and they walk you through it. As to the bandwidth issue go to www.speedtest.net and check your speed it is easy and free. You might be able to research your speed and see how this effects others with Netflix. Just a thought. To give you courage, (if you need it!) go to Youtube and search "set up Roku on DSL," or "set up Roku." Peolpe have made some quick video's of themselves doing this and you'll see how simple it really is. Good luck with it all! We love streaming Netflix. We still sometimes look at each other and say, "This is so awsome!" Here is a link that might be useful: Speed test

Just wanted to bring this thread back up to the top. We are almost through series 3 of Doc Martin. My DH and I have really been enjoying it! As soon as the music starts we just immerse ourselves in the small town life of Port Wenn. We watched the first series on Netflix, but they didn't have the second series available for streaming at that time, so we switched to Hulu. We will probably check out some of the other series that Hulu recommended based on our being Doc Martin fans. I wasn't sure how we were going to watch series 4, so I checked on Netflix again, and they seem to have all 4 series available for streaming now.

You sound like me, I buy and hold till it dies. We still have a 19" tube bought by my wife when my wife was in college back in the (ahem) 70s. We have a 32" tube bought in the 80s. Our viewing treat is in our theater where we have a projector with a 133" screen. The set you chose is fine, the Bravia is a nice series. There have been sound issues, low bass output, but it's a flat screen so it's expected. You'll have it running through a yamaha sound system, so no worries there. When they hitch it up also look for sound synching issues with the picture. Some setups can introduce a slight bit of sound lag, it'll remind you of watching the old Godzilla movies back when we were kids. The lips move, then a split second later, the sound arrives. The sets have synch/delay settings in the set up menus. If it's a problem the set-up guys can take care of it for you. Picture-wise some sets can show flashlighting, which is when viewing a dark screen the corners of the screen are light. Some show it more than others, it's just something to be aware of. Probably going to connect via HDMI cables? For TV/cable viewing, will you need a new cable box? With HD service? Just asking since you;re going from tube TV to an HD-capable TV. About the only alternative thing I'll mention is that if you're into it, you might want to look at the 3D sets. They are new, it's the latest-greatest so to speak, but you can take a peak and look further or take a peak and discard the idea. Or just discard the idea from the get-go. I just thought I'd mention it. DVDs will be around for quite some time, but yes, viewing via downloading through Netflix or Blockbuster is now pretty common. Again, just a warning. downloading can be fine for standard def, but for HD the choices, as well as the download time due to bandwidth, might be a limiting factor for you. It can also depend on if you're a standard def source person or if HD/1080/BluRay is a viewing requirement for you. You won't be penalized for not always watching 1080 on a 50" screen. On a 50" screen, standard def can look fine. But if you were going with a really large screen, then 1080/bluray might be more of a requirement. I'm not a TV or tech guru, just my thoughts.

Your cell phone bill. Let's talk about that as an example. You have UNLIMITED use of the internet, emails and texting. Right? Wrong. I pay per minute! LOL The more I use, the more I pay. And FWIW, my cell bill runs $2-$10/month. I have prepaid and currently have 240 minutes available and need to add time next month. And there you go again... "google it"! LOL This thread is the one getting "silly"! Sheesh. Joyful, I certainly agree with your basic premise on the highway analogy but that brings up another issue: Should not the "boonies" pay for their highways, phone lines, electric lines and maintenance and not the city folk? Higher populated areas subsidize the boonies. Go back to Rural Electrification project where the rural areas were first brought electricity. The cost was borne by the "richer" city dwellers since the cost per person in the rural areas were prohibitive to the people there if they were required to pay their own way. Not unlike hurricane Katrina, Rita and the like. Those costs were borne by the country as a whole rather than making the people pay their way there. That's not right. Local Government Aid (LGA) distributes state monies to different areas, smaller areas get a benefit at the cost of the bigger areas. Does a city person get a benefit from the boonies having electricity, telephone, cable TV or the like? Seldom. There's no doubt that there's inequities in billings. I get charged basically the same for garbage/recycling/refuse as the Octowench would. I don't put my garbage can out every week. Is that fair? No, but practicality dictates that there's not going to be a fair way. They average it out to save money in other ways. People without kids in school should not have to pay school taxes if you want to be fair, but the ones with the families have controlled politics to give themselves that benefit. Most people have a certain level they reach on usage of many things, whether phone, internet, garbage, sewer or the like so to make things easier, appease the masses and the like, they average it out and the unrecognized minorities wind up paying more. At the farm, I have to pay ditch tax. My property does not benefit from the ditch. Why should I have to pay it? Because the ones who benefit cry and rationalize it that everyone should pay... and then say "google it!" ;) Should I pay the same vehicle license fees as someone who drives 10 times what I do? Is that fair? Again, practicality ease come into play. I get no benefit from a sports stadium. Should I have to pay for it? I could go on and on but won't. I'm just amused to see that the power of prayer is taking second place (or further down) to the power of petition now! :D E pluribus taxem, eh?