[masraum]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

When I read these threads I get a sense of doom that I have no idea how to configure fire-walls, my sat-based internet, etc.

And trust me, I can't do it myself.

Serious question: Are there services that can come and do the installs? I assume so but what would you smart folks look for? Is there a national brand of folks that do this, etc.?

I know I am behind and need advice. I can start a separate thread.

I'm not really aware of any specific group that you could call to setup something like a Pi-hole (blocks ads, tracking and malware sites) or a firewall (can be setup to block whatever from very loose to very tight). There are a bunch of folks around here that could probably do it. There are probably also folks in your area, although finding a good one might be a pain.

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

Our aunt moved recently and asked for TV advice, so my brother and I went to Best Buy and were blown away by the 4K image quality and wound up getting 4K TVs for ourselves. I told my aunt that she was bad for my budget and I got a TV- she interpreted that to mean I bought her a TV... um, no.

We really felt comfortable with the advise we got in the Magnolia section of Best Buy. Seems like there's two styles of image- one that's more accurate to real life and another that's more vivid. OLED is the best, but it didn't seem necessary for my bedroom with no wide angle of view issues. The Sonys were of the real life camp, so I got this one:

https://www.sony.com/electronics/televisions/xbr-x950g-x955g-x957g-series

I have to admit I have it set to a more vivid mode at home- it just looks better. It's like putting salt on your food. I've seen more basic 4Ks around $500-600 there, but figured I'd do the job right the first time and spending $1,000 was worth it over a long ownership period. Then there's the sound bar, protected power source, and Best Buy installation, so it can add up. You get a discount on the equipment if you buy the warranty and having the Geek Squad come out to my house and replace stuff seemed a lot better than scratching my head when there's a problem, so that's the way I went.

When this thing is cranking 4K, the picture is stunning. If you play a DVD, you'll get the best image, but I haven't gotten a 4K DVD player yet. Streaming is so easy, but I was getting crummy picture quality and streaming issues. I shouldn't have been, I was set up with 75 Mbps through Comcast, but doing a speed test show I was getting around 10-20 Mbps. Thanks, Comcast. I called them and they said they were upgrading the neighborhood and gave me a credit.

Slickdeals.net is a great source of screaming deals- sort of a Bring-a-Trailer of everything.

https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?src=SearchBarV2&q=4K+TVs&searcharea=deals&searchin=first

I haven't used or though about slickdeals in a long time.

Yeah, I suspect we'll be happy with a new TV. I'm interested in some of the new features and think they'll make a big difference in the picture. I'm looking at a Sony a step down from the one you list, I believe. If nothing else, it should be a lot more efficient than what we've got now which is ancient, and puts out a ton of heat. You can feel it when you walk past.