My first TV was when I got my NES back in like 1988. It was black and white so a game like Doctor Mario was impossible (but we still tried). It was already like years old when I got it. Somehow, we configured it so that no matter where you pointed the "Zapper" it gave you credit for kills in games like Bayou Billy and Duck Hunt. I used to love to sneak and connect the NES to the "huge" TV in the livingroom and play in color every now and then. My parents said it was bad for the TV, though. I didn't care!
Around the time I played Super Mario 3 (probably 1991 or something) I had a small color TV that wouldn't play unless you left it turned on for a while so that it would "warm up". After a while, it would just die and that was that. If the TV was in a good mood, it would let you finish a game or work all day. When it was in a bad mood, it would blink out whenever you were at the hardest part of Ninja Gaiden.
In 1996, I got a decent TV to play Super Mario 64. I think it was a Sanyo or some other cheap ass Wal-Mart branded TV. I kept that until I moved to Atlanta. When I came home, the people I lived with decided to keep the TV for me. Enjoyed hours of PS1 and N64 on that thing.
Somewhere along the way, probably during the PS2 era, I got a small CRT TV with a flat screen (the image was beautiful to me) and then later a bigger TV with a flat screen that allowed me to use S-Video cables. I didn't think the image would ever get any better.
Right before getting an Xbox 360, I got an 1080i/720p LCD HDTV with one HDMI port. This was probably 2006 or early 2007. The company was called "Symphonic" or something. I knew it was a shitty HDTV but I didn't care. HDTVs were expensive and I just wanted to have one. It probably ran about $700. It looked great to me.
One day, my sister got a high end Plasma TV and suddenly my shitty LCD started looking really really shitty to me. I still didn't want a Plasma so I started lusting for LED. I grabbed a pretty sweet 42 inch 1080p Vizio LED from Amazon.com or Walmart.com or something. Still have it in the living room. It still looks great.
About two years ago, I REALLY wanted a 3D TV. After a lot of research online, I eventually wound up with another Vizio. According to sites like C-Net it was the best quality of its size. Five HDMI ports, USB, Apps for Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, etc., a BlueTooth remote w/ Keyboard. I'm happy....for now.
Somewhere along the way, I grabbed a really expensive Toshiba after seeing it on display in a store. When I got home, it didn't look nearly as good to me. So I took it back.
