Family Christmas gift: A new TV & DIY lesson

I finally agreed with Fino and the girls that it was time for a new TV. Huddling around the computer monitor for the three of them was taking it's toll. They wanted a bit more elbow room - and creature comforts (i.e. tired of the computer chairs) - while watching their movies online.

I have been all about simply buying a bigger computer monitor rather than a new TV but when looking at the costs, the TV was a better deal. Life is all about timing and the girls wore me down just in time for a fabulous sale on a small flat screen TV before Christmas.

The other deciding factor was that there would not need to be an additional Roku/BluRay/whatever kinda box to watch movies online with the TV. A simple, but specific, cord that can run from the back of my computer to an input on the new TV was all I needed to purchase to have a dual screen movie watching experience in our living room.

I was explaining to a friend how this worked and she suggested I write a blog about it because she was sure there were plenty of moms out there who wouldn't know about this nifty - and very inexpensive - workaround.

So here's how it done...

Our new small flat screen TV has an HDMI/DVI port. I believe most, if not all, flat screens made within the last year or so have them.

My computer, which is about three years old, also has an HDMI port.

The port in orange

I bought a 6-foot HDMI cable from Amazon for about $8. I do need to note that the HDMI cables are not typically longer than 15 feet because the quality of the image on the screen decreases... or so I've learned. Anyhow, you need to have a computer that is set up pretty close to your TV for this set-up to work because they don't sell long HDMI cords. (If you have a laptop with a wireless connection and an HDMI input you have more flexible options in your TV watching room.)

Unfortunately you can not just plug in the cord to the computer and TV because it's not exactly "plug and play." You have to set up your TV to "mirror" your computer monitor.

I know, this sounds complicated but really, it's not too hard. I got these directions from ehow.com and it worked just fine for me.

1. Choose the "Control Panel" from the "Start" Menu. I have VISTA on my computer so I double-clicked the "Adjust Screen Resolution" link in my "Appearance" icon menu.

For other operating systems it might be slightly different menu options but the bottom line is you're looking for a monitor/screen adjustment menu. 2. I chose the "multiple monitors" option because that's how my computer's video card works. Even if you don't have that exact option, most cards have a "clone" or "mirror" mode, where both screens display the same thing.

3. Reboot your PC to apply the changes. This is KEY! I did everything above but the TV wasn't displaying my desktop until I actually restarted.

This really is a nice, inexpensive way for the kids to lounge on the couch and have a lot more elbow room while watching their (usually free) online movies. The downside is not having an operational TV remote unless you have a wireless mouse/keyboard on your computer (remember, your computer is running the show on your TV, not your TV controls). But for less than $10 to set up, it's a great deal to have this dual screen watching option.

For Christmas the kids received a small gift card for Amazon's Video on Demand feature and we have totally been enjoying our TV this week.

We loved the heart-warming tale of "How to Train Your Dragon."



We then moved on to some romance and adventure with the vampires and werewolves in Eclipse. None of us loved the first two movies but we decided we were already invested in two of the Hollywood renditions of the books so we might as well see the third. It actually was the best of the movies so far we thought.



But by far our favorite movie this week has been "Mamma Mia." It's sort of the modern day John Waters musical (imo). A kind of cult-following sort of film that isn't quite for everyone. At the beginning of the movie I was wondering what to make of the whole thing since Meryl Streep breaks in to song. And then later Pierce Bronson who I honestly could not have imagined could actually sing. But by the end I was totally sold on the whole musical package. It was such a funny movie I didn't even mind having to explain to the girls about the how and why of the mom in the movie not knowing which guy was the father of her baby...



Watch any good rental movies lately? We're looking for suggestions since we're xc skiing during the day and enjoying our wind down time at night on the couch this week.