The cost of living just got a bit cheaper.

Nearly five years ago, we bought a slightly damaged , (just a wee scratch,) 68cm TV at an auction in Adelaide. It is a brand our children rejected with much disdain, but it was just the 'bees knees' as far as we were concerned. We have a Sharp tv that this one replaced, which now sits on a cupboard in the main bedroom, and is 27 years old and still going strong. It is not connected to an arial, just plugged into the power socket. Yesterday morning, Neville turned the telly in the lounge on in the morning, and zilch! Just a thin white/blue line across the middle. There was sound but nothing else.
Today were went to Naracoorte 80kms south of here, to do some shopping,and I firstly asked at a tv repair shop what the problem could be, and was told by the gauche young man, 'There's something wrong inside it'. I thought that was obvious to 'blind Freddy, but refrained from saying so. When I mentioned the brand name, I was stopped in my tracks by the girl behind the counter saying they don't touch them, as they can't get the parts or backup to fix them. We went and did our errands, and I asked at one of the electrical stores if they could tell me what the prob was. He said the tube had gone. We accepted that, and discussed buying a new one.
Later in the afternoon, we went to one of the two electrical stores and saw a very nice 68cm Palsonic tv for $AU399.00. We then went to the other store to enquire about their tvs. One thing is for sure, you can't complain about the service, coz there ain't any. The prices were far more than the first store, so we went back, and Neville went in to ask if they would knock any more off for cash. I thought he was pushing the envelpoe a bit, but was pleasantly surprised when he came out to be told they had brought the price down to $ 359.00
It has been delivered, and is working fine. The woman who delivered it said she doubts that the tube has gone, and so do I. If it had, there would be no sound etc. We will see if it can be fixed, and it will probably go into the bedroom.
P.S. The irony of this little tale is, our daughter and son-in-law now have an 80cm TV the same brand as the one we just replaced!!??