Our Philips takes a bow

Philips TV Model 14GX8510/71R. Google it and most probably you get pointed to sites that provide service manuals or schematics or remote control replacements for it. For this is an old TV. Fifteen (15) years since it was bought; by my ex-girlfriend a year before we tied the knot (formally, that is). Since the day when it became my TV set too (thanks to the absence of a pre-nup) this 14" has been my constant source of news, movie re-runs and other TV entertainment crap. Since that day up until about a week ago.

I am always of the opinion that a small television set is enough (if not a better option) for a family that lives in a small house. By small house I mean no more than like those in most low-cost housing where living rooms (yes, we always place our TV in the sala) measure just around 3x4 meters. I always find them funny finding gigantic TV sets competing for space against giant sofas and other equally enormous muebles in the tight salas of households that I visit; not to mention seeing children's faces glued to these sets just inches away quite literally. Annoyingly funny.

This thought is shared by my family. That is why the last 15 years we have never thought of replacing our Philips 14" color TV. Why, it has never failed us. Except for the battered remote control and a broken indoor aerial (which became useless when we moved in where we are now in this part of the world, really), every button on the thing is still working like the way it was when it was brand new. The quality of its picture and sound has diminished very little. A small TV for a small family (although we now live in a house with a bigger living room); it's all we need.

Until one day a few months ago when a former househelp paid us a visit and amusingly exclaimed to herself and to her kid daughter upon entering our sala "Ay, kaliit pa rin ng TV nila!" (roughly: "Wow, they still have their small TV!"). Now we know why our other previous guests would glance at the same TV every now and then with a similar though more suppressed bemusement; even in times when the set was turned off. Ah, we could almost hear the thing screaming, embarrassed by the unwanted attention: "Please get me inside the bedroom!"

We had to respond to the silent revolt.

Our Philips with its successor in the background

Our Philips' replacement  is a larger Samsung (21") TV but is nowhere near the quality of its predecessor, pound for pound, that is. It's the cheapest in the market, and no one seems to be selling a Philips brand in these parts. We bought it through credit so what more can we ask. We just wanted our Philips to retire. A way of saying thanks to it for virtually bringing the world into our sala through the years.