I look at the Samsung and I feel a little dirty. The Samsung is my first HDTV — a 42-inch DLP set that opened up a whole world of video clarity that I never thought was possible. Heck, at its first Christmas five years ago, we watched a HD recording of a yule log burning in a fireplace all day long and went, “Oooooooh.”

But the Samsung, with its projection bulb and its spinning motors and its multiple Super Bowls and Blu-Rays and British Top Gear torrents and oh-my-God-the-Cardinals-won-the-Series behind it, is about to be retired.

In its place will come a Panasonic plasma TV. It’s thin where the Samsung was chunky. It’s got 10 times the scan rate, will handle 1080p, has a bigger screen(natch) and cost half as much as the Samsung did five years ago. It uses less power and weighs less than the Samsung (plasma TVs have changed more than people think in recent years). Like the Samsung, the technology behind the set is really a little behind the curve and probably will fade away soon. Like the Samsung, I’m buying it anyway because it kicks the crap out of more modern technology when it comes to the quality of the actual picture.

I haven’t told the Samsung that its service has reached its end with me. I’m not comfortable with that. Still, the set is on its third bulb and it’s a minor miracle that the color wheel or the cooling fan haven’t died. I’m going to try to find it a home in someone’s house as a second or third set, although the bulkiness of the TV and the fact that you can’t hang it on a wall means I may have to bring it to the local thrift store for a sad bit of recycling.

That’s why I feel dirty. The set brought me so much joy and I’m giving it an ignoble retirement. When it comes to your first HDTV, perhaps it really is better if it burns out and doesn’t just fade away.

Previously: Adventures in biscuits | Hokum home