This one had me laughing pretty hard. Mine isn't nearly so bad. I turn it on... and 20 seconds later there's a picture and sound and it's all working. Unless I turn it off again before that because I thought maybe it didn't hear me the first time. Although mine is also about 8 years old (but it has been like this since new). The colors have started to get washed out looking. Maybe it's just that I notice it now, but it looks pretty bad. I'd say it's time for both of us to upgrade, likely. I'll definitely be turning the sets on and off in the store. ;)

Anand has a really good write up of the Intel instruction decoder at http://www.anandtech.com/show/6355/intels-haswell-architecture/6. It's significant, but who's to say ARM wouldn't be similar? I also think the article author is overstating the point.

You posted that in response to a joke? Maxwell Smart always says decreasingly impressive things that are clearly untrue. Such as: Smart: Surrender, you'll never escape the dozen agents behind that door. Villain: There aren't any agents behind that door. Smart: Would you believe there's a vicious guard dog? Villain: No. Smart: How about a small puppy? (This is not a quote, I just made it up as an example.)