Leave it to the fine folks at Westinghouse Digital, a big-time maker of flat-panel TVs, to bring the lousy economy and high gas prices home, literally.

They've come up with a few factoids that might encourage you to stay home and spend some cash "nesting," instead of hitting the road during this time of exorbitant gas prices.

So, when you're trying to figure out whether you want to road-trip, or buy a new flat-panel television, consider: Driving from Washington, DC to Disneyworld in Florida totals about 1,645 miles. Figuring 20 miles a gallon at an average cost of $4, that works out to $329, which Westinghouse points out, is the cost of its brand new, 16" Flip HDTV, offering the "HDTV experience almost anywhere, even mounted on a wall..." etc., etc.

How 'bout that road-trip from New England to New Orleans. That works out to 2,758 miles, or $599, which coincidentally is the exact cost of Westinghouse's 26" LCD with 720p resolution.

Thinking of driving from Florida to the Rocky Mountains? At 3,745 miles round-trip, that computes to $750 in gas, and that could instead be spent on the company's 32" model featuring things like "SpineDesign," and "DayBright."

I know what you're thinking: you've been hankering for a cross-country trip from New York to Los Angeles. Your gasoline bill would top $1,200, but you could spend it instead of a 42" Westinghouse LCD with full 1080p resolution.

I know, I know: a big sloppy kiss for Westinghouse, but you gotta hand it to these guys: seizing on high gas prices as a way to try to sell their technology. Give them an A for creativity. Jury's still out on whether any of this will resonate with consumers mulling "stay-cations" against the real thing.

Questions?  Comments?