Am I the only one who still likes CRT "tube" TV's?

[appliguy]

Love your '57 GE television!

Does it have the coaxial oval speaker in it?

Actually Alan...the little metal grille under the control knobs on the right side of the TV is the speaker. This TV was what GE reffered to as a bookcase model. That means that you could either set it on a book case or a table or a room divider etc. or you could use the optinal stand which mine has to make it look like a console TV. My favorite feature of this TV which has know been made redundant (thanks to the digital switch over) is the power tuner. When you push one of the channel buttons the whole round plate of buttons are rotated by an electric motor. It makes an awesome sound...ta chunk ta chunk ta chunk.....I got this TV back in 1996 from a very dear family friend of ours and I call the TV Norma... in honor of Norma Sharpless...the woman who gave it to me. It had sat in her closet unused since 1967 and was originally her parents TV. I need to have it looked at as I have not used it in a couple of years because it started having intermittent audio issues where the audio would stop all together and to get the audio working again I would have to shut off the TV for about 10 minutes and wait for things to cool off and then turn on the set again. What do you think guys is it a tube issue. In 1996 I had the set gone over by a local TV place that is now gone and they replaced some tubes and fixed the deteriorating wiring. Then in 2000 it was back to the shop for a few more tubes and then in 2004 it started acting up again. I love this TV and I have only ever seen one other just like it. It is a TOL 1958 model that my friend Jay owns that was his grandparents. Jay's has all the bells and whistles including the remote control...(a remote hooked to the TV via a cable was optional on mine but it was not purchased with it)....PAT COFFEY

 

[tolivac]

My current set is a CRT machine-a Hitachi High Def rear projector-capable of 1080I reproduction-and well it does.compared to modern plasma and LCD sets-RPTV's have a "soft focus"not the real razor sharp focus Direct veiw LCD and plasma have.the biggest reason you see older TV's being dumpted is analog TV transmitters have signed off-Digital broadcasting only.so if you don't have the convertor-the older analog CRT set is uselesss-unless it has a standard video in.I have on occasion seen them on trashpiles too-mostly the grey or black PLASTIC recent sets-have no interest in these.Like the wood cabs better.and the large number of these direct view analog CRT sets in swap shops.And yes-CRT and other types of RPTV sets are appearing in the second hand market too.I am going to use my Hitachi until it dies.then I will replace it with some sort of plasma set most likely-plasma and CRT are pretty related to each other-both use phosphors to produce the image.

 

[112561]

Pat

My GE television "collection" consists of a three inch color Space Mate, a nine inch, a fifteen inch, and a white French Provincial ninteen inch black and white with a record player and stereo, similar to the one in this picture. I'm surprised your base for that set doesn't contain some type of speaker, it is still a stunning survivor. Once years ago, we went to a nursery which is still in business in north Stuart FL, their kid was watching a mahogany colored console with power tuning, and the big oval speaker in the bottom. I often wonder if that set is still there!

 

[veg-o-matic]

Our current daily watcher is a 1979 Zenith Avanti. Picked it up on CL for 50 bucks and a trip to Middleofnowhere, PA.

We think it goes really well with the Anga wall system from Ikea.

veg

 

[veg-o-matic]

The Avanti replaced a 1964 Zenith roundie which is now in the collection of a collector in Michigan.

View attachment veg-o-matic++1-12-2011-09-37-43.jpg

 

[112561]

Zenith commercial-Rerun of a great ad!

Remember the Zenith with the curved cabinet? I had a chance to get one, but life wouldn't allow it at the time. The Zenith Avanti is gaining an iconic status, slowly but surely. (At least that's what I choose to believe. I loves me a good Zenith!)
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[rp2813]

I don't notice any issues with programs that don't "come through" over the air. I'm using an old-school 60's rooftop antenna that's not even UHF capable and I get lots of channels through the digital-to-analog converter box. It's all hooked up to my 1950 Admiral 10" B&W and the only issues I've seen are those associated with how the images are broadcast. Some are letterboxed and can't be changed, which makes for a very small image on an already small screen. I "zoom" in and crop the images in order to get a full screen display on any channels where it's not pre-set.

I bought a Sony 17" Trinitron in 1977 and for a part of its life it was in daily (almost all day) use. It lasted over 25 years before starting to turn everything pink once in a while. The problem got worse and didn't improve when I tweaked the CRT connections, so I finally unloaded it. Best most reliable TV I ever owned.

I'm currently shopping for a CRT type for our den. The opticals on the Panasonic have become blurry, so it's hard to read a superimposed sports score, etc. It looks like 27" is as large as I'll be able to go due to space limitation on the shelving unit. I'm cruising Craigs List and am confident it will only be a matter of time before I find a replacement.

We have a large flat panel in our master bedroom. Just last night I checked the menu and found that the contrast was set way high. It's much less blinding now that I've turned it down to mid range. Power level was also on highest consumption, so I turned that down to "standard" and the display isn't as bright. I guess they adjust these sets at the factory so they'll burn out quick and you'll have to buy a new one. I recommend that anyone with a flat panel rig to check their settings.

 

[mattl]

No, they are not set to torch mode so they will burn out faster, it's so they grab your attention on the sales floor. People then to gravitate to the sets with the most punch. For years I've used the AVIA disk to set up any display, and there are other DVDs out there that will get the basics down. Video Essentials is another one. These will guide you step by step on properly setting your display. It's not hard, takes 30 minutes or so. the image may seem a little dim to you at first glance but all the disks recommend living with the settings for a week or two, and then tweak if you must.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have AVIA, works nicely.

 

[countryford]

This is the tv we have in our living room. It is a Douglas. Before finding this tv I had never heard of Doublas before. Not quite sure who made them though. This is our next project to start working on.

 

[countryford]

The neat thing about this douglas is that the controls for it are on a chairside console with a built in record player. It has a cord that runs about 30 feet from the console to the tv. An early remote control you could say.

 

[austinado16]

That remote system on your Douglas is pretty amazing. I think you just won the award for most unique vintage TV!

 

[112561]

I love that Douglas television, and the remote record player setup! I think this has been shown before, but this is part of the Philco Predicta line, which ultimately bankrupted Philco.
(The Tandem)

 

[austinado16]

Very cool!

 

[whirlcool]

They still make the Predicta television set. An independent company started this up a few years ago. Pricey, but if you like the vintage look...... Telstar is the companies name.

http://1950satomicranchhouse.blogspot.com/2009/09/predicta-reproduction-television-sets.html

 

[cfz2882]

sharp internals?

IIRC,the predicta replica used sharp picture tube and circutry
-that was a few years ago,hard to say what they are using
today..

 

[112561]

My friend Ken in North Carolina sent me info on that outfit years back, before I got my computer. I think they have a great idea there, not totally sure about the product, as I haven't read any long term reviews on them. I imagine they are as good as they claim. And, of course they make everything related to the tube surrounds, cabinets, and fittings, there isn't a single original part from the Philco used at all. And all in color format, I would love to have one. The same friend had two original black and white Princesses, I could have bought one for $150.00. Now you can't touch a decent original for less than $300.00.

Regarding the innards-I believe they used RCA internals for a while.

 

[countryford]

Predicta. We have one that we picked up a couple years back. It is just the one piece unit that sits on a table or whatever you like. A friend of mine has two, the tandem one as well as the one they called the barber pole.

 

[112561]

Wow, lucky friend! I did see a third table Predicta, the man wanted $350.00 for it, which is cheaper than the Telstars. If I put a lot of money into a television, I'll put it in a Telstar Debutante, instead of a 32 + inch flat screen.

 

[washernoob]

TIM!

TIM!

That royal next to your TV is absolutely positively gorgeous!

Really digging these old tubes. Just dont see them too much anymore. Would love to find an old green glass looking philco like Alan posted!

 

[bugsyjones]

I got that Royal at an estate sale for $3. I couldn't just leave it there for that price.

~Tim

 

[washernoob]

WOW! Talk about luck. That bag looks so fresh and the colors are bright. Not bad for a vacuum from the 50s!

 

[autowasherfreak]

We have a Sanyo flat screen in the living, but I like my big old Sear's that belonged to my dear mom better.

 

[frigilux]

I think it's hard to beat a high-quality CRT. My 14-year old Toshiba 34" has deep blacks, and wonderfully warm, accurate colors. There's texture and depth to the picture.

The 10 year old RCA in my bedroom lacks the cinema-like finesse of the Toshiba. The colors, even after careful adjusting with a....crap, what is it called?...it's a DVD that you use to set the color, brightness, contrast, etc., of a CRT's controls for an optimal picture. Anyway, the RCA colors look a little crude and the picture seems flatter in comparison to the Toshiba.

In the end, when they give out, I'll probably be glad to have lightweight TV's I can move around easily. Unless something better comes along, I'll go with plasma.

Speaking of giving out, both my ancient TiVo's are crapping out on me. The one in my bedroom went first, about 2 months ago. The hard drive locked up on it. The one in my family room, in the home theater set-up, needs to be reset every other day, lately. It calls in to get programming information every day, but I keep getting "Failed when loading series" messages. If I unplug it for 30 seconds, then start it up, it'll download information from the next call, but after that, I get the "failed" message again. They've both long outlived their 7-8 year life expectancy, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

The last time I called TiVo's support line, the guy said "Wow! You have two of those first generation things still working? They're practically antiques." The new TiVo's require internet jacks instead of phone lines, and I don't have one in the bedroom or the family room, so I've been trying to nurse my old TiVo's as long as possible. Looks like I'll finally have to break down and call my internet provider to run two new lines for me.

All my home A/V equipment is getting so old. Seems like there's something or other wrong with almost every piece of equipment in the set-up.

 

[washernoob]

Thats one thing that I love about our 52" LCD.

It doesn't weigh ANYTHING! lol. I remember moving a c.a 40" tube TV by myself from my grandpas basement to my brothers house to use for XBox. So we didn't have to play 2 players on his 15" screen!

Holy cow, That thing felt like a zillion pounds. IT was old, had all that extra unnecessary plastic around it, and was about as big as I am!

 

[jeffg]

The only non-CRT we have is on the laptop. Our main TV is a rear projection CRT.

A few years ago a friend stumbled on some Sony F500R CRT computer monitors, they were bought as spares for a corporation and had been sitting unopened in a warehouse for ten years. I took a gamble on one and it's been running great for 3+ years now. LCDs have never heard of black levels like this.

 

[48bencix]

SONY 34" Kd-34xbr970

We got our SONY 34" FD Trinitron Wega Tv in 2006. At the time digital tuners were just starting to being used commonly in the Hi-Def tv sets. I wanted a set with a tuner, because I didn't want to change my Dish set up for a Hi-Def set up yet.

The SONY is a 1080i High Definition 9 x 16 picture. Consumer Reports rated the picture to be better than plasma or LCD at the time. It is smaller than most sets available now. We still like the picture because it has those deep blacks and overall great color. DVD's really show up great, in fact Bluray at this screen size doesn't do that much. We do have it for streaming netflix though. That is another story, a computer with the HDMI output can actually give you more variety than a Bluray player for streaming Netflix or Hulu.

 

[austinado16]

Been looking at this exact model for our bedroom TV, but I think it might be too wide for the location.

 

[48bencix]

Size

This TV is 39" wide 24" deep and 26" high. It weighs 200 pounds so you need help moving it. It also uses about 190 watts, not bad if you compare that to the large sets now for sale. I have seen them for sale on Craig's list occassionally.

You might also check avsforum. Look for display devices. Also there are forums about CRT tvs to read.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

 

[philcobendixduo]

My Mitsubishi 32" CRT

I'm quite happy watching my 1998 Mitsubishi 32" console CRT. I watch mostly old T.V. shows on DVD and very little broadcast T.V. so I feel I'm watching the shows the way they were meant to be seen - on the "square" screen. I plan to keep it until it dies. I'm in no hurry to get a flat screen!