Where did the CRT TVs Go?

Gentlegamer

Gentlegamer

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About four years ago, I bought a 13" TV (CRT) for my bedroom. Now, it doesn't work (randomly powers on and off, changes channels like it's possessed). So, I went to some retailer websites to shop for a replacement. What I find is the only TVs for sale are LCDs for $200+. All I want is a 13" regular old TV to replace mine (for about $50). Am I looking for the modern equivalent of an 8-Track player or Hi-Fi? Am I doomed to have to shop for it on ebay or craigslist?
 
$50 for a new TV? :rofl:

You missed that boat by over 2 years when retailers clearanced out their stock of non-ATSC tuner TVs.

Your best bet for a new 13" would probably be TRU and getting some Disney-themed 13" TV(hope you like Pirates or Princesses). But those are ~$125.

I know Wal-Mart still sells CRT TVs, but I don't think they carry ones that small.

If you don't need a NEW CRT, go the Craigslist route. I did that a few years ago when my small 13" CRT died and I got a 19" CRT for $5.
 
Go to your local k-mart mine in Puerto Rico had a sales this week of a 13in crt for 129.99$...so your luck there.Also they have some 19in display tv's for like 72$ so, check there, good luck.
 
Love this thread. CRTs 4 life. I will be using mine until it craps out, but Sony Wegas seem to last a long ass time. It probably helps that I really only play RPGs. However, I was playing RE5 last night and it still looked great on my CRT; at least it wasn't so much worse than a HDTV that I'd pay hundreds of dollars for a nice new one.
 
I feel bad that so many people still like CRTs.

I helped my mom recycle 4 or 5 older(non-HD and non-ATSC) working CRTs she had in her basement less than 2 weeks ago.
 
[quote name='Rocko']DrMarioKart? Is that you?[/QUOTE]

LOL.

What really saddens me is that it is getting near impossible to find a CRT arcade monitor - they are expensive as hell now.
 
[quote name='SithFran']You can also try pawn shops for CRT's and this way you can see a few of them in action to test the picture.[/QUOTE]

I was about to suggest this too. Ive seen a number of pawn shops with loads of CRTs for sale. You can always haggle with them too if they try to overcharge you. Good luck.
 
I just sold a 27" Sanyo CRT at a garage sale for $10 a few months ago... and then last week I saw an eerily similar TV on the curb a few blocks away with a paper sign asking $20.

I also took that opportunity to get rid of my slowly dying 13 year old 13" Sharp CRT for $5.
 
In my house, we have 7 TVs. 5 of them are various size CRTs, my dad's is a 50" rear projection TV and mine is a 32" LCD HDTV. I like the CRTs, we usually use them to just watch general TV or a movie. The only reason I bought an LCD HDTV for myself was for video games and blu rays. Its kind of a shame you can't buy CRTs anymore for regular viewing pleasures without spending a ton of extra money on a picture that you may not need crystal clear.

But I would suggest craigslist or to a lesser extent, ebay. The pawn shop route might work too.
 
I'm probably going to have to learn how to decase a CRT one of these days - my cocktail cabinet needs a new 19" CRT monitor but I just can't find one. Bah, I'll also have to learn how to fudge the resolutions and junk in MAME to get the games to look right. Boo!!!
 
Yeah, CRTs are awesome. I remember when my local Circuit City was clearancing out, they pulled two CRTs from the woodworks. I guess they were floor models at one time and they never decided to sell them. But yeah, I didn't have room for it so I didn't get them... :(
 
I've got a beautiful Samsung 19" Syncmaster that I bought around 5 years ago for graphics work and playing games. Now it sits around waiting for me to turn on the second computer for some reason since I have a 22" Samsung LCD on the main machine.

I'm just wondering why anyone would want one of those old beasts. Other than the high quality picture, that sucker weighs a ton and takes up half the depth of my desk. I'm very happy to have my desk space for other things like my keyboard and arms without searing my retinas on a CRT.

My very first monitor was the awesome Commodore 1702!
 
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Craigslist mang. People just give CRTs away for free sometimes. Haha. They're just not that in demand anymore. All I know is, PS1 games look a hell of a lot better on CRTs.
 
Still have an RCA CRT and Toshiba one. Honestly, I got tired of nearly breaking my back trying to move my 42in that sucker was dead weight! CL would be your best bet people get rid of them all the time.
 
Yeah, I don't know if you will have any luck outside of C-List or Ebay. I got my 34 inch Sony fat ass 200 pound sucker off Craig's List for 150 bucks with a stand this past year. I love it! It also acts as a heater in this small room (when the computer and TV are both on at the same time it gets nice and toasty in here). Good luck in your quest, young sir.
 
Seriously, garage/yard sales. Go out on a Saturday morning to a couple of the larger ones in the newspaper and someone is bound to have one for sale dirt cheap. My sister has found several on the roadside in working condition with a free sign on them. (She likes finding old appliances new homes.)
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Love this thread. CRTs 4 life. I will be using mine until it craps out, but Sony Wegas seem to last a long ass time. It probably helps that I really only play RPGs. However, I was playing RE5 last night and it still looked great on my CRT; at least it wasn't so much worse than a HDTV that I'd pay hundreds of dollars for a nice new one.[/QUOTE]

CRTs in general, especially ones made by Sony seem to have the half life of a Gameboy which is approx 1000 years. And you're wasting that CRT playing rpgs. Give it to me. The lag for fighting games is killing me.
 
Ideally, in a strange fantasy land where my Girlfriend lets me have two game rooms, I would love to get a decent sized CRT for my older games-- hell even move some of the gaming shit in there too. It just isn't the same on LCD.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']Ideally, in a strange fantasy land where my Girlfriend lets me have two game rooms, I would love to get a decent sized CRT for my older games-- hell even move some of the gaming shit in there too. It just isn't the same on LCD.[/QUOTE]

Actually one of the last Sony CRTs in the WEGA line was HDTV and had no input lag or so minimal that it wasn't even noticeable. I think it was 36 inches. That's the one I'm trying to get as it went from 480p to 1080i and I think it accepted 720p also.
 
I'll never get rid of my 27" Sony WEGA. It was the first TV to ever score a perfect rating for the speakers. Enhanced 16:9 mode made DVDs look awesome as hell. You almost have to have at least one SDTV, because old games upscaled in HD looks like shit run over twice.
 
To hell, I hope. But yeah, as stated the themed kiddie 13" are about all that is left. I have a Hello Kitty one, which I bought on a whim quite a few years ago, and a Supergirl one, with a DVD player built in, which I got for free.
 
CRT HDTV sets should all be dual native 480p/1080i. As long as you're displaying in one of those it shouldnt lag. Or at least I didnt think any of the CRT sets used any sort of unnecessary video processing.

A TV might accept 720p, but it sure isnt displaying it at 720p. Its either kicking it up or down to one of its natives.
 
They went in the trash or rather most of them did. I do have a 20-something inch Sony Wega unused sitting in it's own area and another one is in my uncle's room. We threw away 4-5 CRT TVs (3-4 of them new) when we did some heavy cleaning of my house. Hate CRTs. Heavy ass mother****ers.
 
[quote name='Hostile']They went in the trash or rather most of them did. I do have a 20-something inch Sony Wega unused sitting in it's own area and another one is in my uncle's room. We threw away 4-5 CRT TVs (3-4 of them new) when we did some heavy cleaning of my house. Hate CRTs. Heavy ass mother****ers.[/QUOTE]


BAN THIS MOTHER fuckER FOR HERESEY! Good CRTs are a necessity if you play fighting games or if you're lucky to have a game support 1080i as you get less lag in FPS games with them.

If I had a Sony Wega CRT that was 36 I'd be as happy as a pig in shit. This LCD ruined my PS2 collection of fighting games.
 
I have 2 34" 16:9 Sony CRT Tube HDTVs. One is my main setup, the 34XBR910. Its one of the rare tv's with Super Fine Pitch Tube (1440x1080 actual res, amazing picture). Everyone who sees the tv in action is just absolutely blown away by it. I spent hours and hours calibrating it and fixing the overscan, and it looks damn good. Blacks are so black its like a black hole. The other is a 34KD510. If any of you are in so cal, i am selling that one, it is just taking up space in the garage. Works great, amazing picture, has DVI+Audio and Component inputs for HD like PS3/360. Its also 16:9 and comes with original remote.

Also, one thing that CRT Tube HDTVs do like no other, is the lack of lag. Rock Band/Guitar Hero are played with 0 calibration and work absolutely perfect as is. Its something i DO NOT miss from my old LCD/Projector days. Playing SF4 is a treat on these things.

If you are talking about a SD CRT Tube, then go look on craigslist, but i wouldnt waste my time and just go with a HD one. These things last nearly forever with a better picture then 99% of displays in existence. Oh, and both sets accept 720p and 1080i. Looks fantastic.
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']I have 2 34" 16:9 Sony CRT Tube HDTVs. One is my main setup, the 34XBR910. Its one of the rare tv's with Super Fine Pitch Tube (1440x1080 actual res, amazing picture). Everyone who sees the tv in action is just absolutely blown away by it. I spent hours and hours calibrating it and fixing the overscan, and it looks damn good. Blacks are so black its like a black hole. The other is a 34KD510. If any of you are in so cal, i am selling that one, it is just taking up space in the garage. Works great, amazing picture, has DVI+Audio and Component inputs for HD like PS3/360. Its also 16:9 and comes with original remote.

Also, one thing that CRT Tube HDTVs do like no other, is the lack of lag. Rock Band/Guitar Hero are played with 0 calibration and work absolutely perfect as is. Its something i DO NOT miss from my old LCD/Projector days. Playing SF4 is a treat on these things.

If you are talking about a SD CRT Tube, then go look on craigslist, but i wouldnt waste my time and just go with a HD one. These things last nearly forever with a better picture then 99% of displays in existence. Oh, and both sets accept 720p and 1080i. Looks fantastic.[/QUOTE]

THAT is the one I believe I was talking about. Those things are fucking incredible. The no lag I was talking about makes it a MUST for ANY fighting game fan. Especially if you plan on playing Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, King of Fighters or any game that requires perfect timing. I only saw that tv a few times, but MAN was it a sight to behold. That blacks being so black is completely accurate. It's one of those things where you're like WHOA. And they do demolish most LCD's in the ASS. It's just they're hard to find, heavy as fuck and the people that DO have them tend to NOT want to get rid of them. Plus CRTs don't really die so it's essentially there for eternity.
 
[quote name='Paco']BAN THIS MOTHER fuckER FOR HERESEY! Good CRTs are a necessity if you play fighting games or if you're lucky to have a game support 1080i as you get less lag in FPS games with them.

If I had a Sony Wega CRT that was 36 I'd be as happy as a pig in shit. This LCD ruined my PS2 collection of fighting games.[/QUOTE]

:D

Most of the ones that got thrown away weren't great CRTs to my knowledge (Viewsonic's a single Panasonic and some other random brand(s)). I wouldn't keep a CRT around just for fighting games anyway.
 
i had an old 13" crt that would randomly start changing channels too, or if you pressed the channel up or down button it would just keep scrolling up or down through the channels. It was pretty annoying. I put it in a closet for a couple of years then plugged it up one day and it worked fine.

I later got a 19" crt and we gave the smaller one away. I've had this tv now for atleast 6-7 years and it still works great
 
I haven't missed the heavy ass things at all. I don't play any fighting games anymore--and don't play any games competitively--so lag's a non-factor for me. TV is pretty much used for sports, TV and dvds/blu-ray for the vast majority of the time anyway.

I love having much bigger screens that way a ton less and take up less space.
 
The death of CRTs is kinda bad for graphics pros (be it design or photography). They tend to prefer CRTs for color and gamma accuracy. An LCD can effect their work. I'm sitting in front of a Samsung LCD (albeit a very nice one) where the black levels can be drastically different simply based on the height of the chair I'm sitting on.
 
Go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army.

I still have a couple of the old Philips 30" HDTV CRT's, best $300 I ever spent.
 
I absolutely love a nicely calibrated CRT TV.

I've had a vision disability since birth, and was always told I could sit as close as possible to the TV as I needed. For me, that was a foot or so away, no matter what size TV it is. :lol:

I don't like LCD pictures much, because it's very hard to get into the "sweet spot" for sitting when I need to be close. (I sit dead center and nobody else can see.)

My 50" plasma is wonderful, but when you sit really close, you get dither.

I'll keep my CRT around for the future, so I can play the old game systems on it. I've got a 27" CRT that's basically just sitting until I get a home of my own. (I live in an apartment now, so no room for any of that.

I don't miss how heavy those fuckers are! I've lugged way too many CRT's around in my life!
 
Surprised Cheapest hasn't chimed in yet.

While I appreciate the sentiment towards CRT from some of our members, it's been obsolete for several years now with digital and high definition sources becoming the norm. I mean, I'm actually quite shocked that there's anyone surprised by the fact they are no longer manufactured/sold.
 
[quote name='Rig']
I don't miss how heavy those fuckers are! I've lugged way too many CRT's around in my life![/QUOTE]

Shit, my 27" Sony WEGA was 90 fucking pounds.
 
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