My 1969 Sony Trinitron KV-1210U CRT TV (pics)

[Robb]

I heard the newer LED sets can last 20+ years if they are used 3 hours per day.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Robb

I heard the newer LED sets can last 20+ years if they are used 3 hours per day.

Nevertheless, your Trinny has far outlasted that, and will probably still last a lot longer. Much better looking too, bonus.

[Dreamsbeard]

Originally Posted by KV-1926R

. Much better looking too, bonus.

That would be my main grip with newer FP TV : They all look the same...nothing special. Dare I say it...? Boring!

[dr.ido]

Flat panel sets can be repaired at the component level. Discrete components and ICs up to certain point can be done with a standard iron with a fine enough tip and some patience. ICs beyond that point will need a hot air rework stations, but these have gotten cheap enough now that even I bought one (haven't got the hang of it yet though). I doubt I'll get to the point where I can do large BGA ICs, but it can be done.

I repair a lot a trash find flat panels and while it can take a while to find parts for some of them my success rate is probably around the same as when I was doing CRT sets.

They are getting worse though. It seems the thinner the sets get, the worse they get. Some seem to crack if you so much as look at them wrong, so regardless of what the original fault was they rarely survive the trip to the curb.

[Sandy G]

That's one of the "Neat" things about my Porthole Zenith... They LOOKED like something, not just an ugly grey/black plastic box... Having a TV in 1949 was still Something Special, & the Zenith said it "Loud & Proud"...

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

That's one of the "Neat" things about my Porthole Zenith... They LOOKED like something, not just an ugly grey/black plastic box... Having a TV in 1949 was still Something Special, & the Zenith said it "Loud & Proud"...

What were you watching on that set in 1949? I remember you saying in one of your posts some time ago that your area didn't get its first TV stations until 1954. Unless you had a deep-fringe antenna on a rotor, I doubt if you were seeing anything other than snow.

BTW, did you ever find a replacement for the missing VHF channel selector knob for your Zenith roundie color set? Being Zenith, I would think that set would do well connected to a DTV converter box or cable (if Charter Cable still has analog service), since CRTs can often show better pictures than today's flat screens. One of the selling points for DTV digital-to-analog converter boxes was, and may still be, that "your old TV never looked better" when fed by one of these boxes. Given a good signal, the box doesn't care what it is connected to--they work just as well with a 1949 b&w TV or a 1999 knob-tuned color set.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

What were you watching on that set in 1949? I remember you saying in one of your posts some time ago that your area didn't get its first TV stations until 1954. Unless you had a deep-fringe antenna on a rotor, I doubt if you were seeing anything other than snow.

BTW, did you ever find a replacement for the missing VHF channel selector knob for your Zenith roundie color set? Being Zenith, I would think that set would do well connected to a DTV converter box or cable (if Charter Cable still has analog service), since CRTs can often show better pictures than today's flat screens. One of the selling points for DTV digital-to-analog converter boxes was, and may still be, that "your old TV never looked better" when fed by one of these boxes. Given a good signal, the box doesn't care what it is connected to--they work just as well with a 1949 b&w TV or a 1999 knob-tuned color set.

Yep, my Porthole came from Harry Poster in NJ.. I dunno WHERE it came from before that. The guy who had my 7" Admiral, he & his buds had an antenna rigged up on top of a mountain outside of town, in the summer they'd go up & monkey w/it, & if everything was "Just So", they'd get in a little bit of a signal from WAGA or WSB in Atlanta, MAYBE WBT in Charlotte. But OTA signals were a "Catch as Catch Can" proposition til late 1953 or '54, when WJHL in the Tri-Cities came on the air. And I DO have a cable box in the "Ships' Radio Room", where the Porthole & most of my Boatanchors live.. Never have got an inner VHF knob for the '65 Zenith roundie color set.. It also needs to go see Terry, but getting it down there is problematical, to say the least...The Porthole truly ASTOUNDS visitors, ESPECIALLY kids, most of whom have either NEVER seen a largish B/W set, or ANY TV that old... May as well be Prehistory... (grin)

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I DO have a cable box in the "Ships' Radio Room", where the Porthole & most of my Boatanchors live..

If it has a "porthole" and "boatanchors", then it must be on a ship.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

If it has a "porthole" and "boatanchors", then it must be on a ship.

Hehehehe... Hadn't thought about it like THAT.. Unfortunately, the nearest Ocean is a good 7-8 hr ride from here-Maybe I oughta re-christen it the "CIA Listening Room"... (grin)

[dr.ido]

I have a few 10+ year old flat panels - A few LCD TVs, a Fujitsu SD plasma monitor and an NEC Computer monitor from 1999.

There have been a few that came through that I probably should have kept, but let go of for one reason or another. Such as a 22" SD Panasonic LCD that retailed for $4999 in 2002 (they can't have sold many of those), or Fujitsu plasma a generation or 2 earlier than the one I still have that (barring the screen burn on this example) had the best SD picture I've seen on any plasma or LCD.

A lot of the "better" old flat panels that come through are actually still working. They were dumped as they don't have built in digital tuners.

Perhaps I should do a "vintage" flat panel thread.

The capacitor plague has largely been solved. I still find stuff from that "era" that has bad caps (which are usually nice easy jobs), but the caps in most newer stuff are fine. I am already starting to see bad or partially bad LED backlights, so I don't believe they will last as long as CCFL backlit sets.

[andy]

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[Jon A.]

The only flat-panel displays I'll allow in my possession are computer monitors. I'm using a 2007 LG Flatron L192WS, amazingly NOT made in china. That alone may make it a museum piece in years to come. Then there's the LCD panel that's part of my PowerBook 1400cs, which has such a lousy response time that the mouse cursor leaves trails even with that feature turned off.

[andy]

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[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by andy

It's funny, but in the 80's and 90's most Korean electronics were pure junk. GoldStar (now LG) and Samsung were bottom tier brands making cheap TVs and throw away VCRs, but look at them now. They're ahead of the Japanese in most areas.

Yup, my GoldStar-built sets (1986 and 1991) were dull performers, that was one reason I had for junking them. Didn't have them long. I didn't even save any parts, I just aired the CRTs, bolted the backs back on and tossed 'em. I tried to get the knobs off the '86 but they wouldn't budge. Probably glued on at the factory.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by andy

It's funny, but in the 80's and 90's most Korean electronics were pure junk. GoldStar (now LG) and Samsung were bottom tier brands making cheap TVs and throw away VCRs, but look at them now. They're ahead of the Japanese in most areas.

Ya, just like the Japanese took over the Americans building great cars !