Just curious as to what your first tv set, you purchased NEW, out of the box was?
As a kid, I saved up and bought a 79 Zenith 19" Chromacolor out of my Uncle's shop. It was the last Chromacolor chassis, but used the NEW System 3 picture tube. I would then "trade up" ever year or so, for a better model.
I don't really count that one tho, cause I got dealer cost, and I'm sure didn't even have to pay it off.

As an adult, the 1st set I purchased NEW was an RCA CTC-185 set. (in 1999) It was a 25" NO FRILLS, with NO RCA inputs. Gave that one away when I got sick of not having a DVD player, and bought another new set in 2003.

I was too young to purchase it, I won it in a D.A.R.E poster contest. Yeah, I know, who would have thought. lol. But anyways it was a '93 Magnavox 13". I still have it but never use it. The first one ever bought for me was Christmas '94 when my Mom gave me a 19" Zenith table model, still have that piece of くそ too. I have never purchased a new tv myself. The newest one I have ever owned is my 2004 Sony Wega KV-30HS420, I love that thing but as soon as a 34XBR960 comes along, sayounara!!

84 mitsubishi stereo (got it just to watch the then new MTS stereo sound on miami vice). A cool grand in 1984 dollars.... oh still have it and it still works great.

All my earlier sets were hand me downs.

I know it's off topic but does your Mitsu have that bluish looking CRT when the set is off?? I always liked the picture those tubes put out. Had one back in the late '90s.

Mark.. A D.A.R.E. contest? hahahahahaha
All of the sets I have now, are hand-me downs, or ones I got used (except for my Toshiba). I don't know what prompted me to get that RCA. I think I had a bug up my ass for finally wanting ONE new set. Go figure I bought one with NO RCA inputs, which prompted me to have to buy a VCR/DVD deck a few years later. When I got sick of the RCA, I gave it to someone who had no TV, and it's still humming along.
My sets now are the 24" Toshiba I bought to replace that RCA, a 32" JVC my brother gave me when he went the flat screen route, and the 81 19" Zenith in bedroom.
Off my own topic, but I clearly remember the first VCR I bought. It was in 1992. My mom gave me a $200.00 check for Christmas towards one, and I went to Circuit City, and found a mono 2head RCA for 249.00, which believe it or not, wasn't too bad of a price in 92. I still have it, but NEVER use it anymore.

yes I does have a slight bluest tint. has a very nice pic. Needs speakers as the surrounds have started to break down.

Mivar 14V2E, 1992 (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lZhUix-UJh8/TWLeTXuIBPI/AAAAAAAAGPk/3XVT_0FlzdU/s1600/IMG_4017.jpg)

As a kid, I washed and dried a TON of dishes to save up $100 for this set:

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=167786&d=1280258197

RCA 8PT7032...First new set purchased new in box as an adult; RCA CTC22, for about $300.
jr

As far as I am aware, I have only ever purchased two sets new.

The first, purchased in 2002, was the first set I could truly call 'my own', as everything before it wasn't mine. (Living room set at the time was a 25" Zenith System 2 'Space Command' console from the 80's) I was about 14 at the time, and the set was a no-frills 13" Sylvania (Funai, I'm sure) set, purchased at Sam's Club for $69.99. It has one mono A/V input. I can't remember if it was on sale or not. I used it in my bedroom for the longest time, until I was given my grandmother's 32" RCA. (One of those 90's sets with the especially bulbous CRTs; it was replaced by a newer Sharp 32" CRT before the problem was found to be the cable box) The Sylvania was displaced to my clubhouse until about a month ago, when it was replaced by a 13" Sony Trinitron found at a thrift store, KV-13M10. I still have the Sylvania with its original remote control, and it still works well.

The second set I purchased new was a significant step up from the little Sylvania. Fast forward to 2004; this one was a Christmas gift to self. The aforementioned 32" RCA had finally developed issues; the set lost horizontal stability and the picture developed a distinct 'hourglass' shape, like a CRT monitor with the 'pincushion' setting way wrong. We joked that it took 'Slim-Fast' :D. I planned to repair it, but it was gone when I returned from a vacation one day. The parental units chucked it without asking for my input. :grumpy: (I did have the set for several months after it drank the 'Slim-Fast'. :D) I needed a new television, but I wanted something smaller that wouldn't take over a decent chunk of my bedroom. (No comments from the peanut gallery about my current Sony 40" XBR! :D) I went to Best Buy and found an Insignia (BB's in-house brand) 24" flat tube CRT for $249.99. I liked this set; it had component video inputs, stereo sound with bass/treble/balance controls, and a really good picture. (LG/Philips CRT) This set lived in my room until it was displaced to my younger brother's bedroom when I picked up the Sony KV-40XBR800 off Craigslist about two years ago. He still uses it and it still works great, including the original remote control.

Yes, I ramble. :D

Mark.. A D.A.R.E. contest? hahahahahaha

LOL! Well, at the time I was in third grade......oh, yeeaah, that was the first time I ever got drunk.:beer: But hey! I don't look like a stoner anymore since I cut off my hair:smoke::thmbsp:

yes I does have a slight bluest tint. has a very nice pic. Needs speakers as the surrounds have started to break down.

Time to re-foam those bad boys and keep the set original! BTW, my set had the little hiding spot in the front for the remote, it pushed in like a drawer. Does yours? last annoying question I promise!

The first one was a Fisher 19" from the early 80's. Traded it when it was only a couple of months old for a 1971 Dodge Charger.

The first one was a Fisher 19" from the early 80's. Traded it when it was only a couple of months old for a 1971 Dodge Charger.

I'd say that's a decent trade! :thmbsp:

Still have the car?

Now that I think of it, I've only ever purchased one set, brand new, myself. It was a Sony Mega Watchman that I bought at JC Penney in 1989. First purchase in my life that I ever made on credit......still have it, too.

Time to re-foam those bad boys and keep the set original! BTW, my set had the little hiding spot in the front for the remote, it pushed in like a drawer. Does yours? last annoying question I promise!


Yepper and still have the remote stashed there. Prob should remove the batteries while I am thinking of it.

years ago it would make a spark sound, and the pic would flicker, back then I was not really into fixing TV's, but IIRC I vaccumed around the fly and spayed some silcone lube on it (my thinking was to seal up any areas that may have a break down in the HV area), Worked, has not recurred. Last tine I watched it I noticed the lin was off a bit, maybe an adj or perhaps a cap starting to go.

Now that I think of it, I've only ever purchased one set, brand new, myself. It was a Sony Mega Watchman that I bought at JC Penney in 1989. First purchase in my life that I ever made on credit......still have it, too.

What model? I recently picked up a free Mega Watchman, model FD-500, with the original manual. Works, but has issues. :3

Yepper and still have the remote stashed there. Prob should remove the batteries while I am thinking of it.

years ago it would make a spark sound, and the pic would flicker, back then I was not really into fixing TV's, but IIRC I vaccumed around the fly and spayed some silcone lube on it (my thinking was to seal up any areas that may have a break down in the HV area), Worked, has not recurred. Last tine I watched it I noticed the lin was off a bit, maybe an adj or perhaps a cap starting to go.

Yep, could be a cap. Mitsubishi sets from the 80's and 90's were awesome but they had a lot of crappy 'lytics in them.

I bought an RCA ctc-168 in 1992. But it was last year's display model, so it was discounted. That was my main set 92-00. It was still working good when I sold it in '05. Now, since nobody makes anything I even sort of like anymore, it looks like that'll be the only set I ever buy new.

I guess the 1st one I bought new was an '84-85 Sony 25" XBR..Their TOTL. It was STEREO, & had those wonky square APM speakers... Big woo. It died less than 10 yrs later.

I'd say that's a decent trade! :thmbsp:

Still have the car?

No but I wish I did. I did find it a few years back. The guy I sold it to had blown the motor (318, hth you do that is beyond me) shortly after buying from me and parked it in a shed. Wanted 2K for it. I didn't want it back that bad. It was redoable but not without a bucket of cash which I didn't have.

Only TV I bought new was a 5" Chinese B&W job in 2003. Bought it simply for the novelty of buying a new TV for $15.

In 2007 a cat knocked it off a four-drawer file cabinet, and that was the end of that.

The first new set I purchased, and the first television I ever purchased, was a mid 80's 13" TMK color set. Knob tuned, silver and black. A really nice looking set for a cheap import. It lasted maybe a year or so before the vertical deflection collapsed to about 1". Took it to a repair shop and the repair lasted no time really. It was junked. Sure wish I had it back now purely for nostalgia. I knew nothing of televisions back then.

Still have #2 set purchased new. 1991 Panasonic 1942R tabletop set. Still looks and works as new, although it only gets limited playing time nowadays. Sure wish the remote phantom hadn't stolen the original remote to this set.

My first brand new TV was an RCA CTC101 with a comb filter, and the infamous flyback that would blow up.
http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcactc101.jpghttp://www.wa2ise.com/radios/rcaremote.jpg
It died when the flyback did blow up. I thought it already had the newer replacement version in it...

It did have a great picture, and had fake stereo.

What model? I recently picked up a free Mega Watchman, model FD-500, with the original manual. Works, but has issues. :3

Sounds like the same one. I'd have to dig it out of a box to be sure.....

My first NIB (and last) tv is a 13" Zenith made in June '87, with Space Command, and a cube shaped wood finished plastic cabinet. I played it overnight for years, I can't stand sleeping without one on. The picture started dimming after a while when turned on, and I replaced it with a used 19" stereo Space Command with all the trimming. I still have both of them, and when I found a beautiful clone of the little set in Goodwill one day for $15, I bought it quickly. Since then, I've bought three of the little electronic tuned 9" Zeniths, two are in Almond finish, one is in Strawberry. One almond one is my daily driver, hooked up to a Comcast box with a remote for all of the channels in my package. I also just got a Casio with a two inch screen, but it doesn't work. But for $2 I didn't care.

I've never bought a new TV, four times my folks bought new sets while I've lived with them. Those sets were a early 90's Zenith, an older RCA floor model from Radio shack to fit a built in cabinet in our house which we were trying to sell back in 03', and a CineVision LCD portable from Radio Shack back a few months before hurricane katrina, there was also a 14" Daewoo around that time that I almost for got. The Zenith was put at the curb when we got the RCA. It was begining to develop mild intermitant red-green background change. We put it out with a "works" sign on it one day between garbage days when the neighbors were having work done, and we believe that one of the workmen saved it.

Some time between when I was 5 and 9 years old I got a VCR for my birthday. The one I unwraped ate the first tape that was put in (that tape was from the public library). After that stunt the first VCR was returned to the old Service Merchandise store and a monophonic Sharp with SQPB was purchased. That sharp has never eaten a tape, and worked well the last time I ran it. I stopped using it regularly over 4 years ago as I wanted stereo sound, and later S-VHS recording for timeshifting.

I've never bought a new TV set, but I do have a 15" Zenith B/W tabletop set that my grandmother bought new more than 35 years ago. It still works as good now as when it was first taken out of the box.

No but I wish I did. I did find it a few years back. The guy I sold it to had blown the motor (318, hth you do that is beyond me) shortly after buying from me and parked it in a shed. Wanted 2K for it. I didn't want it back that bad. It was redoable but not without a bucket of cash which I didn't have.

That's a sad outcome. D:

Sounds like the same one. I'd have to dig it out of a box to be sure.....
My unit is square in cross section, with an upward-firing speaker on top. The CRT is in the bottom half, on a slight upward angle. Power button is a round pushbutton on top, next to the speaker.

Some of the controls (tuning, tone) seem to have become disconnected from the rest of the internals and don't work. I had to laugh, because the radio is semi-permanently tuned to my local jazz station. :D

My first new to me set was an Emerson 13". I saved for what seemed like forever to get it, I recall it being around $140 when I got it in the late 90s. Never had a problem it it, and it always had a good picture.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172337&stc=1&d=1322709813

Mom gave it away in a TV recycling drive last month :sigh:

My first new to me set was an Emerson 13". I saved for what seemed like forever to get it, I recall it being around $140 when I got it in the late 90s. Never had a problem it it, and it always had a good picture.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172337&stc=1&d=1322709813

Mom gave it away in a TV recycling drive last month :sigh:
That stinks. D: I try to avoid e-recycling events at all costs, as they never let you take stuff away, and most stuff is scrapped out and destroyed...

My first brand new TV was a 12" Motorola B/W I purchased in 1968 for the princely sum of $90. It look a lot of mowing yards at $2 each to come up with that money! My first new color set was a 1977 Magnavox 19" solid state, knob tuned, which set me back $350 if I recall correctly. I can't even count the number of new TV's I've purchased as an adult, probably close to 24.

Oh, yeah...I bought a couple of the $9.95 sets Just to say I bought a NEW TELEVISION for $10...I think a couple of 'em still actually work..

First set was a Motorola 20 inch color hybrid table model, metal cabinet with soft vinyl walnut-grain wrap, bought at employee sales when I started there in 1966. Once a year, replaced the horizontal output and damper to get the picture brightness back. This was one of the first smaller color CRTs, with internal magnetic shielding allowing a reduced cabinet size.

Many subsequent sets (at Motorola and Zenith) were home observation units - had to observe and report on performance for some months to a year, and then it would be sold to you at a used price if you wanted it. At one time, I had two identical 19 inch Motorola sets side by side, one with a new CRT phosphor formulation. The new formulation was attempting to duplicate the latest Sylvania process, in which they had used an especially thick slurry to get more brightness. The problem was that Moto's slurry-swishing machines could leave swirl marks with the thicker slurry, and they wanted to find out if untrained viewers (the engineers' family members) would notice any swirl pattern.

That stinks. D: I try to avoid e-recycling events at all costs, as they never let you take stuff away, and most stuff is scrapped out and destroyed...

I totaly despise e-recycling events with a major passion as well as they really make a big deal about destroying(recycling) everything old and they run those events like it's North Korea or the USSR. Those e-recycling events are another reason why i really miss the 1980's big time when we had a lot more of our freedoms as well. Whoever runs those e-recycling events should be locked up in jail or a supermax prison for 25-40 years for them trampling on our freedoms to collect and enjoy vintage electronics. These e-recycling events need to stop so our children can enjoy the same freedoms we did as children-that's very important.

I'm almost 35 and I've never purchased a new TV. I've always been able to find something used that would suit my needs; and, given what's out there, I don't have any plans of buying a new TV. I've got enough CRT sets on hand to make sure of that.

In fact, I don't remember my family buying but two new sets in my life. They bought a 19" varactor tuned RCA ColorTrak around '78. That one got a new CRT in around '82. It was used until '84, when my Dad bought a slightly used 19" Magnavox remote set from our then-TV repairman. The RCA went to my parent's bedroom and stayed around here until the mid '90's. Around '87, my Dad bought a new 13" knob tuned Emerson for $149 to replace an early '70's Truetone 13" Japanese tube color TV that was becomming more trouble than it was worth. The 13" set was used in the motorhome until the motorhome was sold. When my uncle passed away, we ended up with his 25" Zenith System 3 console and that set replaced the 19" Magnavox, that had a really weak CRT. After a year or two, the 9-160 module blew up in the Zenith console and I found my parents a 23" Zenith CCII console and that set stayed around until my Dad passed away and my Mother bought a wall unit.

There's been a lot of TV's that have seen use by me; but, none of them were new.

My first new set was a tonemaster 12 inch portable that walgreens had on display.It cost 65.88,was full of tubes,and played forever.I would have to say that was 1968.I was a kid and saved a long time to get it.The biggest thrill of it was being able to receive extra channels on the new uhf band.

I have bought one new TV set, and I really think it will be the only one. I must have been about 13 or 14 (mid-80s). I had a TV already, a GE 23v table model from the late 60s, but it has cataracts, a busted UHF tuner and a terrible picture. I fell in love with a 19" bw Zenith that was languishing on the shelf at the local dealer but Mom & Dad wouldn't let me get it. They saw a 12" bw Magnavox in a Western Auto sales flyer for $69.95. Now, I knew all about those sets and found them boring (unlike that "stylish" Zenith) but Dad took me to WA anyway. What they actually had in stock was a Midland (oh, they're all the same anyway, said the clerk) so I handed over the $65 I had saved up, Dad paid the rest...and I had a TV. Later, after I had upgraded to a mid-70s Portacolor, I took the Midland apart with the intention of fitting it into an old radio cabinet, but that never happened.

Bought a new Zenith B&W 12" from Woolco in 1970, think it cost right around $100. Haven't used it for thirty years or so but still have it and a couple of years ago I got it out and replaced about three tubes and it fires up fine, good picture. Probably should have 'lytics replaced.

Reading the posts about little handheld sets reminded me that I bought one too. Back in about 2002 I bought a Casio EV-570 I think it is. Nice little LCD color set with an excellent picture. 2" standard def screen and you can read text on commercials and whatnot. I still have it and use it around the house with my Blonder tongue modulator. I have it set up at a friends house at the moment because I have house issues:D

i have only purchased 3 new sets besides my infocus projector.first was a jc penny brand 32 inch that was heavy!my sister still has this and it has an outstanding picture after 20 years.i also purchased 2 toshiba 36 inch sets from pennys.these are great sets too.my mother has one and the other was given to a family that really needed a tv.the first set we had in our home when i got married was a 6 month old philco hybrid with the ford name.that had the sharpest picture!i got it from warehouse sale at sun tv.they were selling overstocks and some sets that had been serviced and not picked up.mine was allegedly serviced.it had a bad electrolytic.50.00 for it and i replaced the can when i got it home.used it for a year and i had a friend who kept trying to buy it,so i relented.it was replaced with a sylvania d-16.then i bought and sold my living room tv every few weeks.my wife said this might have contributed to our later divorce!

My first brand-new, paid for by me, set was a 1973 RCA 15" black and white set that was all tube! The tubes were PCB mounted and I remember it having a ladder resistor set on the board where you could tweak the picture by moving the jumper around. My first colour set was a hand me down 19" Quasar (by Motorola) that needed some minor work done to it before it was able to present a decent picture.

Well looky who's here! :D

Hows things, Dan?

My first brand-new TV was a Sony KV-1922, bought for $449 at McDade & Co., a store similar to Service Merchandise in the Chicago area, in fall 1979. That set had pushbutton tuning and rotary volume and picture controls. I sold it in 1982 after I bought the Sony Profeel system.

I can't even count the number of new TV's I've purchased as an adult, probably close to 24.
After seeing the number of people who have bought few or even no new TV sets, I felt a little strange. The above comment is closer to my history.

(got it just to watch the then new MTS stereo sound on miami vice).
I upgraded to a SuperBeta VCR with stereo tuner in early 1985 for the same reason.

I never have bought a new TV myself, my parents have though. I helped my dad go shopping for the Panasonic 25" console we bought in 1986 to replace a '75 Zenith Chromacolor II table model. Then we got a 1987 Magnavox 12" black and white at Fisher's Big Wheel for the kitchen we used till the picture tube wore out and it is still in my parents attic. Then Dad got a 1993 Magnavox 27" table model which I think my parents still use today.

1978 Magnavox star system. Still have it. Worked last time I tried it about ten years ago. It has a t-995 chassis, and was very reliable. Retired it when the CRT started getting weak. Tv was on from 6am till about midnight every day for years.

My first new set was a 19" General Electric color set purchased in 1978 or 79.
I can't remember the model but it was a step below the models that had VIR, maybe a YC chassis?

It only broke down once in the ten years I had it when the Horiz output transistor shorted.

My next set was a 1990 Sony KV-27XBR10, I used that one for 15 years, it broke down once when it was about two years old, just a bad solder joint.

My first brand new tv was purchased by my Dad in 1990 to replace the B&W 10" he had given me as a hand me down (That RCA 10" still works, made in the late 70s). I still remember going to Boscov's department store to pick it out. My Dad decided on a 13" RCA color BPC table model, which also still works. I remember seeing a Goldstar VCR/TV combo for $100, and asking for that, but Dad shot down the brand name, as well as saying that "if one of those breaks, then the whole thing is worthless". The RCA cost $125, IIRC.

The first tv I bought new with my own cash was in 1998, a crappy Portland 27" that I used for about ten years before giving it away. It worked fine the whole time I had it, but it drove my Dad insane as no universal remote could be found that would work for it. I think the price for the Portland was just under $200, purchased at KMart.

My first new one was a 1986 Sony KV-1311CR, a TV/monitor that I got primarily to use as a computer monitor. Within a year, I got a different monitor and thereafter we used it as a TV. I have played it more or less daily for the last 25 years. It currently sits in my office and I listen to a lot of movies while using the computer.

A couple of months ago, it developed some waviness in the video. I replaced some electrolytics, and now it's back on the road.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/SonyKV-1311CRColorBars.jpg

http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/SonyKV-1311CRFixed.jpg

My dad bought me my first TV the day after thanksgiving from Phar-Mor (a since bankrupt drug store) in the late 90's; the set was branded as a "Konka" was a 19 inch. I think I was 14 and I remember getting that set out of the box for the first time. Before that I watched my dads old GE Performance table top set he got new from his parents probably in the late 70's. I still have both of them, they've both probably logged about a million service hours but both still work real well...

The first TV I remember my parents buying new came from Montgomery Ward, I think it was branded as an LXI or something, it worked when we got rid of it about fifteen years ago but somebody screwed the screen up with a magnet so there was always a big green splotch in the middle of whatever you were watching...

Sorry for OT...heres my (solid state) TV I bought in 1969...

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo347/tubemania/GLRy136.jpg

Well looky who's here! :D

Hows things, Dan?

Hey, Tim! :wave:

The first New set I ever owned is a 1992-93 Sony KV-27TS32. It's been a daily user since new, and has only been opened up one time... for bad soldering. The grey scale tracking has never been touched, and is still good. The only adjustments I have ever done is vertical centering, height, and the horizontal width. I wanted the picture overscan to be very small.

The clock stopped working around 2003. I can set it, and in a few days, it will not display anymore.

I watched analog TV go away on this tuner. Everything plays thru the video inputs these days. If it was to die today, I'd save this CRT for another set.

I was working at Sears at the time, so I bought it on my brand new Sears credit card, and took 20% off retail, along with my 10% employee discount.

Was looking for an old manual and found the plastic bag, sticker and some service receipts for the first new TV I bought - a 19" GE JA7408WD. It cost around $400 in early 1974. About a month's pay! I was not impressed with it, lousy side pincushion correction. In '75 sold it and bought a GTE Sylvania Super Set which was in the family for probably 30 years.


http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=172403&stc=1&d=1323099794

My first TV was and still is a 1997 JVC 27" BPC set that I bought at Lechmere which for those that don't know was a Best Buy type store that was owned by Montgomery Ward. This TV is still my daily driver and has only had 1 repair. Shortly after I bought it I was in the process of moving and had set up the TV on the floor of my new apt., hooked up the cable tv wire to it, and then a few minutes later tripped over the wire and tore the f connector out of the back of it. I took it apart and basically glued the connector back in with solder and it's been running perfectly for 14 years now.

I bought a new Sharp 19" tabletop hybrid from Allied Radio 1970. It never would produce reds right - even if you cut off the other guns and ran purity, it would only show a washed out orange. But it operated otherwise problem free forever until I got a used Zenith that had eye-burning reds. What a relief!

As far as I can remember, the ONLY TV I ever bought new was the 13" Sylvania CRT set that my son plays video games on in his bedroom. IIRC, it was something like $69 5 years ago.

The 2 other "daily watchers" in the house are a 27" flat screen CRT Panasonic TV/DVD/VCR combo that my wife won as a door prize at an office Xmas party several years ago, and a 36" Sony LCD HD set that was rescued off the curb and brought back to life with a couple new electrolytics about a year ago.

My first set bought new was a Zenith J163W black & white 16" portable. $165. I got it from a local mom-n-pop TV store in West LA in 1978 or 79.

Charles

1997 20" Panasonic BPC, stereo sound. Picture tube made in USA, assembled in Mexico. Always had an excellent picture, much better than the more recent small screen tvs. Also cost a lot, I think $350 or so.

Sales man talked me into it rather than a Trinitron - I always kind of regret listening to him, and not buying the Sony.

My first for me was a Zenith 12" B/W from a dealer going out of business in 1985. The rest have all been old sets I repaired until my wife and I bought a 50" 1080p LG plasma from Sears 2 years ago.

I'm not counting $200 Sampo and Portland 19" color sets I bought for my parents in the 1980's at those "fresh off the truck" sales with the rent-a -cop checking receipts. :D

Before you say BPC, both were excellent sets lasting 15- 20 years of heavy use (10 hours + per day) with only one repair between them, a jungle IC in the Sampo, which I replaced.

I am 52 YO, so i think I've been fairly frugal with TV's over the years.

I have never actually purchased a new tv. I have purchased tv's off ebay, and Cl over the last few years, but never a new one from a store.... TV in a box, new with guarantee, instruction booklet..... never had that experience.

The first new TV I bought for myself, in 1975 after I graduated high school, was a Kenco (house brand of the now long defunct Kennedy and Cohen retail chain of the 1970s) 12" b&w tube-powered portable. Worked well while I had it, but something burned out or shorted in it :no: after I had owned it just 3 years. Didn't bother having it repaired; instead, I replaced it with a Zenith J121Y 12" solid-state portable that lasted me 22 years. No problems with that set whatsoever, except for the UHF tuner detent mechanism breaking after about 10-12 years (!) and jamming the tuner on one channel.

Guess the 1st one I bought myself was that 1985-85 Sony 25" XBR set-GREAT picture, but it died after about 5 years. Still have the funkay square APM speakers.

Guess the 1st one I bought myself was that 1985-85 Sony 25" XBR set-GREAT picture, but it died after about 5 years. Still have the funkay square APM speakers.

Sandy, you must be really rough on TV's. I've gotten 21 years out of the 1991 27" XBR set that I have... Got 19 years out of the original CRT!

I've done nothing other than replace the big regulator IC, and minor PC bad solder connections. It keeps going, and going... not unlike an energizer bunny.

I dunno, Bruce...That was when I lived across the street at my parents' house. there was somethin' FUNNY about the electricity there-Litebubs had NO life there, & one of my Boatanchors-an R-389-was forever blowing voltage rectifier tubes. We had the local power co-op monitor the voltage, & they found nothing out of the ordinary, but SOMETHING was amiss. Finally, I bought my house across the street, & -Knock on wood-I haven't had any more problems.

I don't think a well-known brand of TV such as Sony, especially their sets from the '80s, before many makes became junk in a very short time, would konk out after only five years. One of my great-aunts had a 12" Sony color portable in the '70s that lasted over twenty years, and was used a lot since she liked sports and watching shows such as PBS's "Victory Garden", et al. When that set finally died, she bought another, larger Sony TV that outlived her. She lived maybe five years after getting that set, and to the best of my knowledge it was still working when she died. I don't know what happened to the set after that; it probably was inherited by another relative, who may still have it.

Slightly off subject, but still relevant:

I had a Sears customer that owned a Warwick built Sears set that she bought in 1973, and had it checked every year under her maintenance agreement. It had never seen service, other than one focus rectifier in around 1975. I last saw it at her home in 1995, and it still looked good. It produced a good black and white picture, too. She passed away around 1997 and a friend of mine bought the television from her son, and it ran on for another 11 years before lightning got it thru the antenna and tuner. Even then, it would still turn on and give a raster. I saw it playing several times during the time my friend had it. Really good example of a Warwick set. It must have been built on a good day at the plant.

W/this set, the screen would go DARK, & all you could see was red & green-no blue. Seems like the sharpness kinda went south, too. I bought ithis thing from one of those catalog sellers in NYC, & it was well after the warranty would have expired anyway. PITA, it was an otherwise excellent set. Nobody around here worked on Sonys, & wrestlin' that damthing around was difficult, to say the least. I'd say it weighed a good 150-175 lbs, I know I saw stars 'n' lightnings & schitt when I picked it up...

Sounds like Sandy's parents house had a bad ground rod, A friend had blowing light bulbs, appliances, etc. I told him the ground rod was not good, and to check the connection, & get the rod replaced by a pro, he did and it fixed his problems. It was in Atlanta, where the rod can be a set of rods because of the ground resistance.

Sounds like Sandy's parents house had a bad ground rod, A friend had blowing light bulbs, appliances, etc. I told him the ground rod was not good, and to check the connection, & get the rod replaced by a pro, he did and it fixed his problems. It was in Atlanta, where the rod can be a set of rods because of the ground resistance.

Oh, yeah, our house was built in '54, had "2-prong" outlets, I dunno if it even HAD a ground rod...Wouldn't have made any difference, our house sat on a rock ledge.

Sounds like Sandy's parents house had a bad ground rod, A friend had blowing light bulbs, appliances, etc. I told him the ground rod was not good, and to check the connection, & get the rod replaced by a pro, he did and it fixed his problems. It was in Atlanta, where the rod can be a set of rods because of the ground resistance.

Sounds to me as if the bad ground was sending well over 110 volts into the electrical system (without the ground, there may well have been 220 volts or more at every outlet, and every point in the system for that matter), which accounts easily for the burned-out bulbs and damaged appliances. I'm surprised there was no fire. :yikes:

If the ground rod(s) at Sandy's folks' home was/were defective, I am surprised the electric utility technicians didn't see it right away rather than saying nothing was wrong, even after all their testing. Something had to be very much haywire, of course, if light bulbs were going bad before their time, the rectifier tube in Sandy's R-389 receiver failed again and again for no apparent reason, etc.

All of the above entries suggest a neutral fault instead of a ground problem. It's true that a low resistance ground is very important, it shouldn't be a substitute for a neutral return. Many times there is a bad connection at the transformer secondary or the service drop. The ground is used for faults and lightning protection.

Back in about 1981 bought a 21" Sony color for $750 from a friend in the TV biz. I got my dad to buy one not long after that. I still have them both in storage and they both still work.

Mine was a new 1996 35" RCA Colortrack Plus Console with PIP got it at best buy for $650.00 still have it and rarely used it less than 90 hours on it today

The first new TV I bought for myself, in 1975 after I graduated high school, was a Kenco (house brand of the now long defunct Kennedy and Cohen retail chain of the 1970s) 12" b&w tube-powered portable. Worked well while I had it, but something burned out or shorted in it :no: after I had owned it just 3 years. Didn't bother having it repaired; instead, I replaced it with a Zenith J121Y 12" solid-state portable that lasted me 22 years. No problems with that set whatsoever, except for the UHF tuner detent mechanism breaking after about 10-12 years (!) and jamming the tuner on one channel.
That Kenco set was made by Sampo in Taiwan. IIRC, they were sold as a leader for something like $50.00, or a little more. Most people bought them for the childrens room etc. No one wanted to spend much to get them repaired, as they were so inexpensive to begin with. I must have gotten a few of them as freebees. They were always an easy fix and I sold them for close to what they cost new. So goes the good old days!

The only tv ive ever bought brand new was a 21"? magnavox in september of 99. You basic bigger bpc set. It lasted about 8 months and then would shut off after playing for ten seconds. I took it in and woops, it was just over its six month warranty.

I dont know if it counts but in 2004 my lil bro decided to buy a 52" sony hdtv (before id even heard of hd) and of course he couldnt afford it, so a few months after i took it from him and made the payments. A true pile of junk. Within a year there were burn in lines on the screen where you could almost read the guide menu youd change to, to change settings.

I bought our first color set in Dec., 1965. It was a Motorola console with the ETS908 28 tube chassis. $625 out the door. I went to buy the less expensive table model, but the dealer said they wont be available until after Christmas. In hindsight, I'm glad it turned out this way. That small chassis wasn't that great. Ran it ten years untill the 23EG started to look sick. Never put a soldering iron to it. Everyone commented how good the picture was. When we quit using it, it still had the original horizontal output tubes in it.

That's $4,320 in today's dollars :eek:

You are so lucky. The Motorola we bought in 1968 had 3 replacement 23" CRT's in 2 years. When #3 gave out, it was over. Dad had enough of this.

Re: Sandy's parent's electric service "event", this is good information

Dieseljeep: You totally right on with the neutral failure. Where multiple houses share a transformer and each houses main breaker box is grounded to common (metallic) water service, a neutral could rip loose at the service head without unbalancing voltages. A single service or no common ground and this is a dangerous situation.

The neutral from the utility transformer passes through the meter base box (owned by YOU - not the utility), which is exposed to weather. There is no gasket behind the meter (surprise) and the neutral terminal can corrode and fail without symptoms other than an unbalanced voltage which can vary WILDLY if a heavy load is applied to one phase, such as window AC compressor starting. This has been known to trash MOV's in surge suppressor strips and outlets.

BTW the Sony KV-5000 was a heavy one - I delivered dozens in 1985-6.... with help. They were "Cadillac" at the time - with Mitsubishi being the "Lincoln".

Saved up my allowances for a year and bought a 1995 Zenith 19" Sentry 2. Bought new at Lechmere for $265 in July of 1995. Still my main tv, never had a problem with it.

Sadly, the box got ditched the day I bought it because it wouldn't fit in my moms car that way, and the instruction manuals/purchase receipt were accidently thrown out in a move a few years ago. Original remote control is long gone. Broken/chewed on by pet dog. TV itself is still going strong.

Mine is/was a 2002 vintage Panasonic CT-27D32F that just lost the plot this month.Did everything I ever asked of it, and still performed well enough to show just how awful today's digitally processed programming is. :)
I figured a new set after 22 years of marriage watching hand-me-downs and self repaired discards was appropriate.You will be seeing a plea for repair assistance elsewhere in this Forum soon.
I hope the reception here will be a bit more personable than the one received at another to remain un-named forum.<G>
I REALLY want to keep a CRT set alive.



RJ

The first set I bought new was my LG 26LC7D bought new in 2007 with a bonus from work. It has been a good set so far, no issues and has a good picture with an HD source like OTA digital or my Sony media player box, it also works good as a VGA monitor when playing with PC's The LG replaced a Sony KX-2501 "Profeel" set that I had for years. Gave the Sony to a friend who is still using it AFAIK.

The only TV I ever paid myself to buy new, was a 27" CRT high definition TV with a 4:3 picture tube.

But the first TV I ever had new (but not purchased by me) was a 13" RCA XL-100 Remote. (Yea, "Remote" is part of the model name.. It's BPC stuff, required already a transistor to be replaced, when it was only 8 years old. But I replaced it myself and diagnosed myself so I was proud, cause at the time I did the replacement, I wasn't even 18 yet.

I think the first one I bought new was one I got about 5 years ago. I got it when my old one from the 70s gave out. Before that I have always got junk ones and fixed them up. The only reason I didn't with this one was I have been too busy over the last few years to fix any. Maybe I can change that soon.

Hello the first tv I bought new was a Rca 19 inch black and white from Kmart in 1982 for 172 clams it lasted until 2007 the crt took a dump.....Timothy

First TV I ever bought on my own was in '82 or '83......was the Unisonic 929 little "briefcase" boombox thing. I still have it, and have been into it a couple times for some vertical issues, replaced a belt or two in it's cassette mech, Still looks and plays okay even today. I have to run it on a 12V wall wart now because Hong Kong is 240v...and I didn't feel like getting into it again to see if there is a 240/120 switch inside.

It's a 5" B/W set with AM/FM and cassette. You have probly seen one just like it maybe a hundred times back in the eighties. I think the company that "really" made it was TMK (Troyomenko or somesuch).

Almost at the same time...I also got a Panasonic TR-1010. That little 1" set was REAL expensive back then, but it ran right up until about a year ago. It also had a real minor vertical issue maybe seven or eight years ago and I had fixed it. It now sits next to a "donor" set in a Kleenex box coffin after losing it's tuner.

First and only TV I've ever purchased new was '97 32" JVC. It still is the third newest set in the house, behind a '98 Zenith and a recently acquired '02 Sony XBR, both curb finds. All daily drivers.

First TV I bought new was a table top 1974 Hitachi 17 inch--a CE-725 model. It had a wood grain cabinet and I remember thinking it was really attractive looking. I'd love to find a photo of it somewhere. The next tv after that was a 1984 Sony KV 1924 which worked well for 27 years. I wish I still had it

First TV I bought new was a table top 1974 Hitachi 17 inch--a CE-725 model. It had a wood grain cabinet and I remember thinking it was really attractive looking. I'd love to find a photo of it somewhere. The next tv after that was a 1984 Sony KV 1924 which worked well for 27 years. I wish I still had it

Those Hitachi's were rather pricey in their day, because of the cabinet. I only worked on one. Another one, I got as a freebee. It worked and I gave it away.

I think we paid around $379 - or so for it, by today's prices would be very expensive. I liked how all the dials were at the bottom.

I did find a photo in an old sales brochure on ebay

http://s158018161.onlinehome.us/1212pop/DSC01088.JPG

Ugh, my spc 2005 Sanyo was the first and the last TV I'll ever purchase new. What can I say, back in early 2006 I had bad taste in TVs. It had a doming problem right out of the box. It went to the curb shortly after I got my 1987 Trinitron (had to get an RF modulator first for a full test). I debated on whether or not to pick up the Trinitron as it meant a long bus trip with something heavy, but I eventually decided it would make a nice retro replacement for the Sanyo. That was last March, and here I am.

I purchased a 12 inch Sony BW new in 1972 from the armed forces PX in Mainz-Kastel Germany when I was stationed overseas in the Air Force. I didn't watch it much sence I couldn't understand German and I worked 5:00pm-Midnight. The television quit working when it was still under warranty so the PX gave me a choice of full refund or replacement. I was going back to the US soon and it was a 220 volt set so I took the cash. My next new set was a color set many years later. I had several used BW sets inbetween.

My first new TV was a 12" b&w offshore-made tube-powered portable. Bought it new in 1975 from the now-defunct Kennedy and Cohen retail chain, which had a store near where I lived at the time. The set cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $80, and it worked well out of the box; however, I turned it on one day three years later and was greeted by a thin plume of smoke curling up out of the ventilation slots in the cabinet.

Needless to say, I junked the TV. I bought a solid-state Zenith b&w 12" portable shortly thereafter that lasted me 22 years, and was still working when I got rid of it (space constraints, as I had just moved to a very small apartment [where I live now] and already had two 19" color sets; no room for a third TV, even a working one). I can only hope that whomever found the Zenith set behind my apartment got several more years of use out of it, as it was still working and had a very bright CRT. (I wouldn't be surprised if that set is still going strong today.) I guess that just goes to show, again, that you can't kill a Zenith.

After years of watching sets I brought home from my shop, I finally bought a new 27" Magnavox in 2000. My mother has it now, but it still works just fine.

The second new set I bought was a 32" Westinghouse LCD HDTV that's now about 7 or 8 years old and has worked flawlessly.

When I got a new, better paying job in the mid 90's, I treated me and the wife to a new tv when our old one crapped out. A 27" GE (1996 or 1997 model). After a few years, it would on occasion, emit this terrible static like buzz noise and would need a good bitch slap on the side or top. Then it would work fine for a while. I still have it, but it's not retro enough for me. However, since it's the only new set I ever bought, and likely the only new one I ever will, I can't bring my self to part with it.

I still have the owners manual but can't find the receipt. Wish I knew what I paid for it.

Al

When I got a new, better paying job in the mid 90's, I treated me and the wife to a new tv when our old one crapped out. A 27" GE (1996 or 1997 model). After a few years, it would on occasion, emit this terrible static like buzz noise and would need a good bitch slap on the side or top. Then it would work fine for a while. I still have it, but it's not retro enough for me. However, since it's the only new set I ever bought, and likely the only new one I ever will, I can't bring my self to part with it.

I still have the owners manual but can't find the receipt. Wish I knew what I paid for it.

Al
The TV or the wife?:D

When I got a new, better paying job in the mid 90's, I treated me and the wife to a new tv when our old one crapped out. A 27" GE (1996 or 1997 model). After a few years, it would on occasion, emit this terrible static like buzz noise and would need a good bitch slap on the side or top. Then it would work fine for a while. I still have it, but it's not retro enough for me. However, since it's the only new set I ever bought, and likely the only new one I ever will, I can't bring my self to part with it.

I still have the owners manual but can't find the receipt. Wish I knew what I paid for it.

Al

That set was from the RCA era.
I wonder if it's a CTC177, or similar, with the on-board tuner problems. That model put a nail in RCA's coffin. :thumbsdn:

That set was from the RCA era.
I wonder if it's a CTC177, or similar, with the on-board tuner problems. That model put a nail in RCA's coffin. :thumbsdn:

I'll check the model when I get home.

I did check the date and it's a 96. Also says assembled in the US, Indiana I think.

Al

Mine was a 13" Zenith, dont remember the model ## but
it was a 13GC10 chassis. Had varactor tuner but no remote.
When the first ones came in I took one look at it & it went right out
to my car. Kept it years, still like new when I sold it.

73 Zeno:smoke:

The first set bought new was a 1964 GE 9 inch black and white cube. Still in high school.
The second set bought new was a 1966 RCA CTC19 color consolette. Prices dropped for color sets and it was the first season with 100% prime time color.
The third set bought new was a 1968 Sony KV 7010UA Trinitron. Loved it. Whopping $429.95 for a 7 inch color!

First new one was a 25" 78 or 79 Magnavox star set console good picture (for the time)
not very reliable though. It went through a CRT and digital tuner in the first 3 yrs.
then a few years after the CRT was replaced the H. V. moduale ran amok and maybe somehow shorted out to the deflection yoke it melted the neck of the CRT . Thing was cursed or just not well built and to think the Magnavox replaced a used CTC 16 I had before that.

After that I've owned Toshiba and Sony over the years for the most part no complaints .
every one of those lasted over 10yrs without repairs.

I bought 4 new sets in the last year a 60" Sammie plasma ,a 32" Toshiba CCFL/LCD a 42" LG LED/LCD and a just last week a new Sony KDL40R450A LED/LCD for my bedroom watching it right now. We were given a perfectly working 2011 40" Dynex also so plenty of sets here no older ones though. Wouldn't mind a vintage CTC 12 ~16 roundie or something like that but I don't know where I would put one.

The TV or the wife?:D


LOL!!. Nope, she was quiet, but she required the bitch slap for different reasons :yes:

In 1993 I bought a Mitsubishi 21 inch TV. It cost £400 and it might as well been a Phi;ips in disguise. The chassis was all Philips and so was the tube! :)

I was probably 14 and saved up to buy a 20" Zenith Sentry 2 in 1991. IIRC it was $299 and had the Light Sentry sensor that you could turn on and off in the menus, and a cool green stereo LED.

Odd thing about the TV was it didn't have video inputs, but it did have a "stereo VCR" input that would route the video from rf channel 3 or 4, and used RCA input jacks for the audio.

My first NEW TV was about 1982 19" Magnavox. Basic set. Sylvania had an identical set but I went for the Magnavox. This worked very well. I know that radiotvnut did a youtube on the Sylvania version. His had a bad flyback.

The Magnavox had a rest in 1988 (just put in basement storage), when i bought a 20 NEC stereo monitor TV. Still have the NEC and it works great. Had a sound issue about two years after it was new. A local shop fixed it up and it still has wonderful stereo "wide" sound.