It's getting bad...
 

As far as selling used TV's, that is. I recently took out a $15 ad in one of the mailbox stuffer classified papers that I usually have good luck with. I advertised an '07 35" Sanyo for $150 and an older 27" RCA CTC169 for $75. I listed them at a high price on purpose for the benefit of those who like to haggle. Just a few months to a year ago, I would have had no problem with unloading those 35" sets; but, now, I have not gotten a single call. I did get a call on the 27" and the guy offered $60; which, I accepted. Once upon a time, I would have laughed him out of the shop and he wouldn't have gotten it for under $150.

Then, I saw an ad from one of our local electronics stores and I was reminded why I didn't get any calls on the 35" sets. They were advertising a 32" LCD TV for under $300. People see that and the first thought is, "Why pay him $150 for an obsolete CRT TV when i can get an HD flatscreen for $299".

Every CRT TV that I've sold during the past year has been to people who have expressed a dislike for flatscreens. I sold one guy a bunch of 19" sets for $25/each and a 27" set for $75. He told me that he works for the cable company and sees too many of the newer flatscreens in the trash and he said his own 2 year old expensive flatscreen was starting to fail. He said that he'd rather spend $25 on an "old school" TV and when it fails, he's not out much. Heck, the $25 CRT set will probably outlast most flatscreens, anyway.

As far as the 35" set, I listed it for $125 in one of the free papers. If it doesn't sell, I'll keep lowering it. It will be interesting to see what I finally have to drop the price down to before it will sell. Heck, I may end up having to give it away.

I wish I could rewind back to 1990, when any kind of working TV was still sellable for decent money and people weren't so picky. Just the other day, I offered a clean mid '80's 19" Sony Trinitron to a guy for $25. He wouldn't buy it because it didn't have A/V inputs. I told him how to use a VCR or RF modulator to do the same thing; but, he said that was too much trouble. Back in the early '90's, I would not have considered $25 for such a set. Back then, that would have easily been a $100 TV.

I have a flea market friend who used to sell loads of TV's for me at good prices. Now, about all he can sell is 13" and 19" sets for $15-$25 each. And, they must be late model sets. Even at those prices, I think his days are numbered because that same place that was advertising the 32" LCD TV for under $300 was advertising a 13" LCD for $99. Before long, you'll probably be able to buy a 40" TV for $125 brand new.

I scour the local Craig's List daily for CRT TV's. I've purchased a nice late 1990's vintage Sony 20" for $20, similar vintage 19" Panasonic and 19" Philips-Magnavox for $15, and a 13" JC Penny for $5. The general rule of thumb I've heard for pricing used CRT TV's is $1 per inch of screen size. I'm only half-joking when I tell people I'm stocking up with enough older CRT style TV's to last the rest of my life. At first, the new flat panel models looked sleek and sexy, but lately, the looks just aren't grabbing me. Maybe I feel like I should have some bulk and heft to accompany a $1000 purchase. As much as I ridiculed older folk's wood console TV's back in the day, at least they had something to show for their purchase other than a black plastic framed piece of glass.

Yeah, and many of those old consoles are still going and will be fixable when they fail. Can't say the same about much of the newer TV's. There's a '79 Sylvania 25" superset console that's turned on right now and I'd like to find it a home (which, probably won't happen). I'll probably end up wrapping it in plastic and storing it in the basement because, even though it's old, it's too nice of a TV to toss and it's made to a degree of quality that we'll never see again.

I'm doing the same thing as far as keeping some older CRT sets for my own personal use. I'd keep these 35" sets; but, I don't have the room. I may just have to apply the $1/inch rule with them.

Several months ago, I saw an older 13" Emerson TV at a flea market. It was one of those models from the early '90's that required the remote to program the channels. I know the seller and he had something like $15 on it and was begging me to buy it. It was getting late and I told him there was no way I could touch it at $15. He asked me if $1 was too much and he even produced the original remote. The TV worked perfectly and I think I got $15 out of it.

We have a 36 inch Sony Trinitron in the living room that my wife watches all the time. I have my collection in the basement, and the daily watcher is a 13 inch Toshiba with a super-good picture. It's right next to the computer desk, so the size is perfect. The only flat screen in the house is a Toshiba 22 incher in the kitchen. It takes up little room on the kitchen table, and that's why it's there. I also have an RCA CTC-136B in the family room, and it's a prize to me. CTC-135 (Taiwan) in my daughter's room. Great picture, too. I'm going to start looking for better quality CRT sets so I can also have a supply for the future.
Also have CTC-5N, CTC-7B, and CTC-4. Those are the fun sets! :banana:
Kevin

About the only trouble those CTC135/136's gave were loose connections inside the MTT tuner control module and a leaky off/on transistor inside the same module.

I must admit I am surprised anyone would pay a dime or even want a crt tv. Maybe its because I see so many of them on the street and crt sets are so low resolution. Not saying thats bad, I love my tube crt sets, but to the average user the new stuff has a much better picture.
Then you have to deal with the hdtv signal issue, the 'box' whatever it is. Most people hardly have the aptitude to deal with rabbit ears forget a dtv converter box. (maybe these are new enough they have the tuner) If you have the money to pay $50 a month for cable/satellite then why not buy a new flatty.
I really wish you the best with it. If anyone deserves to make a few bucks its you. And if you manage to move these I would recommend you not delay selling any more of that style sets you may have. I cant see their being any kind of market in the future.

FWIW, I wouldn't pay $150 for a 35" CRT set either- same logic. I had a 36" Trinitron given to me, but if I can't get the voltage regulator chip it needs, that will go to the trash heap in the sky as well.

...

I think you need to have hd service for there to be a better picture than average, on your hdtv. Ive a 52" hdtv sony from 2004? that my brother initially bought and couldnt pay for, so i took it off his hands and paid for it. It was simply too large in my living room and i thought the picture was no better than a crt set. So it has been in my garage, unwatched, for the last few years now.

I personally dont care for the look of the flatscreens, i keep tinking they will fall over in an earthquake or such.

But im an odd guy, i want to drive my 55 stude till the day i die. Get my old 1980 magnavoz's vertical problem solved, so she can be my living room tv again. Get my 1950 motorola as my bedroom tv. Try and keep them alive forever. So i realize im not usual.

but if i cant gte my magnavox working and if and when my bpc tv goes out, ill simply find another comparable one on craigslist for 40-50 bucks. I see no reason in paying the money for a potentiall better picture, if i dont subscribe to hd tv and i mainly watch old films on dvd, that would be in the same quality if played on a crt set.

By the late '90's-early 2000's, I was hearing "$50 for a 19" TV! I can get a new one with a warranty for $99!" I usually wouldn't argue with them. I'd just tell them to go get it.

Then, when CRT sets started to be phased out and flat screen sets were still high, I experienced a brief period of getting somewhat decent money for CRT sets from people who could not afford a new HD TV.

Now, like what's been said, flatscreen's are getting cheaper and cheaper by the week. Most people can now afford one, rather than "settle" for an obosolete used set. And, if a big CRT TV is now only worth a few bucks; then, it's really not worth bringing it home and wasting my time to repair it. Even on the BPC sets that I do fix, I don't spend much time on them. If it's not a routine problem that I can solve in 30 minutes (or less), it gets tossed. A long time ago, I'd work on one until I either fixed it or determined that it would cost too much to fix.

Last Wednesday night, a guy at church was telling me that his 8 year old RCA 36" TV (probably a CTC203) had developed an intermittent picture. As most technicians know by now, this is caused by loose connections, especially on a small coil in the horizontal driver circuit. Failure to fix the problem will result in the HOT shorting and possibly taking out the power supply. I told him that it would likely be a simple fix now and I warned him what would happen if he continued to use the set. He said that since it was so heavy and was probably close to the end of it's life, he'd probably just dump it and buy a new TV.

That's the way I feel. Most of what I watch long predates HD. And, I can't see spending the money on something that will be dumpster material in a few years. At least I can repair the old 19" Zenith CCII that I still use.

The new flatscreens are getting so cheap it's hammering the nails in the coffins of both the used tv market and repair market,used flatscreens included.They're kicking the broken 2 yr old flatty straight to the curb without even having them checked out and going straight to the store.

I don't think they're actually putting them on the curb because I don't see any but it's sure strange how we're not even getting flatty work like we were a couple of years ago.The bigscreens have dropped off to the occasional diehard repairing the one he owns or was given to him. We refuse any offered to us as well as just about any crt set as only the owner hoping to save his tv will spend any money on it.Gave up trying to sell them a year or more ago.

Right now we can't even sell a Toshiba 50"flatty plasma with a brand new y sustain board for $300.

Manufacturers are discontinuing parts left and right also. had to resort to ebay to get a color wheel for a friend's 5 yr old RCA DLP tv. RCA discontinued it already.

My town used to be full of TV repair shops. Now, there are only 2 or 3. One does mainly warranty work on new TV's and will not accept any CRT based sets for repair. I think the 2nd one will work on CRT and flat panel sets; but, he requires something like a $65 check out fee up front (can't say that I blame him). The third will still work on everything except the old style big screens. I'm sure it won't be too much longer before these shops are gone. It's going to get to the point where sets will simply be replaced, even if they are under warranty.

I've also "been there and done that" with parts that are NLA for fairly new TV's. Most of the time, their owners act like they don't believe me and that I'm just trying to beat them out of their TV. And, these newer TV's use so many special parts that are common to only a few models. With the old Zenith CCII, it uses mostly generic parts that will probably still be available for quite some time.

You wouldn't believe the number of people who try to give me the old projection sets and, sometimes, I'm actually asked to repair one. They are too big, heavy, and too much of a headache for me to worry with. I have a young friend at church who has an older one that he says has a bowed in picture. I told him that I'd check it; but, I don't care to extend the invitation to anyone else. Hopefully, his set only has a bad cap that can be easily replaced.

In fact, I'm about to the point of refusing to repair anything that either isn't mine or belongs to someone close to me. In the past, it was nice to pick up a little extra repair money on the side. Now, people drop stuff off and getting money out of them is like pulling hen's teeth. About 7 months ago, a woman brought by a ratty looking mid '90's RCA console that she just had to have fixed. It needed the regulator STK IC and the B+ diode off the switching transformer replaced. I tried calling many times to give her an estimate and she'd either not answer the phone or would not return my calls. I finally had a belly full and tossed her TV. In about a year, she'll probably show up and threaten legal action when I can't produce it. I could have fixed the thing anyway; but, why? No one buys floor models anymore and they are certainly not going to buy one with a trashed cabinet. More recently, a guy brought me a late '60's Audiotronics classroom record player for repair. I gave him an estimate and he told me to fix it and that my money was waiting. He never showed up and every time I'd call, he'd give me some kind of sob story. Last Monday, I called and told him that he had until Friday of this week to pick it up or it would be sold for charges. He said he understood and he would come up with the money before Friday, if he could. Of course, it's still here. Heck, I probably won't be able to get the $35 that he owes me out of it. I've got stuff of my own that I'd rather be working on, instead of dealing with these deadbeats who don't pay.

The main reason I like CRT TV is that I do not like the 16:9 widescreen format. Maybe if I could get one in 4:3 I would think about it. Also, there is much more to picture quality than resolution and I haven't seen a flat screen yet that looks good in gray scale. If I could find a good new 27" CRT TV I would pay more for it than I would a flat screen.

Rod

I have a 19" Sanyo LCD set from '07 that was given to me. From what I was told, it only saw a few hours use before it died. Now, the only sign of life it has is the green power light will turn on and off as the power button is pressed. I checked all the caps and the power supply appears to be working; so, that leaves the main board. The board cost more than what I could get for the set; so, I'm holding on to it in case another set comes along with a good board. Sometimes, having two junker TV's is the only economical way to get one good set.

I had another Sanyo, a 37", with inverter problems. After replacing one of the transformers, that had an open winding, it still would not work. After not finding anything else wrong, I tossed out the set.

Many of my TV repairman friends are always telling me that caps are the most common failure in newer LCD TV's; but, I have not experienced that, yet. The few I've gotten have been dogs with problems that required board replacement.

...

That is funny that LCD's are disliked by so many as to find a good working one on the curb for 3 days!
I have been totally against flat panel new TV's as I never saw one that looked good or gave a picture anything close to natural as I see more of in CRT's.
I have been considering a plasma only because of what experts here report in that there are some good ones with good pictures.

...

I honestly got a deep feeling that there is going to be rebellion in televisions, or electronics in general. because eventually china is going to be pumping them out like the boatloads, (like they are now) and obviously get so cheap, the picture is going to start suffering to a point to where people are going to finally realize that they are junk.

Of course, people want to buy, then toss it a few months later and buy new. eventually that gets old and people dont want to deal with the headache of that, people are lazy. heck i already hear people all the time that get pissed because they get tired of replacing shit all the time because it doesn't last as long as it used to, and the picture is total garbage.

So people are going to start looking for older stuff with better pictures, itll eventually come to it. it might be several years, or decades but itll happen.

Either that or TV will go away completely as people will stop buying it in favor of better/developing technologies.

Funny thing is I've seen a few late 90s-early 2000s crt tvs lately on the curb driving home from somewhere at night and the next morning before the trash man even got there they were gone. Don't know if someone's picking them up to scrap or if they're hoping they work or can be repaired cheaply. I have no luck selling them so I don't even bother stopping to look.

Today, my flea market friend called to say that he saw a nice 32" Sony at a yard sale for $35. He was going to buy it; but, he's in his mid '70's, has a heart condition, and couldn't even lift one corner of the TV. So, he let it stay there. I told him that he was probably better off, seeing as how used CRT TV's are hard to sell at the moment.

He's having a sale at his house next weekend and I asked him if I could bring him the 35" set to try and get something out of it. If it doesn't sell and I have to go pick it up, it's either going to one of the thrift stores or it's getting tossed in a dumpster. It's certainly not coming back home. Right now, it's sitting on top of a Motorola console stereo that I'd really like to fix. Can't fix the stereo as long as the TV is sitting on top.

And, I was thinking about the $30 32" Sony that he saw. Heck, I used to get more than that for 19" non remote B&W sets with no problem and no waiting.

time for your medication
 

Get over it, reliving your memories is not going to pay for the nursing home bills.
I remember when cherry flavored snow cones were 5 cents.
Embrace the new technology, help feed a Chinese worker so they don't have to immigrate here ? Used to.
After WWIII, when 1/3 of the population is extinguished, things should return to normal. :yippy:

Well, I can tell you that it will be a cold day in hell before I own a flatscreen, or any other late model el cheapo CRT POS for a TV. It's that kind of garbage that messed things up for all the TV repair shops and people who sold used TV's. The only flatscreen in this house is the one my Mother bought and it's in her room and she's the only one who watches it. I'd just as soon watch a 12" B&W set before owning some piece of Chinese garbage.

While ordering a new stylus Thursday the man at the hi-fi shop asked what I was driving my speakers with, and I told him a c.1990 Yamaha integrated A/V amp. Expecting a less than enthusiastic reply, he said at least it was made in Japan and started bemoaning the fact that most all of the new equipment is produced in China - even the high-end stuff. Strange when the salesman at the high-end audiophile shop admits he personally is running an old H-K Citation amp at home, and that buying a 20-year-old NAD receiver and having it serviced is a better deal than buying what's sitting on the shelves.

Only 1/3rd!? I thought the target was 80%?

But yea...no Chinese stuff allowed here. Even the stuff I am in control of at works I only purchase US made and if I cant get it I get good used.

The market is looking pretty gloomy. I'm probably the youngest guy on here who chooses not to succumb to the masses and get a TV or monitor that uses a flat panel technology. I won't buy a new flat panel until they are made in the USA or Japan and quality control and craftsmanship was like it was in the 50's and 60's. Until then I will continue to use and buy CRT's.

I just last year found out that the tube in my 2002 RCA 25" has a picture tube made in the USA! Try to find a component in any flat panel technology that uses any components made in the US.

i have a 42" rca plasma with the hitachi fijustu panel in it. about 6 years old the color on hdtv is stunnning the reds are stunning and so is the green and blue. sadley there is no replacement parts for this set, steve

Ha, resistance is futile.
NEC makes some high quailty flat screens.
Remember, the Chinese are your friends.
If you behave, no deathvan will pull in your driveway.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA :puke:

I'm 19 and I refuse to get an HDTV because the way the FCC (I call em the F'n Commy Comission) snuffed out the old OTA standard for non backwards compatible HD. And when I do get over my grudge I'll get a CRT HDTV. The only flat pannels welcome here are the one on my folks computer, and on my laptop (which I'm stuck with ).

Wish I had been born a few decades earlier, I had a feasible idea for the design of a very thin large screen CRT that now has no patent value.

Tom C.

I figured I'd get a flatscreen in the year 2015 or so, but had a Sharp LCD given to me last year. It has some quirks, though. (turns itself on in the middle of the night, something in the audio is shot so I have to run it through the stereo) Kim is fed up with it, though she loves the picture. I had a 25" Zenith (late 80s) given to me so I showed it to her, too big she sez. So, looks like the next working 19" crt set that comes my way (I usually get several in a year) will go in the living room. She also won't let me replace the 13" Samsung in the bedroom, just the right size she sez. Okay by me. I wanted to sneak a 70s Sylvania in the living room but I don't think she'll go for knobs. Maybe I can fix up the System 3 Space Command out in the shed?

Just got back from vacation, and stopped by to see some distant relatives that we last visited 2 years ago. They all have new TV's now. One replaced a NAP Philco console with a SPC Sony, another replaced their BPC with an LCD. (they are still trying to give away their broken System 3/Space Phone console. Anybody want to drive to Ashland,KY to pick it up?)

I took the big Sanyo, a mid '80's 19" Sony Trinitron, and an Audiotronics school record player to my flea market friend, who was having a big yard sale at his house this weekend. I told him to get what he could out of the TV's and he said no one even paid attention to them. He said that a young man wanted the record player; but, his mother wouldn't buy it for him.

We know a lady who has yard sales in order to raise money for her church to feed the needy. I told her that she could have the big Sanyo to put in her sale to go towards the food pantry at her church. I also have a 35" RCA CTC187 that she will probably also get. I'm just tired of looking at the Sanyo, I'm tired of moving the heavy thing around, and it's not coming back here.

I don't really care if the Sony sells or not. About ten years ago, that set was being tossed by a TV shop. It's just a basic mono set with no jacks and a woodgrain plastic case; but, it only needed minor repair to produce a great picture. In fact, I watched it for years until I replaced it with a Zenith CCII. I'd planned on keeping the Sony as a spare; but, I'd sell it if someone wanted it. I actually offered it to a guy for $25 and he went on about how good the picture was; but, wouldn't buy it because it didn't have jacks. Whatever, what the hell do these people expect for $25.

The record player is a late '60's solid state model that someone brought me to repair, approved the estimate, told me my money was waiting when I fixed it, and then never paid me when it was fixed. All I got was excuses out of him. His bill was $35 and I doubt the record player will bring that much. I wish some people were as excited about actually paying me as they are about approving an estimate.

All the more reasons why I need to stop wasting my time on BPC TV's and to stop taking in everyone else's garbage for repair.

19" Memorex tv
 

I recently Bought a Memorex 19" CRT tv for $0.50. No remote Included but the Cable remote works with it just fine. No av inputs either but my vcr/dvd combo takes care of that. It works great. Made in 1999. Cant beat it for that price. ALso got a sony tc 252 d reel to reel tape deck for $15.00 at the same Garage sale. It needed a little help to get it going but it too works great.

Just last night, I sold the 35" RCA CTC187 for $85. And, it was a younger girl in her 20's who bought it; which, is even stranger in today's times. She said that her old TV died and that they'd tried a flatscreen; but, didn't like the picture. After not being able to find a new CRT set in any store, she looked in the local free paper and found my ad. I'm just glad to see it gone and I hope it don't come back to bite me in the butt.

Two weeks ago, a friend at church gave me 3 TV's. A silver '02 27" Sanyo flat CRT set, a Silver Emerson (Funai) 27" flat CRT set from '02, and a 20" RCA CTC177 from the '90's. The two big sets only needed the vertical IC resoldered and I replaced, for good measure, the cap that always fails in the vertical circuit that causes lines at the top of the screen and will eventually take out the vertical IC. Both of them have great pictures and I was actually shocked at how good the Emerson set looked. The RCA has a good picture; but, has the usual loose connections in the tuner.

Smart girl.

Yeah, had she not mentioned a hubby, I would have asked her on a date (LOL, NOT!!!!!!!!!!!)

I woulda..been remember I'm 23. Lately more and more women I talk with tell me that they admire things like vinyl records and old television sets....I say GOOD! It's about time haha.

Well I'm close to twenty so had she really been single I'd have a better chance at hitting on her than the primary demographic of this forum. I'm not the type to hit on girls who are dateing someone else much less maried women though.

I'm not either. If I know they are married or involved, I leave them alone.