What was the 1st TV you purchased NEW?
 

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.

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

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...6&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

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

That's a sad outcome. D:

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...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.

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!