Best Buy "Round Tube" TV

[Eric H]

Went to Best Buy yesterday to get a DVD, while there I was checking out the TV"S.

Tucked away in a dim remote aisle were the CRT sets, dusty and forgotten but what caught my eye was the price tag for this Dynex brand TV that said "27" Round Tube Color TV."

I didn't see anything about the set that was round, not the cabinet, not the CRT, I still can't figure it out unless it was an inside joke about "old fashioned" TV's?
But then again would your average Best Buy employee even know about round CRT sets?

[MRX37]

I think it referrs to the screen not being flat, but slightly curved, AKA "round".

[Sandy G]

I said something once to a Circus Shitty or Worst Buy employee about being into old TVs, & he/it just sort of looked at me w/his/its mouth open, catching flies...

[Bill R]

They are refering to the curved face of the tube instead of a flat face tube.

Bill R

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by Bill R

They are refering to the curved face of the tube instead of a flat face tube.

Bill R

That may be it Bill, still I didn't notice it being curved, and would they want to point that out when most customers would probably want a flat tube?

[radiotvnut]

Most employees at these "modern" electronics stores don't even know what a rotary tuner is let alone a TV with a round tube. They'd freak if they had a vacuum tube TV that actually took a minute or two to come to life. A friend was telling me that his teenage daughter was complaining because it took their early '80's Quasar console to warm up!

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

They'd freak if they had a vacuum tube TV that actually took a minute or two to come to life. A friend was telling me that his teenage daughter was complaining because it took their early '80's Quasar console to warm up!

Anybody worked one of the newer (Chinese TCL) RCA's? The set goes through a self test at turn on and takes about 3 or 4 seconds longer than most modern sets to come on. It's neat to realize it's self-testing, but with most having bad flybacks when you get them in for repair, the set can't tell it has a bad flyback....

Cheers,

[zenith2134]

Yes, Ive owned a few of these rca's, they appear completely lifeless for a few seconds, almost as if you have a dead set, then you hear the horizontal kick in. Kinda wacky design.

[radiotvnut]

Yes, I've already had a few of those TCL RCA's given to me (M134C chassis). Total junk in my opinion. Although the last one I got only had a shorted bridge rectifier and a blown fuse. I also saw a newer Philips (LO1.1U chassis, I think) that took a few seconds to come up. And, what is it with RCA flybacks? Almost every later model RCA set that is given to me has a bad flyback. On the other hand, there are a lot of '80's RCA's still in use. I guess the newer flybacks are made cheaper (like everything else).

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Yes, I've already had a few of those TCL RCA's given to me (M134C chassis). Total junk in my opinion.

And, what is it with RCA flybacks? Almost every later model RCA set that is given to me has a bad flyback. On the other hand, there are a lot of '80's RCA's still in use. I guess the newer flybacks are made cheaper (like everything else).

Yea, my dad, a tv repairman, says he'd have to close up shop if it wasn't for RCA sets keeping him in business.

BTW, MAT Electronics sells M134C chassis for parts purposes - Dad's bought a few to get key parts off of - Regulator, vertical output chip, and HOT. They are still junk, like you say

Cheers,

[zenith2134]

Every single pre-1988 RCA I picked up/found/owned has worked like a charm. Simple repairs, like resoldering or cleaning controls, thats all. Awesome color and brightness most of the time too. The only thing is that most of the CRTs lasted longer after thomson took over.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Every single pre-1988 RCA I picked up/found/owned has worked like a charm. Simple repairs, like resoldering or cleaning controls, thats all. Awesome color and brightness most of the time too. The only thing is that most of the CRTs lasted longer after thomson took over.

I'll have to agree about the CRT's being better after Thomson took over. I've seen many '80's RCA's with shorted and/or weak CRT's. Most of the '70's delta gun RCA are either weak or dead by the time they get to me. I was given a '79 RCA ColorTrak with keypad tuning that has an almost dead CRT. It's the set with the modules that lay flat in the chassis. I'm going to rejuv the tube and try to give the set to someone who wants it. I used to love to get consoles. I could get rid of them pretty easily. Now, consoles are associated with "trash" by the snooty crowd and few people want them.