Anybody Collect 5" Portable TVs?

[Chad Hauris]

Here is our other mini-tv, a color kv-4100. TV works good, cassette does not. Also bought at estate sale for $10.00.

[Sandy G]

I've got both the KV-4000 & the 4100, the cassette on mine doesn't work, either. I think the belt on them little guys checks out after 25 years or so...I also have a 4" GE AM/FM minicassette/color TV combo from '82 that works, but the controls are dirty. The star of my show, however, is that color 1.5" Panasonic from '84-I've had it from new. People are astounded by that l'il fella.-Sandy G.

[compucat]

Here are some pics of the 5" Sharp Sidekick I just finished. This is a well designed set and a great performer from back when they still cared how they were built. Open up a new $25 5" set and it wont look anything like this.

[Sandy G]

It's amazing how much STUFF was in those early transistor TVs-I have a Singer 6" that has almost an expanded metal case,you can see inside fairly well & it's crammed full. Nowadays, you've got the CRT, a couple boards w/a few pieces of fuzz on 'em-and that's it.-Sandy G.

[bgadow]

I guess I was 12-14 years old, I used to hang around this little antique store in town (well, there really wasn't much else for a nerdy kid to do in our no-stoplight town) & the owner was a semi-retired cash register salesman. When LCD sets first came out he got a Seiko, since he sold their registers. They probably gave it to him. He was always showing it off, and boy, did I want that thing! I always secretly hoped he would give it to me, after all, he never really used it, the thing just sat around. Well, he did give me a couple old table stereos, an Arvin & some 70s foreign junk, but I never did get that LCD!

Talk about things being crammed inside......I took apart a dead 8mm Sony camcorder....holy moly fatman....the circuit boards were arranged so that they overlapped each other like some sort of crazy puzzle.....they were chock full of large chips and pounds of SMD's. You literally needed a microscope to do some repairs!

Anthony

[Chad Hauris]

Camcorders, oh what a pain! It seems like almost all of these things from the 80's and early 90's are dead because of bad caps. The old tube type home video cameras from the 70's and early 80's seem to be more durable though.

Was lucky enough to get a 1995 RCA VHS unit from the Goodwill which actually still works...it has a very small color viewfinder which is probably an LCD.

[polaraman]

I got this out of the Tv shop I helped clean out. It is a Candle TV made by Tokyo Transistor Industries.


polaraman

[andy]

Here's the ultimate collectible 5" TV. Only 2500 were made.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MakeTrack=true

[RichPA]

Is something like this of any interest/value? It is an RCA b&w manufactured in 1982. Been in my closet for years.

[Eric H]

One of those Panasonic 1.5 inchers, LNIB!
These are CRT sets right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...175373895&rd=1

[Sandy G]

Yep. Little CRT's about the same length as a good-sized ink pen. This one should go high, prolly close to $500. But I can't imagine ANY of 'em having MUCH use-they're simply too little to watch much. Mine might have a dozen or so hours on it-and that's 20 years of "use"-Sandy G.

[compucat]

Originally Posted by RichPA

Is something like this of any interest/value? It is an RCA b&w manufactured in 1982. Been in my closet for years.

I must say that is definitely on the higher end of the 5" scale. Is that a battery set or a table model? Too bad the brushed aluminum front panel always seems to get scratched on those. It is a nice set though. I think I saw a version of that set on Ebay once with a digital clock in it, an excellent bedside television with or without the clock. Thanks for showing it.

[compucat]

Here's what I'm working on now. It is a 5" Quasar B&W set that was made by Matsushta. You'll notice it resembles the panasonic sets of the same era. there seems to be several cabinet styles of this same basic TV with and without radios. This one does not have the radio and the tuning knob is a thumbwheel on the front rather than the knob on the right side which is more common. It works great, just needs some general servicing and the cabinet cleaned and polished.

[jstout66]

Is there anything made now with the Quasar nameplate on it? Panasonic and Quasar are the same company. I think Quasar was the "value priced" end with Panasonic being the higer end.