Picking a CRT

[megaexplosion]

I'm gonna go CRT hunting for the first time because my flat screen is messing with me. I was wondering, since I'm gonna be visiting thrift stores and goodwill, what I should look for when buying one. Are there brands I should stay away from? Any guidelines or tips you guys can give me?

Also, sorry if I posted in the wrong place.

 

[Kadano]

Sony GDM-F520 is the best CRT I’ve ever played Melee on. You need separate speakers and VGA cables (~15$ for the Wii, ~90$ for the Gamecube), though.

If you are looking for generic 480i CRT TVs, avoid very modern-looking flat ones; these tend to have some post-processing and thus lag. Older Sony Trinitrons work pretty well and have no lag.

 

[megaexplosion]

Thanks a lot! One last question. I've seen a few CrTs TVs that lack the red AV input slot. Should I stay away from those?

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

Thanks a lot! One last question. I've seen a few CrTs TVs that lack the red AV input slot. Should I stay away from those?

Not necessarily - it mostly just means you won't have stereo sound. Some mono-only (or coaxial-only) tvs I've played on have been the most lagless tvs I've ever played on, and they've been great after getting used to them. That said...

Sony GDM-F520 is the best CRT I’ve ever played Melee on. You need separate speakers and VGA cables (~15$ for the Wii, ~90$ for the Gamecube), though.

If you are looking for generic 480i CRT TVs, avoid very modern-looking flat ones; these tend to have some post-processing and thus lag. Older Sony Trinitrons work pretty well and have no lag.

Woot! Yes in the 96-98 era (I'm PRETTY sure) Sony introduced a comb filter to accompany the type of processing they introduced with their Trinitron tvs, and it's possible this is where some of the lag started... but I think it's about what you're used to, actually, now that I've played on enough tvs for awhile. That is, on more modern tvs, I can pull off frame-specific moves much more readily than I can with certain older tvs.

 

[shapular]

Make sure that it has a remote or that you can put it on the input setting from the TV buttons. With mine you have to use the channel buttons to access the input, but every time you plug it in after it's been unplugged for a while it wants to auto channel set. You can't channel down to the input unless it finds channels, which means I have to plug in the cable and scan for channels before every Smashfest I take it to. I ended up buying a remote to avoid dealing with that.

 

[megaexplosion]

Thanks a lot, everyone! I found a small Trinitron from '92 at the local Goodwill in top notch condition. $10 and playing on it is such a nice change from my 36' Bravia. :D

 

[Jturley46]

Oh, and in my humble opinion, I recently discovered that 13" crts are absolutely amazing since its easy to transport with one hand even, yet big enough to not affect gameplay at all.

 

[GenNyan]

On a slightly unrelated note, has anyone ever bought a CRT infested with bugs? Thats my primary concern now that I'm looking for a smaller/more portable TV. If anyone has tips for being able to tell if it has bugs, I'd appreciate it.

 

[xXadevs2000Xx]

On a slightly unrelated note, has anyone ever bought a CRT infested with bugs? Thats my primary concern now that I'm looking for a smaller/more portable TV. If anyone has tips for being able to tell if it has bugs, I'd appreciate it.

....... I don't know what to say........ I don't want to look like a ****.. but........

 

[GenNyan]

....... I don't know what to say........ I don't want to look like a ****.. but........

Uh what? Did you just reply just to tell me that you don't know what to put in your reply?

 

[xXadevs2000Xx]

Uh what? Did you just reply just to tell me that you don't know what to put in your reply?

You.. don't really get bugs in CRT's.... if anyone has then correct me but in all my days I have not come across anything even remotely like that... just go pick up a CRT and start playing some Melee

 

[GenNyan]

You.. don't really get bugs in CRT's.... if anyone has then correct me but in all my days I have not come across anything even remotely like that... just go pick up a CRT and start playing some Melee

Dude, roaches will crawl in. They can live for weeks/months without eating. Maybe you live in a really rich neighborhood with high-end rich people thrift shops but...

Also you use a metric ton of ellipses and its starting to rub off on me...

 

[TerryJ]

On a slightly unrelated note, has anyone ever bought a CRT infested with bugs? Thats my primary concern now that I'm looking for a smaller/more portable TV. If anyone has tips for being able to tell if it has bugs, I'd appreciate it.

I found a small Bratz TV on the corner once that was fairly water logged and also had a nest of spiders and other random dabris. Before even powering it on I opened it up, discharged it and tore it down as much as I could without de-soldering anything then wiped every part clean with alcohol and a cloth. After a bit more work to it I plugged it in and worked fine.

Your best bet for checking thrn in a store is to bring a flash light and looking into the top or side of the TV through the vents on it.

 

[xXadevs2000Xx]

Dude, roaches will crawl in. They can live for weeks/months without eating. Maybe you live in a really rich neighborhood with high-end rich people thrift shops but...

Also you use a metric ton of ellipses and its starting to rub off on me...

Fair enough, I've had my CRT since I was a child so I wouldn't know if that is genuinely an issue or not.