Picture tube TV poll ... Am I the only person ... ???

[kryptosmaster]

I bought a widescreen Samsung about 5 years ago J U S T before HDTV became standard in them. Although mine says HDTV on it, I don't think it truly is as I cannot get the damn thing to show the whole screen for HDTV shows but that might be my cable. I never tried it with an antenna when they still had normal TV signals. I bought it for widescreen DVDs mainly, which works beautifully but it is definitely a tube Tv as that damn thing weighs a TON! I think it's a 30in screen if I remember right.
I hope I never have to move it again!
Rich

[fallensaviour]

I bought a widescreen Samsung about 5 years ago J U S T before HDTV became standard in them. Although mine says HDTV on it, I don't think it truly is as I cannot get the damn thing to show the whole screen for HDTV shows but that might be my cable. I never tried it with an antenna when they still had normal TV signals. I bought it for widescreen DVDs mainly, which works beautifully but it is definitely a tube Tv as that damn thing weighs a TON! I think it's a 30in screen if I remember right.
I hope I never have to move it again!
Rich

Don't worry dude,I don't think it's your TV displaying it that way it is the cable signal.I have an HDTV and it does the same thing.We called the cable provider in regards to it as we have the hi def pakage.It's the signal you get a damn 32 inch picture on your big screen it sucks donkey nutz I tell ya.
You can alter your input signal to get a wider view though.
It doesn't happen on every channel just a select few.So you probably do have hi def tv.
I'm sure somebody out there could explain it better than I did.

[ScottA]

I have 3 console TV's that all weigh as much as a car. One day I hope to make the conversion to HDTVs. Just not in the cards (or budget) right now.

[Werewolf]

I keep my old picture tube TV to play my older game systems on. Light guns do not work on LCD TVs and those old systems just weren't made with HD resolutions in mind. I'll be kinda screwed when it finally dies. I won't be able to play a lot of my old games anymore.

[Brazoo]

I have a 23 year old big screen rear projection tv as my main set (the thing is a TANK)- and a really tiny tube/VCR combo in my bedroom.

Sigh, maybe next year I'll be able to join the 21 century.

[Brazoo]

Yeah I'm not surprised. It's too bad that a decent heavy duty, well made VCR hasn't been made in years. A few years ago I was shopping for a new VCR to use to transfer a lot of my tapes to DVD, and the only ones I saw were lightweight, cheap pieces of crap, including those combo units. None of them seem like they would last even a year of fairly heavy duty use (and I have a lot of transferring to do, so it would be used heavily). I guess I'd be better off looking for an older used, but well cared for machine.

I noticed that the tapes themselves became terrible quality too. My tapes from the 80s weigh about twice as much as my newer ones, the plastic is really solid and they still play really well, but my lighter and flimsier 90s ones are pure garbage - tracking problems and degraded picture quality.

[Mikey]

But them older VHS tapes were CRAZY expensive

I still remember paying $60.00 for The Rutles on VHS

[Adam West]

I am such a late technology adopter...it isn't funny. I don't own an iPod and my cellphone is just your basic model (enough to make a phone call).

However, I did splurge and bought an HDTV about a year ago. We still have 2 picture tube TV's. I think the price of the flat screens have come down to a price point where they are around the price that I remember the same size picture tube sets.

The first tube tv my wife and I bought over 20 years ago still works today with no problems. It is a 19 inch Zenith and I remember it was about $400 on sale. Same thing with computers. We didn't buy a computer for our home until 2001-2002. It was probably $2,000 and is a hunk of junk by today's standards. Now, they sell laptops for $300 that are 10 times better than our 7 year old desktop.

[Wee67]

I have a group of thespians come by my place once a week and act out the previous week's TV higlights.

Its not really acting if you can't feel the spittle.

[LonnieFisher]

I have no television. I watch on my 'puter.

[mego73]

If you asked me this time last year, I would still have a tube TV. But the color was not as good after it got a lighting surge and I asked for and got a 32" LCD for Xmas.

But I still have a couple small tube TV's.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

We are a tube TV household, still. Why get rid of what is still working and add to a landfill? Eventually, one will conk out and we'll have to upgrade. Our VCR died a few months ago and man does that suck. Fortunately we have a duel DVD/VCR in our upstairs bedroom, but once that goes... Looking for editing equipment might be a neat idea.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I still got a CRT TV. It works, I don't watch that much tv, and I'm poor so I'm gonna run it until it bursts into flame. (Much like my old computer monitor.)

>Looking for editing equipment might be a neat idea.

I got a cheap DVD/VHS recorder a while back, and have been converting tapes to disks. (Down to a little over a thousand tapes....)

Don C.

[Mikey]

But, is archiving VHS tapes to DVD-r's really safe ? ... I mean if you plan on junking the tapes afterward.

I can imagine those tapes lasting longer then a DVD-r ... Hell, they're already 20 year old or more

Not sure if I can imagine DVD-rs lasting 20+ years.

[ODBJBG]

VCRs are amazing in that a few years ago I tried to buy a new VCR because my old one had died. I had already upgraded to DVD, but I needed a VCR in case I ever wanted to watch some of these old VHS tapes and my VCR/TV combo I have likes to eat tapes.

Anyway, long story short, I looked for MONTHS and couldn't find a VCR under $100. They were still making VCRs but they were all expensive and most were DVD/VCR combos. Just a few years prior you could get a VCR for $20, so naturally I was POed.

Eventually I ended up at the Goodwill store, bought a awesome VCR for like $10 and it's still in use today. Well... Not really in use, but I did use it the other day to watch some old homemade Godzilla movies of mine. (Cheap plug: Infinite Hollywood: Homemade Godzilla Movies)

Technology is strange that way. As VCR and Tube TVs went the way of the Dodo, they were super cheap. Then once they become rare because they are outdated, they become more expensive. The fact that it costs more for old technology is amusing.