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advice on used set hunting

919 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Lucky Ducky, Jan 26, 2008

aaron.d

Discussion Starter · Jan 25, 2008

Hello,

I sorta was hijacking another thread so ill start my own.

With the scarcity of good crts being available in retail shops, those of us with modest needs and modest budgets are forced to scour the classifieds for a used crt.

While prospects are high, im wondering, what can I do to make sure I bring home a tv thats going to perform the way it should?

Are there things to look for, Burn-in, abuse (cosmetic) etc are obvious.

Less obvious would be maybe unintentional abuse (contrast and bright way up bad for the life of the set?, etc)

Please, tell me what you would do the avoid getting burned.

thanks

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RobertF

· #2 · Jan 25, 2008

Here are some tips:

Ask if everything works perfectly.

Ask if it's ever been serviced.

See the TV working in person.

If you don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, ask if the TV has always been kept in a smoke-free enviroment.

Ask if the seller is the original owner of the TV.

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googleme7

· #3 · Jan 25, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertF /forum/post/12924427

Here are some tips:

Ask if everything works perfectly.

Ask if it's ever been serviced.

See the TV working in person.

If you don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, ask if the TV has always been kept in a smoke-free enviroment.

Ask if the seller is the original owner of the TV.

And then hope they tell the truth right?

I wonder about anyone these days selling the 30-34" Sony's in particular. I see XBR's from 2005 and up selling for under $500 on ebay. The most common reason is that they bought a bigger TV. Then they proceed to tell you that the picture quality is better than the $2500 LCD they just bought.

The thing that really causes my BS sensor to go off is when they post 3 or 4 pictures of the TV without any of them showing the TV turned on. I've also seen quite a few pictures of them displaying only 4:3 images. It makes you wonder if they are trying to hide something. Maybe the tv only turns on half the time. Maybe the picture is distorted on the sides. Maybe some of the inputs are messed up.

They play the game of, once it leaves their house, if anything goes wrong, it's your problem. It's going to be a sticky situation either way. I mean, if you go in there with a DVD player testing all the inputs, flip through the menus, stuff like that, some people might get offended. Other people might blame you if you spot a problem. "That wasn't there before! Your DVD Player did that!"

Oh yeah, you will have a lot of fun

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RobertF

· #4 · Jan 25, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by googleme7 /forum/post/12924975

And then hope they tell the truth right?

I've bought many used pieces of electronics, including my KV-36XBR400, and many people will answer those questions honestly.

In the specific case of used CRTs, people are dumping these left and right as they purchase larger displays. So there are many perfectly working CRTs available for dirt cheap prices right now.

But, of course, buying a used TV from a private seller entails some amount of risk.

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Lucky Ducky

· #5 · Jan 26, 2008

I picked two Sony crt xbr HDTVs off craigslist. I like craigslist over ebay because everyone is a local seller. I was able to contact them and go over to see the TVs the same day.

Both of the parties selling these TVs had taken good care of them. That was apparent as soon as I walked in their homes. Both TVs were in perfect working order and both are still working today.

As a matter of fact one of the sellers called me up before cashing my check to make sure everything was working okay. The asking price was $450 and I had to write a check for $150 cause I only had $300 in cash.

I haven't had a problem buying used, but I assume I am buying these TVs as is. If I did have a problem with used TV I wouldn't expect the seller to step up and make it right. As a buyer I am taking all the risk, which is a big reason I pick them up cheap.

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