[Gregg Brent]

I was planing on getting a inexpensive DLP (like X1) but was curious about CRTs since everyone seems to compare to them.


I looked on ebay and found many used CRTs ranging in price from a few hundred to a few thousand. I was hoping for some quidelines from CRT owners on what to look for or avoid (hours used, etc) . I understand once buying one it would have to be adjusted professionally (unsure how much this would be). After that, what other maintainance is there? I live in apt in NYC (its pretty dark so light no problem) and will watch mostly DVDs, laserdisks and HDTV through cable.


Any help, info, insight appreciated.

 

[deronmoped]

Gregg


Use the search function, this has been covered every which way.


Deron

 

[Jesse S]

Don't buy from Ebay period. Someone like Curt Palme is 1000x more reliable and will provide info, setup advice and after-sale support. Somehow he manages to have great prices even with all the extras.

 

[Gregg Brent]

Couldn't find website or nothing...

 

[Curt Palme]

Hi Brent, I'm at

[email protected]


I send out emails listing all of the projectors that I have for sale every couple of weeks. Shoot me an email if you want to get onto the list.


There's a few other sellers here that you also might want to get in touch with:


Terry Ferentinos

Eric at www.crtcinema.com

Tim Martin- deals with high end Electrohomes


Sorry to anyone I've missed...


Curt

 

[xanatos]

all of the above will do right by you great after sell support and prices


and best of all no bull sh#t


XANATOS

 

[jsaliga]

Gregg, read the beginner's guide in the link in my signature.


--Jerome

 

[kal]

2nd vote for staying away from Ebay. It has nothing to do with how much you as an individual may or may not know about CRT projectors, but has everything to do with (a) how little the sellers know, and/or (b) how dishonest most sellers on Ebay are, and (c) the fact that the only time CRT projectors are usually taken out of service is when they break, or the tubes need replacement.


So you end up with a whole plethora of people selling non-functional projectors on Ebay with comments like "I don't know how to test it but I'm told it works and this little green light comes on when I press this button".


If you're actually lucky enough to get one that works, odds are the tubes will be so burnt to a crisp that it's useless to you. Dishonesty & ignorance abounds here too with comments like "I don't really know what to look for, but the are not burnt at all"....


So the only reliable way to get a working unit is to go through a tech like those mentioned above. They will verify that the unit actually works ok, replace questionable parts, and most importantly, often end up replacing tubes as well (very expensive).


Kal

 

[Tinman]

I agree with Kal. While I am not in the business to sell projectors, when I DO sell a unit, it is local only, and the projector will be set up and fully demonstrated at my house prior to sale. Ebay has become the place to sell junk, hiding behind a vail of ignorance. Most of the time the seller has already gone through the item and determined it is too expensive to fix. Then comes the line: I bought this as part of an estate sale, and have no idea what it does, but the bulbs light up, and I can see no burns.

Yeah...right. Now, there are a few sellers on Ebay we all know here, and are ok to buy from. I'd like to think that most of us here on this forum are here to learn, share ideas, brag a little and help each other out.


Marc

 

[scottatl]

Although E-bay is risky, and the names that you put up are not, it should not be completely ruled out.


If you can find a local e-bay seller, and check out the projector you may get a good deal.


By the way, I purchased from e-bay, got crap, and one of the pros on the list Curt mentioned bailed my ass out of the fire. So it is not that I am in favor of e-bay, but it is a viable purchase source.

 

[cpurvis]

Another vote for AVScience or one of the above listed sellers, including also some of the other regular refurbishers here on the forum (they'll probably chime in themselves). If I was in the market today that's where I would go.


One place to definately avoid is Government Liquidation.com. Although you can get lucky and find a gem amongst the broken garbage the government auctions off (I did but it was pure random luck) most of the time you end up with at best a parts machine. When I went to pick up my unit they let me inspect about 10 other projectors which were coming up for sale in case I wanted any of them - ALL of them were completely fried or had broken glass in them. Worse yet, lately government auctions seem to have become very popular and prices often go way beyond what I'd pay from a reputable seller, let alone what I'd consider risking with that kind of crap shoot. About a year ago you could still find units without bids there and get them for next to nothing but not anymore.


The only reason I would encourage prospective buyers to look at government liquidation's CRT auctions is to get an idea of what the units look like - they have very distinctive look to them - the army uses easily identifiable lot tags and they are usually stacked on palletes... The reason being that these units frequently end up on eBay, where they inevitably have the "I don't know how to test this so I'm selling it as-is" disclaimer. That's something I'd run away from twice as fast as normal.

 

[Chuchuf]

Thanks Curt for throwing me in there.

Greg, I tend to specialize in the 8" CRT market w/ Sony, Barco and NEC XG's.

email me if interested at [email protected] or call 404-557-6351.


Terry

 

[Joshua L]

I actually purchased a 1252Q on ebay from someone who was selling about an hour away..I went down and checked it out.


There was a very slight 4:3 burn on the blue tube, but it isnt noticeable when an image is projected..I checked with a pure white image.


I was allowed the mess with the convergence and everything while I was there, and got a good image so I bought it.



I also checked the hours and there was under 2000 hours on the tubed.

 

[Gregg Brent]

Thanks for all input. I'm obviously new to all this and find all this info and input really valuable. I'm printing from Jeromes link now, thanks.. looks real interesting. Will give curt and other resellers a holler. I'm now getting more into going down this road.. but of course need to do it carefully moneywise.


One quick question.. if setting up in a living room (don't have space for dedicated home theater) what do you suggest for center channel speaker placement? I was planning on putting a pull down screen in front of my direct view set (35" mits with center channel on top) but realize this would cut out sound from center channel. I see perforated screens available but these look awfully expensive. Any alternatives?

 

[Drew Eckhardt]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gregg Brent One quick question.. if setting up in a living room (don't have space for dedicated home theater) what do you suggest for center channel speaker placement?

On a short stand below the screen. It'll usually sound better there than atop your TV.