Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler TV puchasing advice needed!

I am officially in the market for a new TV. The "percussive maintenance" (i.e. slapping the side/back) on my current 32" Mistubishi CRT is not working as often as it used to. From a cold start, the TV's vertical scan is messed up and I get either a very bright horizontal line in the middle or many finky wavy lines fluttering about the screen.

But this is good news, right? Time to upgrade!

I am self-imposing a limit to what I'm looking for: CRT only. I have neither the budget nor the space for other technologies. I also don't care about HDTV just yet, and I don't need anything bigger than I currently have. As to budget, that's flexible. What would you all recommend?

Don't know if this is of interest to you but both Samsung and LG will have shallow depth 15" deep by 32" CRT televisons out this summer. I believe they will be HDTV for around $1000.

Is the limit based on budget or physical size?

Panny 42" EDTV plasma is now $1595. 4" deep and 40" wide.

Crutchfield has quite a bit of info about TV's. I've never purchased anything from them, but it's a good site for research. http://www.crutchfield.com

Thanks for the responses so far. Here's some more info for you.

The TV needs to fit here -- this is an old picture, but it's the same TV and stand:


The stand is 2 feet deep. I am not going to replace it because it fits perfectly in the room and also functions as a speaker stand.

I don't need a larger TV because we sit between 8 and 10 feet from the screen (depending on where we put the couch).

I also don't want to spend a wad of cash. Since we're trying to save up for a house, that's the priority. (And yes, every $500 counts.)

That being said, I think I can safely cross HDTV-ready off my list of desired features. To take advantage of it would require more new equipment besides the TV, anyway.

I did some searching and came across this deal on the Toshiba 30HF84, HD-ready widescreen CRT. Knowing I can get this TV for less than $600 sets my budget limit right around there.

+$100 freight.

Hi Peter,

fwiw, it looks to me like your maximum dimentions are governed by the top of the stand, the bottom of the window and the footprint of the speakers. I'd cram as much picture tube as I possibly could into that space. You were helpful in providing a handy calculation to me some time ago about the area of a 4:3 set compared to a 16:9 set, and I can't help but think that the same kind of analysis will come into play for you. This IS America. Less is not more. More is more.

I have a lesser Toshiba TV in the bedroom and it has a great picture. Both my parents and Julie's parents have Toshiba tube TV's that have been trouble free.

Good luck with that. Oh, and pull those M22's out to the front edge of that bench, willya?

Tom, the "bench" has been relocated to another wall. No window to worry about. But still, I don't want more than 32"

Peter,
I have that same set (well, mine is the 30HF83, so I'm guessing it is one year older) and I think it is a great TV. Terrific picture, and not a single problem in over a year.
And that price is $300 less than I paid out of the Crutchfield Scratch & dent section a year ago. Looks like a great deal.