SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - National Recyclers

Posted: Sep 13 2009 06:45 pm

So my CRT monitor is slowly dying. It randomly decides to that it wants to switch from normal colors to a blue tint, a green tint, or more recently, a red tint. I want a new CRT, and I found a company on Amazon called National Recyclers that will sell me one for $50, including shipping. As best as I can figure, they are one of those places you can call to take the electronic stuff you're not supposed to throw into landfills off your hands for you, and then they resell them to idiots like me. The thing is, some of their feedback is really awful. Between all the 5 out of 5s, there are a bunch of complaints about poor packaging, poor communication, and a lack of refunds on goods that arrived damaged or not working. Their overall rating is 91%, which is lower than I like. I really want a CRT that works properly, but anywhere else I order it from will charge me more for the monitor and more on shipping. What should I do? Should I try and find a more reliable selling on eBay?

Posted: Sep 13 2009 10:05 pm

people still have CRT's?

Posted: Sep 13 2009 10:25 pm

Yes. The color is more vibrant.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 12:00 am

Yeah, and records sound better Rolling Eyes

Posted: Sep 14 2009 08:28 am

I think in this age of LCD and TFT monitors, you'll have a hard time finding anyone selling brand new CRTs or even one that works well. It does sound like that company buys broken down monitors, "refurbishes", then resells them which is always risky.

You could probably get a good, new LCD or TFT for near $50 anyway Syd, so why not?

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd, it is true that CRTs are made in such a way that they do not have some of the limitations with color or resolution that LCDs do. Lets go over why this doesn't matter and your decision to look for a CRT is a bad one.

Resolution:
LCDs make up for their lack of resolution flexibility with using a fixed native resolution that allows them to be incredibly crisp and sharp looking. This means that text and static images will look amazingly detailed when the monitor is correctly set to the resolution it was designed for. Older games can be played in windowed mode or with scaling. Emulators generally allow for scaling in multiples, so you don't get pixel stretching. Older computer games are the hardest to deal with, but there are usually workarounds that can be found. That is of course unless Blizzard made the game.

Color:
You are correct, a CRT can be calibrated better than any LCD. However, this doesn't matter at all. LCDs are now the normal type of monitor. It is expected that they will ship with a color profile and that when they are installed they will show colors close enough to true that you will be happy with the results. If you must calibrate one, then by all means, do so. You won't be able to tell the difference in most cases. Also, since everyone else is using a LCD now, you can guarantee that you will have a more similar experience to everyone else by looking at one. No game, movie, or magazine publishers use CRT monitors to produce their products any more so color calibration from them doesn't mean shit. If you are that worried about having 100% similar color, then buy a Mac since that is what half of them use.

Refresh:
CRTs refresh X times per second. It might be 60, 65, 70, 75... To be honest, it doesn't matter because it is the same thing no matter what, it is blinking light in front of your face. LCDs are CAPABLE of refreshing 60 times (on average) per second, but they do not always do so. When there is no motion, there is no refresh. This means that when you view a website and aren't moving things around the screen, there is no flickering. The pixels that are on simply remain on. This means less headaches and a better more clear picture.

Aspect Ratio:
Current LCD screens can be purchased in 16:9/16:10 which is now becoming the normal ratio for monitors. CRTs are limited to 4:3 and in rare cases 5:4.

Size & Energy:
It costs less in both physical real estate as well as energy consumption to use an LCD.

Recycling:
CRT monitors are horrible for the environment and are a huge pain to get rid of (legally). Also, if you break one open even a year after it was last powered on you could be killed by the amount of energy stored inside one of those things.

Price:
It now costs more to get an equally sized CRT screen.

Title: Titlating Joined: Dec 17 2007 Posts: 5042

Plus Crts are for dummies too.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 11:20 am

I'm sure a search on Craigslist would yield many for free, hell I have one in my basement.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 11:30 am

Also Goodwills and thrift stores are great for CRTs. You can usually find 17"-19" monitors for $10-$15. Just remember to test them at the electronics testing area. Plug them in, and make sure you get the pop up box that says "No Source" (or whatever), make sure the box is crisp and sharp, the color looks okay, etc. Then you should be good to go.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 11:34 am

knyte is right, i have seen a ton of these at the goodwill and salvation army thrift stores.

Banned Joined: Sep 13 2008 Posts: 3129

I have a CRT I'm willing to sell

But I don't do shipping
Unless you pay

Posted: Sep 14 2009 12:47 pm

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

Joined: Nov 02 2008 Posts: 725

That's one reason CRTs win. I might find one at a thrift store or just use my parents old CRT so I can put shit on top of it.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16144800

Posted: Sep 14 2009 02:23 pm

GPFontaine wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16144800

Banned Joined: Sep 13 2008 Posts: 3129

Syd Lexia wrote:

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

I was serious you know
Hell I'd settle for $20 and you paying for shipping

Posted: Sep 14 2009 03:57 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

The wireless card just plugs into a USB drive like a flashdrive. I'm not sure why that's an issue for you.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 04:34 pm

I thought I was the only person who prefers CRT monitors.

Posted: Sep 14 2009 04:49 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Here's the main thing. I could settle for an LCD. That's not really the issue. I do not, however, want a flatscreen. I want a monitor that's thick enough that I can put toys and my wireless adapter on top of it.

The wireless card just plugs into a USB drive like a flashdrive. I'm not sure why that's an issue for you.

i hook up mine to a long USB cord and i hang that on top of my oscillating fan, cause it overheats a lot

Posted: Sep 18 2009 12:57 pm

So, my sister had an LCD monitor left over from when she had a desktop, so I'm using that. It's mostly okay, but it doesn't have a brightness setting! Who the fuck does that!?

Posted: Sep 18 2009 12:58 pm

Is it possible you aren't finding it? That seems impossible.

Posted: Sep 18 2009 01:05 pm

The menu has 7 options:

Exit
Positioning (Horizontal, Vertical)
Image Settings (Pixel Clock, Phase)
Color Settings (RGB settings)
OSD Settings (Lets you move the menu box's position)
Language
Factory Reset

Pixel Clock stretches out the screen. Phase doesn't appear to do anything.

Posted: Sep 18 2009 01:11 pm

Umm....gay? How many buttons are on the monitor? The monitor in front of me has a menu button on the left, but over on the right there's the - and + buttons for brightness. Maybe they're just hiding someone like this one.

Posted: Sep 18 2009 01:19 pm

Oh... wow.

On my old monitor, brightness and contrast were part of the main setting menu, and the plus and minus buttons were used to navigate that menu. All three were right next to each other.

I have the same button setup on this monitor, one difference though: apparently if I press plus or minus instead of the menu button, it brings up brightness/contrast.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd,

Make sure you set the monitor to the native resolution or you will get headaches.