Someone please enlighten me on buying CRTs.

[eli573]

CRT is terrible for reasons that have already been mentioned. One item that has not been mentioned is that many CRTs suffer from that high pitched squeal when they are on. That "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" sound. Thankfully for some people, they can't hear it. But I could always hear it and when I finally switched to LCD it was so wonderful to have a silent monitor.

I'm not arguing, rather informing. The squealing sound heard from the CRT is in so high it falls in the 15-20KHz range, which is above the hearing range of the adult. The hearing range of a teenager or child goes all the way to ~20KHz. This is what you remember, and why some people can't hear it. Now, if you turned one on, you wouldn't hear it. When I was that age, I was used to this equipment from televisions and old SVGA monitors, and it no longer bothers me, if I could hear it of course.
But, I digress, I just need to get a cheap second monitor for a multiple monitor setup, and my current LCD is 1280x800. May I remind you, I'm not really trying to upgrade really, although 1280x1024 is a slight upgrade on it's own. Now I'm debating on whether to dedicate the Geforce 8400GS or the old, I can't come up with a model right now, ATi Radeon. (512MB and 256MB respectively, or get a new PCI Geforce.)

 

[Intel_man]

What is your obsession with out of date hardware? Seriously, there are things that fall into the "old is better" category, but computer hardware is definitely not the case.

 

[eli573]

What is your obsession with out of date hardware? Seriously, there are things that "old is better", but computer hardware is definitely not the case.

I don't know, it isn't period correctness or poorness. I guess I could make a period correct Windows XP machine... But still, I don't know. I think it's a hobby.

 

[Geoff]

I don't know, it isn't period correctness or poorness. I guess I could make a period correct Windows XP machine... But still, I don't know. I think it's a hobby.

Collecting and using CRTs is not a hobby.

 

[eli573]

Collecting and using CRTs is not a hobby.

Vintage computing? For a second, I thought vintage computing was a hobby for some reason. (Although CRTs aren't completely vintage.)

 

[Geoff]

Vintage computing? For a second, I thought vintage computing was a hobby for some reason. (Although CRTs aren't completely vintage.)

You should PM @The VCR King I think you two would make best friends

 

[eli573]

You should PM @The VCR King I think you two would make best friends

Ha ha ha! I think I'll actually do this later, better than messing Windows NT Workstation 3.51 and Am5x86s.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I'm not arguing, rather informing. The squealing sound heard from the CRT is in so high it falls in the 15-20KHz range, which is above the hearing range of the adult. The hearing range of a teenager or child goes all the way to ~20KHz. This is what you remember, and why some people can't hear it. Now, if you turned one on, you wouldn't hear it. When I was that age, I was used to this equipment from televisions and old SVGA monitors, and it no longer bothers me, if I could hear it of course.
But, I digress, I just need to get a cheap second monitor for a multiple monitor setup, and my current LCD is 1280x800. May I remind you, I'm not really trying to upgrade really, although 1280x1024 is a slight upgrade on it's own. Now I'm debating on whether to dedicate the Geforce 8400GS or the old, I can't come up with a model right now, ATi Radeon. (512MB and 256MB respectively, or get a new PCI Geforce.)

Actually, I'm 33 and I can still hear very high frequencies. Recently I had the horrid experience of watching an old CRT TV at my aunt's house and I could very much hear the squeal from the infernal machine.

 

[eli573]

Actually, I'm 33 and I can still hear very high frequencies. Recently I had the horrid experience of watching an old CRT TV at my aunt's house and I could very much hear the squeal from the infernal machine.

Well, I'm sorry that you had to hear that, and that you are susceptible to a dog whistle. No need to call a television names though... Sure, it's limited technology, but I don't notice the flicker, and can't hear the high pitched squeal. I'm not going to replace every monitor in the house, but just have one good 1280x1024 coexist with my desktop CRT. This brings us to the mentioned title, "Someone please enlighten me at buying [or obtaining] CRTs," which I now know they can be bought for cheap at an estate, yard sale, or just at an e-waste site, and find one there (hopefully without the cord cut, or a standard 3 prong cord that has been standard on every computer for the past something-years.)

 

[The VCR King]

Vintage computing? For a second, I thought vintage computing was a hobby for some reason. (Although CRTs aren't completely vintage.)

I do have a secondary beige-box machine I'm building up. It all started when I stupidly bought an old ETEQ SOY-5EMA+ socket 7 motherboard for $5 at an estate sale. Since that I've acquired a dial-up modem and an old Seagate U6 hard drive. I'm slowly acquiring old pieces for it one step at a time and eventually it'll be a running Win95 PC.

 

[eli573]

I do have a secondary beige-box machine I'm building up. It all started when I stupidly bought an old ETEQ SOY-5EMA+ socket 7 motherboard for $5 at an estate sale. Since that I've acquired a dial-up modem and an old Seagate U6 hard drive. I'm slowly acquiring old pieces for it one step at a time and eventually it'll be a running Win95 PC.

I'm working on finding a Pentium 1 or Am5x86 laptop, so I can max out the ram to 32 or 64 MB (Yes, I said 64MB of ram on a Pentium 1.) Probably won't find a good one though. I don't want to mess up the install of Windows 95 on my Thinkpad 701c, otherwise it would've been the perfect candidate. Same era, but I'm going to put Windows 3.51 or 4.0 on it. Good fun.

 

[The VCR King]

I'm working on finding a Pentium 1 or Am5x86 laptop, so I can max out the ram to 32 or 64 MB (Yes, I said 64MB of ram on a Pentium 1.) Probably won't find a good one though. I don't want to mess up the install of Windows 95 on my Thinkpad 701c, otherwise it would've been the perfect candidate. Same era, but I'm going to put Windows 3.51 or 4.0 on it. Good fun.

My beige box is going to be used as a retro gaming PC for older DOS games.

 

[Intel_man]

I'm working on finding a Pentium 1 or Am5x86 laptop, so I can max out the ram to 32 or 64 MB (Yes, I said 64MB of ram on a Pentium 1.) Probably won't find a good one though. I don't want to mess up the install of Windows 95 on my Thinkpad 701c, otherwise it would've been the perfect candidate. Same era, but I'm going to put Windows 3.51 or 4.0 on it. Good fun.

I've got a Pentium pro lying around in the closet somewhere... Was working the last time I checked...

 

[mistersprinkles]

Well, I'm sorry that you had to hear that, and that you are susceptible to a dog whistle. No need to call a television names though... Sure, it's limited technology, but I don't notice the flicker, and can't hear the high pitched squeal. I'm not going to replace every monitor in the house, but just have one good 1280x1024 coexist with my desktop CRT. This brings us to the mentioned title, "Someone please enlighten me at buying [or obtaining] CRTs," which I now know they can be bought for cheap at an estate, yard sale, or just at an e-waste site, and find one there (hopefully without the cord cut, or a standard 3 prong cord that has been standard on every computer for the past something-years.)

Unfortunately you've answered your own question. You won't find any CRT displays through any conventional retail channels. That stuff has been obsolete for over a decade (well over a decade) now and there is no store other than second hand shops that will sell you one these days. So you're stuck with Craigslist, yard sales, Good will, Salvation Army, etc etc. I know it's sad but them's the breaks.

Also keep in mind that a used item has a lower life expectancy once it gets into your hand. A CRT that already has 14 years of use on it is going to be long in the tooth and you shouldn't expect it to last you very long.

There are older VGA-connector-touting 1280X1024 4:3 LCD displays that you can still find refurb at retailers (online at least) which could be a replacement for a CRT. Not a great replacement, but your old pentium era hardware can talk to it.

 

[eli573]

My beige box is going to be used as a retro gaming PC for older DOS games.

I'm likely going to dual boot it with Windows 95 so I can play early Windows games and MS-DOS games, not that I do that much.

I've got a Pentium pro lying around in the closet somewhere... Was working the last time I checked...

I wouldn't use a Pentium Pro or Pentium 2, as how early Windows NT behaves with the newer processors.

 

[mistersprinkles]

LOL @ Newer and Pentium Pro/PII in the same sentence. Sorry. Couldn't help it.
I had a PII when I was 14. The memories...

 

[Intel_man]

I wouldn't use a Pentium Pro or Pentium 2, as how early Windows NT behaves with the newer processors.

When it was actually being used, Windows 95 and later 98 works just fine on it.

 

[eli573]

I wouldn't use a Pentium Pro or Pentium 2, as how early Windows NT behaves with the newer processors.

When it was actually being used, Windows 95 and later 98 works just fine on it.

I said early Windows NT, not 95 or 98.

 

[Darren]

My repair shop somewhat "specializes" in refurbed and used merchandise, at least for computers and monitors. I don't think we've had CRT's in stock in a good 6+ years, if even ever since the company is less than 10 years old. You're seriously going to have a hard time finding any.

 

[Intel_man]

I said early Windows NT, not 95 or 98.

It's ran Windows 2000 on it's last legs before retirement before. Seems fine. But if you're such a "old tech" guy and want to run 3.1, then get a 486.