CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[jbltecnicspro]

Good evening folks,

So as some of you may know I am the lucky recipient of two G70's. I've put some money into restoring them and the latest thing to go out is my convergence board.

Right now I've sunk $540 into the set (this is a guestimate, as I haven't looked at the detailed numbers in a while). All of this is done through my hobby fund which has a specific amount set aside for it and so I'm a bit conflicted at this point.

Should I just:

A. Go ahead and pay Curt for the board to be fixed?
B. Pull it off the ceiling and just chalk it up as a lesson learned?
C. Save money up for a true 9-incher?
D. Ditch CRT altogether and continue saving for a new digital?

Things that are of concern by point:

A. I'm all for supporting Curt and his business. Fantastic businessman, reasonable prices, very informative site, tons of knowledge to help troubleshooting, etc. However - I would love to just get a year out of this thing. So far I've had it for 7 months and can only count a handful of days in which it actually worked. As such, my confidence in this working out is pretty low. So far this "CRT" longevity thing is a myth to me. Yes - I understand this is 20-year-old electronics, but I think that their reliability is a little bit hyped up by the enthusiasts.

B. Other than my pride being hurt (and the holes in my wall and ceiling for the mount and screen), there really aren't any serious concerns with this one. Of course the simplest things are usually the hardest to do. Part of me doesn't want to give it up, but these "free" projectors are going to end up costing more than a higher-end one from Curt!

C. I would love to get one of Curt's 1209s's. However, I have a low ceiling and I don't know if getting a BIGGER CRT projector would be a good thing. Can the 1209 ceiling mount (assuming it comes with one?) angle the projector such that the lenses are more perpendicular to the wall, and therefore giving me the ability to not have to put a screen so close to the floor? Do any of Curt's CRT projectors for sale allow this (hell, does the G70 allow for this)? I stand almost 6'4. I have a few inches above my head and that's it, as far as ceiling is concerned. Is this simply not a good place for a CRT projector, and thus I should just give up? Assuming it costs a total of $1200 for the 1209, I'm more than halfway there.

D. The only thing I don't like about this is that I just happen to really like CRT a lot. I use one as my main monitor still (other than my laptop screens I don't have any LCD'S!), and I think I will always prefer the warm glow the CRT as opposed to the digitals. The only digital display device I've seen that I like is a well-calibrated Plasma television. Most people cite digital's input lag (gaming lag) as problematic but I do NOT intend to game on my CRT projector at all. I do not want to risk burn in.

I know that this is ultimately my decision to make, and obviously there are lots of variables at play here. Any honest input would be appreciated. To the person who gave me these - this is in NO WAY a backhanded way at complaining or anything against you. Really, I appreciate your generosity, and I could tell immediately when you let me in your house to see your awesome setup, that you were another true enthusiast. I know that you wanted this to work out just as much as I did, and I thank you.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello

If $540 is straining your budget then, my friend, you picked the wrong hobby.........

[Jeremy112]

^^ True that. I paid $550 for my NEC XG1100, then sunk another $800 into it with tubes and other small things for it. $1300-$1400 later it was totally worth it though! She still works!

Projection is an expensive hobby period, CRT or digital

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[jbltecnicspro]

[jbltecnicspro]

[gjaky]

Because of their age of these units I also don't think CRT projectors would be more reliable than modern projectors. But they are sure easier to tweak.
I think this is a bit like an old car, if it was resting in a garage for years without touching it: it surely will broke down on the first ride. Others those are well maintained will hold up better for daily usage.
Also all projectors have a learning curve. During that owners tend to push the machines more than it is needed so they are more likely to fail. But once it is sorted out and with beloved use I think they last

[cmjohnson]

I consider the cost/performance aspect ratio as well.

A properly tuned Marquee Ultra or G90 or 909 is STILL a serious contender for best picture qualities,
against digital projectors that cost more today than it'll cost you to acquire a used G90 or 909.

OK, granted, CRT does have certain hard performance limits. Getting even 1080p to be anything like as sharp
as you get with any fixed pixel projector that's 1080p native is, to put it mildy, a challenge, both in technical terms
and in terms of the skill required in setup.

4K? It's a dream for CRT users but I don't expect it to come true unless some dedicated CRT maniac is ready, willing, and able
to put millions of dollars into a product improvement project the likes of which the CRT projector market segment has never seen.

I've seen 4K, on screens as big as mine, and then seen 1080p done well on the same screen. Yeah, there's a difference, but
the 1080P via CRT image still looks good enough to me that I have no plans to abandon CRT yet. That'd be foolish of me in
any event as I have a lot of projectors that I'm refurbishing and I wish to be able to sell them and get some money out of them
rather than just scrap them.

I'm not really offering any PJs here, but just to be clear about it, if I even make contact with someone who wants to buy a PJ from
me on this forum, and I end up selling one to that person, then without any doubt, Curt gets a share of the sale. That is absolute and I've put it in writing, right here, and feel to quote me on it!

[jbltecnicspro]

[cmjohnson]

Yeah, I've got to box them up for you. I too have been rather busy lately. Holidays, you know....I've seen relatives I'd forgotten I even HAVE!

[jbltecnicspro]

[digitalayon]

The man does have a good question. This depends on what your time and value for the dollars are really. Picture quality that's fun to tinker with and always trying to improve little by little by home made community R&D or a $1,800 digital unit to satisfy what you previously had. I am after value that includes pure blacks, color depth, and longevity. Add this and try that is part of the fun. Getting a digital unit is well....just that that tinkering part sorta dies. You really cannot do much with them. But for me getting a solid picture for as little money as possible is my goal and part of the fun. I started with a Runco 933 model that I payed 10 dollars for. Great great unit. Was lots of fun. I then upgraded to a Barco 1208 s2 for 50 dollars that had a great solid picture but I wanted 1080P/I. FYI the Runco was every bit as good as the Barco in terms of the picture and image quality. The Barco was just easier to setup. But my ultimate dropped in my lap. I got a Vidikron Vision One (9500) for 45 bucks 3 years ago. Ran into some crazy lady who was moving out of state and selling off her just divorced ex-husbands crap for like pennies. So now that I had that I needed a HDMI. Well I found a guy that was selling a complete 8500 until with a new moome card for 100 bucks. He didn't know what he was doing and decided to go digital. I scrapped it and snagged the HDMI. I then found a Darbee going for like 100 bucks on Amazon used so I snagged it. I Found someone selling a 1292 for 100 bucks. I grabbed the red C element and chucked the rest. FYI guys I know of another 1292 coming available for the same price if anyone needs parts let me know. Anyway now I have stepped up my game. I mailed off a VIM, neck cards, 2 moome cards and LVPS to MP. This was BIG BUCKS but I am excited to see when everything is done. However one thing at a time. My spending is now done for a while until I get repairs done in my man cave due to water damage in my basement. My water main to my house busted. I have been tearing out carpet, wood paneling, and drywall for a week now to get rid of the rotting wood smell. But I will recover in a few months. However, this is a hobby. Hell I have friends back in college that would flip TV's upside-down, throw a cardboard box in front of it with a cut square hole and then tape a frensnel lens to the hole and they would get an image on a wall. Looked like crap but to them it was gold because they had a big screen for ultra cheap. I am sure many of the guys here might have tried crap like that. But hey that's part of the fun.

[draganm]

this used to cause all kinds of arguments but since no one cares anymore , here goes. If you had gotten anything else with good tubes except a G70, you would probably have had a lot less trouble. I dabbled with g70's and had 3 here at one time or another. They were really nice to look at when you popped the hood, but the reliability was atrocious. If you had 3 more working machines you could use for parts I would say keep going, but at this point cut your losses and move on.

Either get a marquee , or 2 (one for spares you might need some day), or if you can come up with $3K, a JVC DILA RS4910.