I still keep an older CRT for retro consoles. Also had nice results with RGB, Scanline Generator on LCD. Cables, adapters, converters can really add up however. If the price is right and you got space, why not nab an extra CRT or two? I'm sure many of us are like, "Why did I throw out all those Trinitron monitors?" 🤣

simbin wrote:

I'm sure many of us are like, "Why did I throw out all those Trinitron monitors?" 🤣

In my case, because they kept dying! 🤣

I still miss them though...

Does anybody have an opinion on the Dell E773c? Are they any good? There's a guy nearby with a couple of new ones. I'm just kinda wondering if maybe I should go grab one as a spare...

We just had the town cleanup here,and I did a brief drive around looking for stuff after work and noticed that someone around here goes around slicing the data cables off of all the CRT monitors. I've noticed this in the past,as well. What would be the purpose of that?

I do that too when I see a smashed CRT. I salvage the VGA cables to build extension leads or cables for newer monitors just by adding the male or female plug at the other end. Old cables are especially nice, very thick and high quality. I've also used them to make some high quality RGB SCART leads.

If the monitor is in decent condition I usually end up taking it instead of just the VGA cable. 🤣

sliderider wrote:

We just had the town cleanup here,and I did a brief drive around looking for stuff after work and noticed that someone around here goes around slicing the data cables off of all the CRT monitors. I've noticed this in the past,as well. What would be the purpose of that?

I have been wondering about this also. I have seen this as well...At a local thrift shop, they put old electronics to recycle in a bin outside and I have noticed that most the CRT's have the data and power cords (if attached) cut off. I have picked up a few CRT's from them from this bin and one time I got a nice 21" NEC that had the data cable sliced off and thought that I could just repair it.

The cable was cut right to the base with no slack whatsoever, making it almost impossible (for me) to splice on a new cord without soldering on a new one at the circuit board...I opened it up when I got home and realized that it would be way more work than it was worth. Since I already had many good CRT's in storage, I just gave up and brought it back to recycle. It was annoying though because it was a perfectly good CRT (besides missing the data cable of course).

I am guessing that some do it for safety reasons so that no one trips on the cord when handling it, but I'm not totally sure. I also thought that some may also be slicing off the cords to take to a copper recycling facility. With enough copper cords, one can actually make some good pocket change. Copper prices around here have gone up considerably over the last few years.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Does anybody have an opinion on the Dell E773c? Are they any good? There's a guy nearby with a couple of new ones. I'm just kinda wondering if maybe I should go grab one as a spare...

They are a decent middle of the pack CRT monitor. I usually prefer something with a 0.25mm dot pitch at least (the Dell E773c has a 0.27mm), but it would be difficult to see a big difference anyways. The 16" viewable size and maximum resolution of 1,280 x 1,024 leaves a lot to be desired for me as well, only because I enjoy having the option of using a large high resolution CRT for my windows systems as well, but for primarily a DOS or gaming CRT, there's nothing wrong with it. If you have the space and if they are new and can be had for a (very) good price, I would buy both...it's always nice to have two matching CRT's in a dual monitor setup. I would not spend too much though...I for one would not spend much more than $15 each. I just bought a new in box 21" samsung flat screen CRT for about $20 and the guy selling it was just happy to have someone take it off his hands because it was so big.

sliderider wrote:

We just had the town cleanup here,and I did a brief drive around looking for stuff after work and noticed that someone around here goes around slicing the data cables off of all the CRT monitors. I've noticed this in the past,as well. What would be the purpose of that?

I've only seen that once or twice. I preferred to think that the CRT was damaged beyond repair and that whoever was throwing it away was just trying to save someone the trouble of bringing it home and finding out it didn't work. But perhaps that is too optimistic.

Jorpho,

Thanks for your advice regarding the Dell E773c. The guy disappeared from craigslist without responding to my reply. He wanted $20 for one, or $30 for both. Since I never got a reply, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway.

Back in the day, I bought a used 21" monitor from a company warehouse. After a few days use, it started to stink. Eventually, It started smoking and then it burst into flames. In that case, I kept the detachable vga cable and marked "DO NOT USE" all over the monitor to keep any pickers from burning their homes down. I'm just saying: there may be a good reason why the cable has been cut on a discarded monitor.

It's just copper collectors snipping the cables - they scavenge and sometimes steal wire from wherever possible. Some have been desperate enough to strip it out of the overhead wiring for our local train system, which is obviously very freaking dangerous.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Jorpho,

Thanks for your advice regarding the Dell E773c. The guy disappeared from craigslist without responding to my reply. He wanted $20 for one, or $30 for both. Since I never got a reply, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway.

No prob (that was me not Jorpho 🤣 🤣 ) ...too bad about the craigslist guy not replying...$30 for both (especially if they were new) is not too bad of a deal...but it's ok, I'm sure more CRT's will show up.

badmojo wrote:

It's just copper collectors snipping the cables - they scavenge and sometimes steal wire from wherever possible. Some have been desperate enough to strip it out of the overhead wiring for our local train system, which is obviously very freaking dangerous.

Ya that's what I thought...

retrofanatic wrote:

...I also thought that some may also be slicing off the cords to take to a copper recycling facility. With enough copper cords, one can actually make some good pocket change. Copper prices around here have gone up considerably over the last few years.

that has been an issue around these parts as well...I guess copper hunters and thieves exist "down under" too 🤣

PeterLI wrote:

I had 3 but now only 1. They take up too much room, are heavy and use a lot of electricity. Electricity rates have gone up a lot where I live. Paid $270 for it last month. 🙁

This is one of the reasons I recommend buying smaller screen size CRT monitors. I would advice you to replace all your regular light bulbs with energy-saving light bulbs if you haven't done so. You can also stop using your dishwasher and get rid of your electric stove 😀 AC is what eats the most of your electricity. What really makes no sense is that in the U.S. you pay more money if you use less electricity and it calls the Minimum Usage Fee.

If your use for CRTs is occasional retro gaming I don't see the increased power consumption being much of a concern compared to a TV or monitor that gets used everyday for long hours.

Dreamer_of_the_past wrote:

PeterLI wrote:

I had 3 but now only 1. They take up too much room, are heavy and use a lot of electricity. Electricity rates have gone up a lot where I live. Paid $270 for it last month. 🙁

This is one of the reasons I recommend buying smaller screen size CRT monitors. I would advice you to replace all your regular light bulbs with energy-saving light bulbs if you haven't done so. You can also stop using your dishwasher and get rid of your electric stove 😀 AC is what eats the most of your electricity. What really makes no sense is that in the U.S. you pay more money if you use less electricity and it calls the Minimum Usage Fee.

With nuclear power you have to calculate the usage needs pretty closely to get a static $/W used. Go over or under a specific rate and they burn you with fees. AC usage during a massive heatwave is what usually causes a blackout. They use streetlights to take up unneeded power during off peak hours.

Huh... interesting things you got there in the U.S. of A. 😉

Here we pay like 40% of the bill for electricity itself and the rest are different taxes. The electricity is 50% cheaper at night rate which is from 22:00 till 06:00 (10PM to 6AM). I usually pay around 30-35€ a month total.

Bill From Date Bill To Date Days In Bill Date Bill Rendered Total Charges
08/28/2014 09/26/2014 29 09/26/2014 $185.00
07/30/2014 08/28/2014 29 08/28/2014 $185.00
06/27/2014 07/30/2014 33 07/30/2014 $221.00
05/30/2014 06/27/2014 28 06/27/2014 $221.00
04/29/2014 05/30/2014 31 05/30/2014 $221.00
03/31/2014 04/29/2014 29 04/29/2014 $62.24
02/27/2014 03/31/2014 32 03/31/2014 $270.00
01/31/2014 02/27/2014 27 02/27/2014 $270.00
12/30/2013 01/31/2014 32 01/31/2014 $226.00
11/23/2013 12/30/2013 37 12/30/2013 $226.00
10/30/2013 11/23/2013 24 11/23/2013 $226.00
09/26/2013 10/30/2013 34 10/30/2013 $226.00
08/29/2013 09/26/2013 28 09/26/2013 $188.00

Our average is $200 a month. This covers central air conditioning, a lot of dish washing / laundry and a 60" LED TV that is on from 8AM to 10PM typically. There are 2 more TVs that are on a lot and ceiling fans. There is also a W510 that is on 24/7/365.

A lot of the cost of heating is really in the oil burner. 🙁

My year to year electricity bills in Euros:

28.10.2014 24,91
26.09.2014 27,30
26.08.2014 31,32
28.07.2014 30,87
26.06.2014 30,61
29.05.2014 27,94
28.04.2014 25,79
31.03.2014 35,34
26.02.2014 37,76
27.01.2014 37,37
24.12.2013 34,92
26.11.2013 36,39

I live in a two bedroom apartment, but here we say it is three rooms apartment (2 bedrooms and 1 living room). No air-conditioning - not really needed. We heat on oil from end of October to end of April and it totals at around 500€. We also use a fireplace in the living room - like this one. Wood cost around 50-80€ per Winter (depends how cold it gets).

Everything electric is at least A+ energy efficient from Dishwasher to Laundry machine. Some lights are LED, the rest are CFL. LCDTV 42" isn't much on... maybe 3-5 hours daily. Only my notebook is 24/7 but it uses only 17W.

Living in an apartment really reduces expenses. I have a 1 living room, 1 dining room, 1 kitchen, 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ranch with single garage (1300 square feet). My basement is finished (1300 square feet) with 1 bathroom. So we have approximately 240 square meters living space.

Thats a lot of space 😁 My parents house is around 250m2.

I think we'll built a house or at least buy one in a few years. But it won't be bigger than 150m2 - I guess here in Europe we have smaller rooms.

zerodiagonal wrote:

... before they're gone or start to get vintage prices?
I can't think of any other good projects other than MAME arcades or retro videogame rigs (DOS & Win9x). 😐

Yes, you should. Oh and you should worry about availability and not about prices.