When 2 TVs aren’t enough….there is hope.

[Tan]

It's a great time for Game collectors/Gamers alike who play older systems. Prices usually aren't the greatest for certain consoles or games but the demand and market is high enough to pretty much find anything your looking for. At one time such ease of purchase could only be found in flea markets and yard sales. Having more than 1 TV in your living room was almost unheard of and buying one was more of a thought-out process than a whim back then.

Today I picked up an older TV today for $9.99. Just a little 13″ job for older systems that can use an antenna switch-box. Both of my other TV's use Coaxial F-Connectors so it's neat to have one that can use the original adapters these older systems came with. Around 15-20 years ago when I got my first TV it was a 13″ very much like this one, at that time a nice one cost well over $100, even used.

Part of the experience of having these systems is to play them as they were back then. Older technology such as TVs with knobs that you rotate, switch-boxes with those dual leads you screw into the back and screens that take a minute to “warm up”. Much like the fun of having a record player or a solid state radio.

It's interesting to see the little details on how games were made to accommodate the TV's of that time. We tend to forget those when using new equipment. Like how you can play an older game that will have a slow intro that seems to coincide with the screen warm-up or volume that seems to start low to give you the chance to adjust it without making a huge racket because you haven't got a remote. Or the Pong systems that have coloured transparent backgrounds you fit over the TV's screen to simulate baseball diamonds, tennis courts, ping pong etc. Even how some adjusted colours to make it easier to see on the still large portion of black & white TVs that were still being used at that time.

Thankfully for those who like to “keep it real” such technology can be had for very little money nowadays. $50 can let you walk away with half a dozen TV's ranging from B&W small ones to 20″ high end branded ones with digital channel display and switches from the mid 80's. In an Ideal environment I'd love to have a handpicked set for each system and only space has a premium cost not the price. For now I'll just settle for being that crazy bugger with three in his living room.

[Tynstar]

I agree with you but I love the F-Connectors. They are great!

[Tan]

I agree with you but I love the F-Connectors. They are great!

Especially the "Gold" ones. I use coax splitters on my main set so I can use 3 F connectors in one jack.

[phoenix1967]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Tan. My first system was a 2600 that I connected to a 13" B&W. When I was able to finally connect it to the family color TV, I was like "WOW! Color!"

[Tynstar]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Tan. My first system was a 2600 that I connected to a 13" B&W. When I was able to finally connect it to the family color TV, I was like "WOW! Color!"

It is crazy to think that systems and a B&W/Color switch. It wasn't that long ago!

[Izret101]

My Genny was on a B&W TV.
I wasn't playing in color until at least 2-3 years after i had started gaming...
Unless i was at a friends house that is.

[Tan]

When I was playing the Intellivision the TV it was on was huge to me back then, prob like a 20" or so but the frame was enormous. It was colour but it took about 2 minutes for the screen to "warm-up". Enough time to grab a bite, take a whiz and get comfortable. 

[James]

My first TV was bought the year I was born, in 1986. It was 14" and had a glass screen about an inch in front of the actual screen. That was fairly high end when it was bought. It was our family's main lounge TV. When we moved to England it got put in the loft and I have a blank spot regarding the TV. We moved somewhere else a year later and got a second hand TV from someone at dad's work in 1993. It seemed huge to me but was probably only around 20". We moved to this town at the start of 1996 and got a 21" TV which again seemed big, that one broke and we got another one. Then the sound started going so we got a new one, which we thought was the same size. When we got it home we realised it wouldn't fit in the cabinet and was actually 28". The old 21" got moved into my bedroom to replace the 1986 TV I had been using. A month after we got the new TV (To replace the one with dodgy sound) dad decided a surround sound system would be good.

And here we are now, with a 28" 4:3 in the lounge, a 21" in my room and the spare room, and my parents with a 14" from dad's 1993 London flat in their room.

With the 28" TV on its way out (The sides of the picture are curving in), I've been hinting at a 32"+ HDTV to replace it. I remember around 2002/3 a cheap 32" CRT was £700 and 42" SDTV Plasmas were £4,000. Now a 32" HDTV LCD can be bought for around £500 and HD plasmas are as low as £1,000.

[/James' TV Biography]

[Ghost Soldier]

My first game tv was a b/w 13inch.  The casing was the color of a SNES exposed to nicotine and the sun.  I remember playing my NES on it when I lived in florida.  As time went on I upgraded to a 13in color tv w/remote.  Nowadays I play on a 52 widescreen 8-)

[DarthKur]

Like some of you my first TV was  small B&W as well. It was terribly frustrating playing games on there and knowing you were missing out on the full effect of the rainbow colors that the Atari 2600 utilized. Then when I got an Intellivision it became even more so because right there on the packaging it stated "FOR COLOR TV VIEWING ONLY". All in capital letters no less. Black and white just wasn't going to cut it. 
Now, of coarse, it's no concern. Getting a $5 or $10 thrift store set is no problem. In fact I have two, one of which is connected to my Mattel Aquarius computer. The other is sitting on the kitchen floor with a couple dozen INTV carts stacked on it. I use my "main" TV in the living room for all of my console sets and use composite and/or RGB monitors for all of my 8 and 16 bit computers.

[NES_Rules]

I still have (and use) a 13" Panasonic CompuFocus that I grew up with.  I used it for all my needs just until last summer when I upgraded to a 19" but I still use the 13" for my Wonder Wizard.  Oddly enough, I found an almost identical TV set in the trash a few months ago.  I took it home and hooked it up along with my other one. Unfortunately, it broke a couple months later. 

[Alabama-Shrimp]

well i might not be able to remember all the Telly's that i have had but i do know the 1st one i had was a 14" B&W that you had to tune-in for each channel.
I seem to have had that far ages i remember playing a borrowed NES and Amiga on it then got a 21" Sony whit a giant wood case!

after a bit and a few crappy ones i got an Amstrad 21" thats got stereo but a screen thats curved like a fish bowl its got a scart plug though so was nice for the PSX/Saturn

Ended up getting a 28" wide screen CRT Toshiba for the PS2/Xbox as i have moved in with my future wife and her TV was shit!

And last but not least about 2 month ago got a nice 32" Sony Bravia with all the toys

That leaves me with my Amstrad for all the older games and light guns (thats in my office), the Toshiba (in my games room) and the Sony for everything and anything in the room...which was nice

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I used to play Pirates! on a five inch B&W screen. Pirates! was the pwn.

[cverz2]

My parents STILL have a BIG OLD Wooden Framed Zeneith TV, That I remember playin Coleco on that TV.

MAN THEY REALLY NEED TO UPDATE.

[NES_Rules]

I still have (and use) a 13" Panasonic CompuFocus that I grew up with.  I used it for all my needs just until last summer when I upgraded to a 19" but I still use the 13" for my Wonder Wizard.  Oddly enough, I found an almost identical TV set in the trash a few months ago.  I took it home and hooked it up along with my other one. Unfortunately, it broke a couple months later. 

Never mind about still having the 13", it just blew up on me.  I was just innocently playing some Lost Luggage and it started making a scary screeching noise and I could see sparks inside of it.  Damn, I'm really depressed about this, it was like a good friend to me.