What kind of TV?

[sandmountainslim]

Do you remember what kind of television your 2600 was originally hooked to back in your youth?

 

Mine was hooked to a 12 inch QUASAR (remember that brand?) black and white in my bedroom that I got for my tenth birthday back in '80.

I still have the little tv put up in my garage, just cannot make myself get rid of it.

The Vader 2600 is now hooked to a 1990 Sanyo 20 inch color deal that I retrieved from the dump in perfect working condition

Wp

[JustJeff2]

18" Insignia LCD Flat screen I got from the "damaged" table at a local retailer (it was missing the remote, that's it). I love it because it saves space in my small office. I have it right next to my flat screen for my PC, so I just have both running all day long.... hurray!

 

If I get more room, I will find a vintage RCA or ZENITH so I can be 100% original.... but games first / vintage TV later for me.

.

[fdurso224]

Hi Fonzie,

 

When I was young, (well I'm still young) when I was younger, all my systems were played on a 1983 B&W 13 inch Portland television.

 

Ever tried playing Dr. Mario in Black & White? Now that's a challenge.

 

Now today, modern & classic systems are on a 2006 24 inch Conventional Sylvania TV. Because its a inexpensive, low-mid tech unit. Its perfect for all around types of gaming and consoles (in color of course).

 

 

Anthony....

[bomberpunk]

19 inch (i think) black & white Zenith console tv. that mother took forever for the picture to "warm up". it had knobs and no remote. the on/off switch was a push/pull thing. and it had huge bunny ears.

[oesii]

When we got our first Atari with Space Invaders back in the day we had one of those ugly console TVs in the living room. Maybe 27-inches? The TV I most remember from my Atari days is the one I bought in 83/84 with my first job monies. It was a sweet 13-inch color TV from Sears with one dial for VHF and one dial for UHF.

[potatohead]

Zenith Chromacolor II

 

Was a console unit, 30 some inches. Looked great!

[shadow460]

Our Woody was first hooked to a 27 inch Zenith Space Command. Later in life I would hook it to my daddy's 19 inch Blackstripe TV, then to my own 19 inch Zenith I got in 1997, next was to my C=1701 video monitor, and finally to a 1985-ish 19 inch RCA Color Trak.

My Sears heavy sixer is hooked to the Commodore monitor mentioned above.

 

The Woody got tossed out a few years ago because it quit working. My dad tossed it. I didn't have a chance to try and work on it first. As for the TVs, well, the Zenith got to the point where it needed degaussed, but we didn't know you could do that with a soldering gun so it got tossed. I dunno what happened to the Blackstripe, I think it got sold at auction. My own RCA and my Zenith TVs got tossed (after some repair to the Zenith). I've kept the C=1701 in good condition, but I need to fix the crack in the top of the case before the right side starts to split open.

I have had a lot of systems hooked to that Commodore monitor. It is, far and away, my favorite gaming screen I have ever owned.

 

Oh, yeah, Quasar is still around. Matsushita was manufacturing TVs under that name in the late '90's. I dunno if they still use the Quasar name or if they call 'em somethin' else now.

Edited December 13, 2008 by shadow460

[+Nathan Strum]

It was a Sharp (I think), maybe 23". Maybe 19". Not sure. Color though, and bought sometime in the mid-70's. Somewhere exists a photo of me playing Asteroids on it, I believe.

 

Within a year or so, I bought my own TV. A little 9" portable Sharp.

 

Still have it:

 

Although usually, it isn't on its side.

[racer raul]

I think I had like a 14" Radio Shack color tv.... used it on my Tandy Coco2 & 3 until I bought a 14Tandy monitor for the Coco3.

By then I had sold the atari so I could afford the Coco ... I used to have Condor Attack back then, rare now :(

Not too sad about it really, I'm in this to play much more than collect anyways.

 

I now use a Samsung 17" LCD with my svideo moded 2600\7800\& 800xl

[atari_envy]

When we got our first Atari with Space Invaders back in the day we had one of those ugly console TVs in the living room. Maybe 27-inches? The TV I most remember from my Atari days is the one I bought in 83/84 with my first job monies. It was a sweet 13-inch color TV from Sears with one dial for VHF and one dial for UHF.

Gawd, I would LOVE one of those big "ugly" console TVs for my Atari. :love: What a perfect marriage that would be for my heavy sixer with the faux wood trim.

[+SpiceWare]

We had a wooden console TV, around 25" I believe. I remember it would periodically stop working and we'd take the back off, pull out all the vacuum tubes and take them to the tube tester at Osco Drug to find the one(s) that stopped working.

[Lord Helmet]

Mine was a 19 inch Zenith. That thing was built like a tank...it was the family tv from the time we bought it until I moved out at 18...and for a few years after that.

 

Now days I have the Atari hooked up to my retired 60 inch rear projection big screen tv. When we went HD several years ago, the old big screen was relegated to the game room. It works nicely for classic systems since it has 3 rf inputs and 3 composite inputs.

[sandmountainslim]

Zenith Chromacolor II

 

Was a console unit, 30 some inches. Looked great!

 

 

We had a Zenith Chromacolor II in the living room also but I wasn't allowed to hook the Atari to it because they thought it would damage the screen

Looking back now I don't see how we stood to WATCH those console tv's ....you had to stare downward to see the screen which is so unnatural now.

Wp

[Vic George 2K3]

Don't remember what brand it was, but it was a small portable black-and-white TV set.

[frank_c]

19" GE. it was in the living room at first, and then when we got a larger console it ended up in my room. eventually had a C64 hooked up to it too.

[potatohead]

Zenith Chromacolor II

 

Was a console unit, 30 some inches. Looked great!

 

 

We had a Zenith Chromacolor II in the living room also but I wasn't allowed to hook the Atari to it because they thought it would damage the screen

Looking back now I don't see how we stood to WATCH those console tv's ....you had to stare downward to see the screen which is so unnatural now.

Wp

 

No kidding! Hadn't thought of that!

 

We had the same discussion about damaging the screen. In my family, some relatives managed to burn pong into one of their TV's! It took a LONG time to get them up to speed on why that happened, and how the VCS was different.

[Atarifever]

Don't remember the name on it but it was an indestructible little black and white TV that I think may still be at my parent's house. I remember the cord could be unhooked from it.

 

How did we manage I wonder? I mean, I remember having fun all the time. Me and my brother played tons of Space Invaders and Dodge-em, and my brother and my father had a competition for high score in Battlezone, and yet the TV was shit. Jungle Hunt, PacMan, Venture, Q-Bert, all great fun. Yet there was no HD, no rap music sound track, no surround sound, no cut scenes, no voice actors, no colour whatsoever, and it was still fun. It's almost like we used to enjoy the games for being fun games. But no, that's crazy talk.

[Rik]

Back in 80 or 81,an Electrohome 21 inch B&W TUBE tv.This TV was an antique,from the 60's,im kicking myself for getting rid of it,it still worked like new.It was the 1st tv i played my 2600 on right after opening the box in my room.I later of course hooked it up to a color tv in the living room.

Edited December 14, 2008 by Rik

[Deteacher]

We had our Heavy Sixer hooked up to one of those huge console "Radiation King" color TVs. I forget the brand name (might have been Zenith.) but I remember my parents wouldn't let us play it in color because they "heard" that playing it in color would burn the color out of the tv. So, we'd be forced to play in B&W...but only when THEY were around.

 

I remember sitting on the living room carpet, playing Space Invaders until I lost all feeling in my legs. Good memories!

[Mirage]

For awhile I got to use the 19" (?) color TV in the living room, but that came to an end pretty quickly. For my birthday i got a black & white 12" Sampo (yes, Sampo, clever, eh?). It had a white shell, and a black bezel, and had chromey UHF & VHF knobs. It was really slick, but I have no idea how I could stand to play Atari and later Vic-20 and C64 games in B&W. I guess I was just happy to have anything at all. Amazing how much better the games are in color now!

 

Sadly, I gave away the Sampo TV when I moved 2 years ago. It was still perfect. Wish I still had it, but oh well.

[Zoyx]

A 24" tube RCA TV. By tube, I mean vacuum tubes. When I inherited, it didn't work. Had to bring the tubes to a tube testing machine. Then we spent about $75 on replacement tubes. This was late 70s, so you do the conversion to modern dollars.

[Rik]

A 24" tube RCA TV. By tube, I mean vacuum tubes. When I inherited, it didn't work. Had to bring the tubes to a tube testing machine. Then we spent about $75 on replacement tubes. This was late 70s, so you do the conversion to modern dollars.

Yeah,thats what i had,tube tv,like the vacuum tubes in tube guitar amplifiers.Do you still have the tv?Tubes are extremely expensive.Its costs about $300 for 4 EL-34 power tubes,4 pre amp 12ax7a tubes for my amp,if you have to buy them altogether. That was a couple years ago,must be close to $400 now.

[shadow460]

A 24" tube RCA TV. By tube, I mean vacuum tubes. When I inherited, it didn't work. Had to bring the tubes to a tube testing machine. Then we spent about $75 on replacement tubes. This was late 70s, so you do the conversion to modern dollars.

 

I betcha that 2600 looked way better on your tube TV than it does on modern TVs, though. Plus you wouldn't need a heater in the winter as long as the TV was on.

 

lol, I can't tell you how many 2600 memories I have just thinking about how all this. There were lots of times when my Daddy would get worked up about new games, play games with us, or when we'd brag to him about our high scores. Then it turns out that he was the "main" parent in our childhood. Maybe that's why I collect 2600 games, I dunno.

[Zoyx]

Nope, the vacumm tube TV only made it to the mid-80s. Ended up in dumpster. I think I have a polaroid of it around my house somewhere. The next TV was a 19" solid state. That was also a hand me down, and died quickly as well.

 

Edit: ah-ha - Here it is. That's me playing skittle tic-tac-toe. Pre-Atari days... Christmas 1974.

Edited December 14, 2008 by Zoyx

[mimo]

28" sony CRT, well I didn't get a 2600 until 3 years ago

 

Back in the day we (me and my brothers) had a bright red B+W hitaci portable tv for the ZX81.

Later we got a colour portable (another hitachi) for out Atari 400, that thing lasted for years, well after the 400, 800XL and 520ST were forgotten about.