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Some of the higher priced tube GE color sets (19" and 23") used a real metal chassis along with circuitboards with the horiz. output, damper, flyback, power trans. etc. mounted on the chassis. These seem to be of a higher build quality than the Portacolors, b/w GE sets that have the Horiz. output on the circuitboard.
What gets me about the RCA sets is that at least on the older tube color sets they make no provisions for making chassis service easier. In order to remove the chassis you have to remove the tuner mounting panel and all the auxiliary control knobs, etc. as there are no plugs/sockets connecting the control panels to the chassis. Also there is no removeable bottom on the set, so you have to prop the chassis up and try to get the test probe or soldering iron down under there to work on it.
Those module sockets especially on RCA are a pain as they disintegrate and cause intermittents...I have soldered the modules in place to get rid of the intermittent connections.
One problem I have seen on some of the RCA and Magnavox sets is that the tube sockets sometimes disintegrate from heat. The circuitboard is OK, but some of the tube sockets use this cheap white plastic that gets destroyed by heat rather than the more heat-tolerant bakelite or phenolic.
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