[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

It's interesting that, by the '80s, these TVs used such a small chassis in huge console cabinets. I wonder why Zenith did this in the first place; after all, it seems like an awful waste of cabinet space. Putting that tiny chassis in a portable or table model would have made more sense. Was Zenith trying to make some kind of statement, or were they just seeing if they could make a console TV with as few parts as they thought they could get away with? That this TV did not have adjustments for raster size (the optimum values may have been set by fixed resistors) should have been a dead giveaway that corners had been cut in the design of the set -- well out of character for Zenith, which for decades -- generations, even -- was known for quality in radio as well as television and high fidelity.

I don't know when Zenith stopped using their slogan "the quality goes in before the name goes on", but I certainly think they wouldn't have had any business using it after the company left the US for Korea. My own variation on that slogan is "the quality fell off the boat on the way to Korea", which, IMHO, makes more sense these days.

BTW, just because these sets had postage stamp size chassis, don't think they were as light as feathers -- I'm sure they weren't. The CRT probably weighs 30 or more pounds, and the cabinet, though made of particle board, probably weighs at least as much as the tube, if not more. I have a utility cart here (made into an entertainment center cabinet) on which my flat-screen TV, VCR and DVD sit, and I'll bet the cart was made of particle board and could weigh 20-30 pounds or more, if it weighs an ounce. Just goes to prove my point -- that even today's furniture made of particle board or pressed sawdust (!) isn't light by any stretch of the imagination. Just don't try to lift a TV in a cabinet like that yourself, unless you want a hernia or worse.

I think a lot of people still preferred the consoles so that's why you'd end up with a tiny chassis in a bog wooden case. Even today, my mother is still bummed they don't make console TV's anymore and I admit I'm kind of that way myself. IIRC, I think Zenith made consoles as late as 2002 or a little after, I remember seeing one that resemble my 1982 model. I have nothing against flatscreens, they are good for saving space, but nothing beats a console as a main set.