Durabrand DTV1307A 13" TV

[radiotvnut]

Normally, I don't even bother with these later black and silver plastic CRT TVs, but I noticed that this TV, from March 2007, has a built-in DTV tuner. So, I decided to buy it. Durabrand was a Walmart house brand and I'm pretty sure this set was built by Orion.

The TV works fine, but unfortunately, the original remote was nowhere to be found at the estate sale and I need the remote to set the aspect ratio (I don't like the black borders at the top and bottom of the picture). I ordered a remote off of Ebay, and it was more expensive than what I paid for the TV.

At the estate sale where I found this set, there were a few other sets, but I didn't bother with them. There was a well-kept 25" RCA console from the mid '90s and I think it was the one with the tuner ground issues. They had $20 on it, but I feel like I could have probably gotten it for nothing. At the time, I had no way to get it home and nowhere to put it, had I been able to get it here.

There was also a 19" Memorex that looked like a re-badged Funai, and another 13" Orion/Funai set. However, both were too old for a DTV tuner.

There was also an older large flat screen that they had $50 on and the guy running the sale was shocked that nobody had bought it. I know the guy and I explained to him that 30 years ago, I could sell any kind of TV that worked. However, today, people want the biggest and the newest, and they want it for nothing.

I find it comical, when I see 10-15 year-old TVs on Facebook Marketplace and they are priced just about as high as what I can buy a new set today for.

I also find it comical, when I hear of these people getting on Ebay and buying these overpriced "retro gaming" BPC/SPC sets. I might could understand it, if they were a true vintage set. However, these later generic CRT sets are usually still easy to find for cheap or free. With that said, anyone getting on Ebay and paying $200 for a 13" BPC set is just too lazy to get out and look for a TV and they have more money than sense.

In another 10-15 years, I feel like these later CRT sets will be hard to find, just like sets such as Zenith 4-tube hybrid and CC2 sets are harder to find today, but back in the '90s, they were everywhere.

As far as later CRT sets, I believe that starting in March 2007, any set 13" and larger had to come with a built-in DTV tuner. I think by about 2011, there were no more CRT sets being made for the USA market. I believe it was around 2011, when I went in Walmart, and they had a pile of 27" Sansui CRT sets that they were blowing out in clearance, but everything else was flat screen.

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

In another 10-15 years, I feel like these later CRT sets will be hard to find, just like sets such as Zenith 4-tube hybrid and CC2 sets are harder to find today, but back in the '90s, they were everywhere.

As far as later CRT sets, I believe that starting in March 2007, any set 13" and larger had to come with a built-in DTV tuner. I think by about 2011, there were no more CRT sets being made for the USA market. I believe it was around 2011, when I went in Walmart, and they had a pile of 27" Sansui CRT sets that they were blowing out in clearance, but everything else was flat screen.

Agree 100%.

That set you picked up is an Orion, much higher quality than the Funai sets that were being sold around the same time (IMO)

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by dishdude

Agree 100%.

That set you picked up is an Orion, much higher quality than the Funai sets that were being sold around the same time (IMO)

There was a 20" SPC Durabrand set and I don't know who made it, except that it was made in China. I've had several of them and they had the worst picture that I've ever seen on a color TV. I've had well-used tube sets from the '60s that looked better than this thing. These sets used a Hitachi jug and the board used thru-hole ICs, which was strange for the time period.

There was a 13" version of that set that was in an identically-styled cabinet, but it was made by Orion and had a much better picture. Funai turned into basically BOTL junk.