Philips 201B4 CRT

[Sunrise089]

In my ongoing quest to find a high-quality but cheap CRT, a good friend has offered to sell me his Philips 201B4. I looked up the display and found next to nothing, there are some sale listings (but no reviews) for the Philips 201B45, and that might be the same display. The display was barely used, under 6 months, then it was stored away. I know the guy, so I'm not worried about the condition. So is this display any good or is it simply a low quality shadow-mask CRT for offices that would be inferior to basically any new LCD on the market? Also, assuming it is decent, anyone care to offer waht they think a fair price would be. I'd be picking it up, so shipping is also a non-issue.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Gstanfor]

The B signifies it is a budget monitor from Philips. Probably uses a samsung shadow mask tube.

The P series monitors are the ones to hunt down, they have better grade electronics in them and used better tubes too (such as the no longer manufactured Mitsubishi Diamondtron).

 

[Sunrise089]

Okay, I figured the B was the normal "black" designator, but knowing that it stands for budget makes me want to avoid this one I suppose.

 

[Heartbreaker]

A friend has the 201b40. It is also not a very flat tube it is nothing special.

I have 202p4. This is a flatscreen trinitron.

 

[Witchfire]

I have been using a Philips 201B4 for over 5 years, and it has worked flawless for me. It has outlasted 5 different incarnations of my gaming rig. I've looked into replacing it with an LCD, but in my opinion, anything that would truly be an upgrade is in the $600+ range. The only downside I see with it is that it weighs about as much as a Volkswagen.