After reading the many postings to this forum and others concerning
the poor reliability of Zenith TVs made after roughly 1992, I will
never purchase a Zenith product of any kind again. Zenith used to be
my all-time favorite brand of home-entertainment gear, but that was
when the company still handwired the sets and built them at their
suburban Chicago plant. Since Zenith was acquired by Gold Star and
moved to Korea, however, the quality of their TVs, as many people here
have stated, has deteriorated to the point where I do not and cannot
trust them any longer to build quality equipment. I had many old
Zenith TVs in the late '60s and '70s (trash day finds in my old
neighborhood in suburban Cleveland) that either worked as soon as I
brought them home and turned them on or had only minor problems; as
soon as those problems were resolved, the sets worked for quite a
while with no further troubles, but that was then, in the days when
Zenith meant quality in home entertainment. The company had a slogan
it used for many years: "The quality goes in before the name goes on."
I'm very sorry to have to say this, but since Zenith's exodus from
Franklin Park, Illinois some years ago, the company seems to have
forgotten the meaning of that slogan and that of the word "quality" as
well. I own a 1995 Zenith Sentry 2 19" color set that still works
reasonably well after eight years, but when it eventually breaks down,
I will put it out for the trash and replace it with another brand,
probably Panasonic or Sony. But never again will I put my trust in
Zenith. This company, which once was a well-respected brand of
home-entertainment equipment (remember their slogan of years past,
"the royalty of radio and television" and that instantly recognizable
crest emblem with the crown on top?), has finally, IMO, hit rock
bottom, never to be the same again.

If I decide to get another Zenith TV in the future, it will be a used
tube-type hand-wired set, made in the days when their slogan meant
something and the sets were built to last for years, and use it with a
cable box. I have two Zenith radios, one from 1951, the other from
1963, both purchased at auction on ebay, that still work well today.
(In fact, my 1963 Zenith radio looks and sounds every bit like a
console, although it is in a smaller walnut wood cabinet.) If their
TVs were still this good, Zenith would still be "the royalty of radio
and TV" today as they once were.


Jeff Strieble, WB8NHV (mailto: )
Fairport Harbor, Ohio

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:


***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite evident.
Deke

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:27:13 GMT, Deke hath writ:

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite evident.
Deke

Halliburton -- lowest bidder -- what's the surprise?

Jonesy
--
| Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | OS/2
| Gunnison, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | linux __
| 7,703' -- 2,345m | config.com | DM68mn SK

Allodoxaphobia wrote in message ...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:27:13 GMT, Deke hath writ:

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite evident.
Deke

Halliburton -- lowest bidder -- what's the surprise?

Jonesy


I don't think my "rant" was misplaced. Many other people before me
on this forum (and elsewhere on the Internet) have complained about
the poor quality of today's Zenith TVs since the company's
manufacturing plant left Chicago and was acquired by the Korean
electronics firm Gold Star. Given the number of problems reported with
Zenith TVs from 1992 to the present (not to mention the recall of
Zenith rear-projection TVs for coolant leakage a few months back, et
al.), I can only conclude that their disdain with the company's
products is justified.

I am well aware that the Zenith name is now appearing on TV sets
manufactured by Gold Star, which, as one person so accurately noted
here, has no connection, affiliation, etc. whatever with the former
Zenith Electronics Corporation of Chicago. I am also aware of the fact
that Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, etc., as I (and everyone else) once knew
them, have ceased to exist. I am not wishing for a return to the "old
days" when Zenith, RCA, etc. were respected names in home
entertainment; I realize that is impossible. I am basically only
agreeing, however, with what others have said regarding the poor
quality of today's televisions bearing the lightning-bolt "Z" Zenith
emblem or RCAs bearing that company's stylized logo. I once read a
post to a newsgroup in which the poster said these logos were only
marketing symbols today, meaning virtually nothing. I am inclined to
agree with that sentiment one hundred percent. (I own an RCA 19"
XL-100 TV which has been repaired twice for the same problem--and
still has a problem with the signal processor IC--since I purchased it
new in 1999, so I am indeed aware of the drop in quality of this brand
as well. However, I intend to keep my set as long as it works on a
cable box, as I have purchased a 3-year service contract on the set. I
read somewhere, either here or in another newsgroup, that the RCA
CTC-185 chassis, which is used in my set, was one of the last RCA
chassis to be manufactured in the United States, which is yet another
reason I intend to hold on to it.)

Note as well that Hitachi TVs, especially projection and/or
high-definition sets, are now or soon will be manufactured by
"Zenith", again as I recently read in a post to a newsgroup on the
subject.

"Rebranding" of TV sets is not new; it's been going on for years. I
once had a Sears Silvertone round-tube 21" color set that, I found out
some time later, was actually manufactured by a company known as
Warwick Electronics, although the set's chassis had a striking
resemblance to RCA's CTC-15. The chassis was put in a heavy metal
cabinet (the thing weighed a ton) with the Silvertone name on it (the
nameplate was fitted in a rectangular hole above the channel selector
knob; this hole could have been used for an illuminated channel window
in other models of the same set, using the same type of cabinet) and
sold by Sears and Roebuck in the early '60s. I also owned a small 12"
monochrome portable TV in the mid-'70s which was made by a company,
now defunct for over 20 years, called Broadmoor, and rebranded as
"Kenco", the name of a retail store chain which has also been out of
business well over two decades. The TV was made very cheaply and only
lasted three years. This set was replaced in 1977 by a 1968 Zenith
Space Command "300" 19-incher (trash-day find), which worked well;
however, I discarded it when, after only about a year or so, the
horizontal output tube went gassy (couldn't find a replacement
locally, as vacuum tubes, especially large power tubes, were becoming
very expensive by this time).

I replaced the SC300 in 1978 with a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w
portable that lasted 22 years, never giving me five minutes worth of
trouble. I left this out of my last post; however, it was the basis
for my remark stating that if I should decide to get another Zenith
color set, it would be a used one of 1970s vintage (or any year before
they went to circuit modules).

I will, however, stand by my previous statement that I will never
again put my trust in Zenith, as far as their new televisions go.
Again, I do not feel I was "ranting" when I said this in my previous
post. My feelings regarding the quality of today's new, shall we say
faux "Zenith", "RCA", etc. televisions are shared by many other
people, including those who make their livings repairing TV sets, so I
am not saying anything here that has not been said before.


BTW, I didn't see this morning's news on NBC, so I missed seeing the
pictures of Saddam's capture on Zenith plasma sets. It's interesting
to me why NBC, which is owned by GE, would use another manufacturer's
TV sets as monitors, and show them nationally to boot. Seems to me
like a rather poor way to promote the network.


BTW (2): If I should someday get a widescreen TV, it won't be a
plasma set, but likely an LCD. I have done some research into the pros
and cons of plasma vs. LCD displays, and have learned that LCDs last
longer than plasma panels; moreover, plasma sets are prone to image
burn-in if a static image is left on the screen for any length of
time, whereas LCDs are more or less immune to the problem.

..


"Jeff Strieble" wrote in message
om...
Allodoxaphobia wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:27:13 GMT, Deke hath writ:

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought
against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being
shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite
evident.
Deke

Halliburton -- lowest bidder -- what's the surprise?

Jonesy


I don't think my "rant" was misplaced. Many other people before me
on this forum (and elsewhere on the Internet) have complained about
the poor quality of today's Zenith TVs since the company's
manufacturing plant left Chicago and was acquired by the Korean
electronics firm Gold Star. Given the number of problems reported with
Zenith TVs from 1992 to the present (not to mention the recall of
Zenith rear-projection TVs for coolant leakage a few months back, et
al.), I can only conclude that their disdain with the company's
products is justified.

*************Rant all you want, there are no television sets built today in
America. They may be assembled here, using foreign parts, but thats just a
marketing ploy.
Wanna buy a new TV? That TV will be made in Japan, Korea, or China.
period.


I am well aware that the Zenith name is now appearing on TV sets
manufactured by Gold Star, which, as one person so accurately noted
here, has no connection, affiliation, etc. whatever with the former
Zenith Electronics Corporation of Chicago.


******* There is no Goldstar manufacturing company. It was owned from the
git-go by a huge conglomerate called LG, and that logo, LG, now appears on
everything from cell phones to washing machines. The name Zenith also
appears on some of their products. They, LG, like many other companies,
either bought the name, or bought the company that the name was associated
with.





I am also aware of the fact
that Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, etc., as I (and everyone else) once knew
them, have ceased to exist. I am not wishing for a return to the "old
days" when Zenith, RCA, etc. were respected names in home
entertainment; I realize that is impossible. I am basically only
agreeing, however, with what others have said regarding the poor
quality of today's televisions bearing the lightning-bolt "Z" Zenith
emblem or RCAs bearing that company's stylized logo. I once read a
post to a newsgroup in which the poster said these logos were only
marketing symbols today, meaning virtually nothing. I am inclined to
agree with that sentiment one hundred percent. (I own an RCA 19"
XL-100 TV which has been repaired twice for the same problem--and
still has a problem with the signal processor IC--since I purchased it
new in 1999, so I am indeed aware of the drop in quality of this brand
as well. However, I intend to keep my set as long as it works on a
cable box, as I have purchased a 3-year service contract on the set. I
read somewhere, either here or in another newsgroup, that the RCA
CTC-185 chassis, which is used in my set, was one of the last RCA
chassis to be manufactured in the United States, which is yet another
reason I intend to hold on to it.)

Note as well that Hitachi TVs, especially projection and/or
high-definition sets, are now or soon will be manufactured by
"Zenith", again as I recently read in a post to a newsgroup on the
subject.

**********You have it backwards. Hitachi built RPTVs for LG while LG built
their own manufacturing plants. The new Zeniths are built by LG, and LG is
in negotiations to provide tubes to Hitachi.

"Rebranding" of TV sets is not new; it's been going on for years. I
once had a Sears Silvertone round-tube 21" color set that, I found out
some time later, was actually manufactured by a company known as
Warwick Electronics, although the set's chassis had a striking
resemblance to RCA's CTC-15. The chassis was put in a heavy metal
cabinet (the thing weighed a ton) with the Silvertone name on it (the
nameplate was fitted in a rectangular hole above the channel selector
knob; this hole could have been used for an illuminated channel window
in other models of the same set, using the same type of cabinet) and
sold by Sears and Roebuck in the early '60s.

**************That Silvertone you bought at Sears was actually built in
Japan, and was sold here in American for less than it cost to build. It was
the beginning of the end for American TV manufacturers





I also owned a small 12"
monochrome portable TV in the mid-'70s which was made by a company,
now defunct for over 20 years, called Broadmoor, and rebranded as
"Kenco", the name of a retail store chain which has also been out of
business well over two decades. The TV was made very cheaply and only
lasted three years. This set was replaced in 1977 by a 1968 Zenith
Space Command "300" 19-incher (trash-day find), which worked well;
however, I discarded it when, after only about a year or so, the
horizontal output tube went gassy (couldn't find a replacement
locally, as vacuum tubes, especially large power tubes, were becoming
very expensive by this time).

I replaced the SC300 in 1978 with a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w
portable that lasted 22 years, never giving me five minutes worth of
trouble. I left this out of my last post; however, it was the basis
for my remark stating that if I should decide to get another Zenith
color set, it would be a used one of 1970s vintage (or any year before
they went to circuit modules).

*************Fascinating.

I will, however, stand by my previous statement that I will never
again put my trust in Zenith, as far as their new televisions go.

**********And the present line of "Zenith" televisions are no more, no less
reliable than any other TV in its price range made off shore.

Again, I do not feel I was "ranting" when I said this in my previous
post. My feelings regarding the quality of today's new, shall we say
faux "Zenith", "RCA", etc. televisions are shared by many other
people, including those who make their livings repairing TV sets, so I
am not saying anything here that has not been said before.


BTW, I didn't see this morning's news on NBC, so I missed seeing the
pictures of Saddam's capture on Zenith plasma sets. It's interesting
to me why NBC, which is owned by GE, would use another manufacturer's
TV sets as monitors, and show them nationally to boot. Seems to me
like a rather poor way to promote the network.

**************There are no plasma TVs with the GE brand on them. Maybe
thats why they used Zeniths.



BTW (2): If I should someday get a widescreen TV, it won't be a
plasma set, but likely an LCD. I have done some research into the pros
and cons of plasma vs. LCD displays, and have learned that LCDs last
longer than plasma panels; moreover, plasma sets are prone to image
burn-in if a static image is left on the screen for any length of
time, whereas LCDs are more or less immune to the problem.

******************Fascinating.

(Jeff Strieble) wrote in message . com...
Allodoxaphobia wrote in message ...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:27:13 GMT, Deke hath writ:

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite evident.
Deke

Halliburton -- lowest bidder -- what's the surprise?

Jonesy


I don't think my "rant" was misplaced. Many other people before me
on this forum (and elsewhere on the Internet) have complained about
the poor quality of today's Zenith TVs since the company's
manufacturing plant left Chicago and was acquired by the Korean
electronics firm Gold Star. Given the number of problems reported with
Zenith TVs from 1992 to the present (not to mention the recall of
Zenith rear-projection TVs for coolant leakage a few months back, et
al.), I can only conclude that their disdain with the company's
products is justified.

I am well aware that the Zenith name is now appearing on TV sets
manufactured by Gold Star, which, as one person so accurately noted
here, has no connection, affiliation, etc. whatever with the former
Zenith Electronics Corporation of Chicago. I am also aware of the fact
that Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, etc., as I (and everyone else) once knew
them, have ceased to exist. I am not wishing for a return to the "old
days" when Zenith, RCA, etc. were respected names in home
entertainment; I realize that is impossible. I am basically only
agreeing, however, with what others have said regarding the poor
quality of today's televisions bearing the lightning-bolt "Z" Zenith
emblem or RCAs bearing that company's stylized logo. I once read a
post to a newsgroup in which the poster said these logos were only
marketing symbols today, meaning virtually nothing. I am inclined to
agree with that sentiment one hundred percent. (I own an RCA 19"
XL-100 TV which has been repaired twice for the same problem--and
still has a problem with the signal processor IC--since I purchased it
new in 1999, so I am indeed aware of the drop in quality of this brand
as well. However, I intend to keep my set as long as it works on a
cable box, as I have purchased a 3-year service contract on the set. I
read somewhere, either here or in another newsgroup, that the RCA
CTC-185 chassis, which is used in my set, was one of the last RCA
chassis to be manufactured in the United States, which is yet another
reason I intend to hold on to it.)

Note as well that Hitachi TVs, especially projection and/or
high-definition sets, are now or soon will be manufactured by
"Zenith", again as I recently read in a post to a newsgroup on the
subject.

"Rebranding" of TV sets is not new; it's been going on for years. I
once had a Sears Silvertone round-tube 21" color set that, I found out
some time later, was actually manufactured by a company known as
Warwick Electronics, although the set's chassis had a striking
resemblance to RCA's CTC-15. The chassis was put in a heavy metal
cabinet (the thing weighed a ton) with the Silvertone name on it (the
nameplate was fitted in a rectangular hole above the channel selector
knob; this hole could have been used for an illuminated channel window
in other models of the same set, using the same type of cabinet) and
sold by Sears and Roebuck in the early '60s. I also owned a small 12"
monochrome portable TV in the mid-'70s which was made by a company,
now defunct for over 20 years, called Broadmoor, and rebranded as
"Kenco", the name of a retail store chain which has also been out of
business well over two decades. The TV was made very cheaply and only
lasted three years. This set was replaced in 1977 by a 1968 Zenith
Space Command "300" 19-incher (trash-day find), which worked well;
however, I discarded it when, after only about a year or so, the
horizontal output tube went gassy (couldn't find a replacement
locally, as vacuum tubes, especially large power tubes, were becoming
very expensive by this time).

I replaced the SC300 in 1978 with a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w
portable that lasted 22 years, never giving me five minutes worth of
trouble. I left this out of my last post; however, it was the basis
for my remark stating that if I should decide to get another Zenith
color set, it would be a used one of 1970s vintage (or any year before
they went to circuit modules).

I will, however, stand by my previous statement that I will never
again put my trust in Zenith, as far as their new televisions go.
Again, I do not feel I was "ranting" when I said this in my previous
post. My feelings regarding the quality of today's new, shall we say
faux "Zenith", "RCA", etc. televisions are shared by many other
people, including those who make their livings repairing TV sets, so I
am not saying anything here that has not been said before.


BTW, I didn't see this morning's news on NBC, so I missed seeing the
pictures of Saddam's capture on Zenith plasma sets. It's interesting
to me why NBC, which is owned by GE, would use another manufacturer's
TV sets as monitors, and show them nationally to boot. Seems to me
like a rather poor way to promote the network.


BTW (2): If I should someday get a widescreen TV, it won't be a
plasma set, but likely an LCD. I have done some research into the pros
and cons of plasma vs. LCD displays, and have learned that LCDs last
longer than plasma panels; moreover, plasma sets are prone to image
burn-in if a static image is left on the screen for any length of
time, whereas LCDs are more or less immune to the problem.


Jeff, NBC is owned by GE but the GEname on television sets is owned by
Thomson of France. The same company that owns RCA. You wont find GE
on a plasma set because it is the low end brand for Thomson. Zenith
has not totally disappeared. Yes it is wholly owned by LG but many of
the sales and marketing personel were moved to Lincolnshire Illinois
along with the HDTV group. Engineering and design is dead, all done
now in Korea. The old zenith plant in Reynosa Mexico is still
operating producing LG designed sets with the zenith name.
LG stands for Lucky Goldstar. Lucky is a cheap brand of television
sold throughout Asia and the Goldstar brand was marketed in the U.S.
Note they are no longer sold under that name because of the low
quality that name inferred.

In case you were wondering, the low quality Zenith stuff was that which was
produced by Zenith post 1992 until the final bankrupcty restructuring and
buy out by LG Electronics in late 1997. After the buyout the quality of the
tv sets went up considerably, no more bad Zenith picture tubes made in the
USA. They initially started buying Thomson made tubes for the tv sets.

So basically the pre 1990 Zenith was the somewhat better stuff, post 1990
Zenith was going downhill and the quality problems continued to mount until
they finally had to sell out to LG.

They are now just about average like most other names out there, who knows
what is actually inside the set and who made the tv. I see Thomson just
signed a contract with a Chinese manufacture to produce almost all low end
analog tv sets for them.

David

Jeff Strieble wrote in message
om...
Allodoxaphobia wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:27:13 GMT, Deke hath writ:

"John Del" wrote in message
...
Subject: Won't buy another new Zenith
From: (Jeff Strieble)
Date: 12/13/03 10:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

***snipped rant***

Your rant is misplaced Jeff. Zenith as you knew it long gone, no one
remains.
The name Zenith along with so many others appears on products with no
connection to the past companies whatsoever.

Zenith was the very last American manufacturer, and bravely fought
against
the
illegal dumping the Japanese practiced during the 70s and 80s.
Ironically, the
Japanese now are facing the same threat to their manufacturing by the
Chinese.

John Del
Wolcott, CT

Well said. Ironic that all the pictures this morning of Saddam, being
shown
on NBC, are being shown on a Zenith plasma. The big Z is quite
evident.
Deke

Halliburton -- lowest bidder -- what's the surprise?

Jonesy


I don't think my "rant" was misplaced. Many other people before me
on this forum (and elsewhere on the Internet) have complained about
the poor quality of today's Zenith TVs since the company's
manufacturing plant left Chicago and was acquired by the Korean
electronics firm Gold Star. Given the number of problems reported with
Zenith TVs from 1992 to the present (not to mention the recall of
Zenith rear-projection TVs for coolant leakage a few months back, et
al.), I can only conclude that their disdain with the company's
products is justified.

I am well aware that the Zenith name is now appearing on TV sets
manufactured by Gold Star, which, as one person so accurately noted
here, has no connection, affiliation, etc. whatever with the former
Zenith Electronics Corporation of Chicago. I am also aware of the fact
that Zenith, RCA, Magnavox, etc., as I (and everyone else) once knew
them, have ceased to exist. I am not wishing for a return to the "old
days" when Zenith, RCA, etc. were respected names in home
entertainment; I realize that is impossible. I am basically only
agreeing, however, with what others have said regarding the poor
quality of today's televisions bearing the lightning-bolt "Z" Zenith
emblem or RCAs bearing that company's stylized logo. I once read a
post to a newsgroup in which the poster said these logos were only
marketing symbols today, meaning virtually nothing. I am inclined to
agree with that sentiment one hundred percent. (I own an RCA 19"
XL-100 TV which has been repaired twice for the same problem--and
still has a problem with the signal processor IC--since I purchased it
new in 1999, so I am indeed aware of the drop in quality of this brand
as well. However, I intend to keep my set as long as it works on a
cable box, as I have purchased a 3-year service contract on the set. I
read somewhere, either here or in another newsgroup, that the RCA
CTC-185 chassis, which is used in my set, was one of the last RCA
chassis to be manufactured in the United States, which is yet another
reason I intend to hold on to it.)

Note as well that Hitachi TVs, especially projection and/or
high-definition sets, are now or soon will be manufactured by
"Zenith", again as I recently read in a post to a newsgroup on the
subject.

"Rebranding" of TV sets is not new; it's been going on for years. I
once had a Sears Silvertone round-tube 21" color set that, I found out
some time later, was actually manufactured by a company known as
Warwick Electronics, although the set's chassis had a striking
resemblance to RCA's CTC-15. The chassis was put in a heavy metal
cabinet (the thing weighed a ton) with the Silvertone name on it (the
nameplate was fitted in a rectangular hole above the channel selector
knob; this hole could have been used for an illuminated channel window
in other models of the same set, using the same type of cabinet) and
sold by Sears and Roebuck in the early '60s. I also owned a small 12"
monochrome portable TV in the mid-'70s which was made by a company,
now defunct for over 20 years, called Broadmoor, and rebranded as
"Kenco", the name of a retail store chain which has also been out of
business well over two decades. The TV was made very cheaply and only
lasted three years. This set was replaced in 1977 by a 1968 Zenith
Space Command "300" 19-incher (trash-day find), which worked well;
however, I discarded it when, after only about a year or so, the
horizontal output tube went gassy (couldn't find a replacement
locally, as vacuum tubes, especially large power tubes, were becoming
very expensive by this time).

I replaced the SC300 in 1978 with a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w
portable that lasted 22 years, never giving me five minutes worth of
trouble. I left this out of my last post; however, it was the basis
for my remark stating that if I should decide to get another Zenith
color set, it would be a used one of 1970s vintage (or any year before
they went to circuit modules).

I will, however, stand by my previous statement that I will never
again put my trust in Zenith, as far as their new televisions go.
Again, I do not feel I was "ranting" when I said this in my previous
post. My feelings regarding the quality of today's new, shall we say
faux "Zenith", "RCA", etc. televisions are shared by many other
people, including those who make their livings repairing TV sets, so I
am not saying anything here that has not been said before.


BTW, I didn't see this morning's news on NBC, so I missed seeing the
pictures of Saddam's capture on Zenith plasma sets. It's interesting
to me why NBC, which is owned by GE, would use another manufacturer's
TV sets as monitors, and show them nationally to boot. Seems to me
like a rather poor way to promote the network.


BTW (2): If I should someday get a widescreen TV, it won't be a
plasma set, but likely an LCD. I have done some research into the pros
and cons of plasma vs. LCD displays, and have learned that LCDs last
longer than plasma panels; moreover, plasma sets are prone to image
burn-in if a static image is left on the screen for any length of
time, whereas LCDs are more or less immune to the problem.

The quality goes in, the name goes on...and the red goes blurry shortly
thereafter.

In all seriousness, Trash Day has caused me to lose much respect for
Zenith. (My bro and I have only started 'trashing' in my neighborhood
this summer, as a fun and slightly profitable racket of picking up
electronics with no or minor faults, fixing them if applicable, then
selling them or giving away to friends...but that's been time enough to
draw some conclusions on Zenith...)

Our family had one since sometime in the '70s, in fact predating me,
that gave us years of trouble-free service. When it finally gave up the
ghost, the picture [when it had a picture--see next sentence] was still
crystal clear. (looking back, it was almost certainly a cold solder
joint, but I was too young to know this or attempt a fix at the time,
and my folks had gotten tired of whacking the TV to get the picture back :-)

However, EVERY Zenith we've picked up on the curbside--none of them that
old (mid-90s and newer)--has had a weak / dying picture tube. It's
always the same--turn it on, hear the familiar flyback sounds (yay, HOT
and flyback are probably OK), see a picture start to come up.... and
wait for the set to warm up and go into focus, but it never does. One
color (typically red) saturating wherever that color appears on screen,
producing a big blurry halo, often accompanied by ghosts and jailbars.
Every nifty feature imaginable, but none of them worth using because the
picture quality is so poor. People toss them because the CRT goes bad
before the electronics can.

Well, there's my rant for the day.

We still have two vintage Zenith televisions that are in perfect working
condition. The first is a 19" "portable" that was purchased in 1982. The
second, a series 3 25" oak console unit that was purchased in 1983. Both
have seen regular use since they were purchased. No electrical repairs to
either set in the 20+ years we have owned them. We also have a 13" Zenith
System 3 that was purchased in 1987 that is also still working well and has
not seen any repairs either.

Add to that two vintage VCRs (1985 and about 1990) which I've needed to
replace belts on and do minor repairs to the mechanical threading mechanism.
Yes, Zenith made some great stuff in the good old days. As you can see, we
were sold on them and bought nothing else ... a real Zenith family!
Unfortunately, the product went down hill after that and I saw this
firsthand with brothers and sisters TVs purchased in the mid-90's that had
the picture tube problems. At this point we opted for Hitachi, Toshiba, and
Sony products, which also have served us well to date (but only time will
tell).

Bob
"Bill Webb" wrote in message
k.net...
Our family had one since sometime in the '70s, in fact predating me,
that gave us years of trouble-free service. When it finally gave up the
ghost, the picture [when it had a picture--see next sentence] was still
crystal clear. (looking back, it was almost certainly a cold solder
joint, but I was too young to know this or attempt a fix at the time,
and my folks had gotten tired of whacking the TV to get the picture back
:-)

Jeff, NBC is owned by GE but the GEname on television sets is owned by
Thomson of France. The same company that owns RCA. You wont find GE
on a plasma set because it is the low end brand for Thomson. Zenith
has not totally disappeared. Yes it is wholly owned by LG but many of
the sales and marketing personel were moved to Lincolnshire Illinois
along with the HDTV group. Engineering and design is dead, all done
now in Korea. The old zenith plant in Reynosa Mexico is still
operating producing LG designed sets with the zenith name.
LG stands for Lucky Goldstar. Lucky is a cheap brand of television
sold throughout Asia and the Goldstar brand was marketed in the U.S.
Note they are no longer sold under that name because of the low
quality that name inferred.


If engineering and design is dead, then the company is dead. Sales and
marketing is just the bull**** artist section of any company.

I work for a company that recycles TV sets - aka people donate their
stuff to us (for a tax credit) and we make repairs. This is a non
profit company up in Northern VT. I have 2 rules to keep the
electronics department afloat

1- no Zenith
2- No VCR's

The Zeniths we get are terrible. People hand them over to us in
frustration, and I just gut them and trash them since they are not
even worth my time. I feel bad for these sets- because they have a
predestiny to be trash. They are trash when they are sold, and they
get donated to me shortly after only to return into the trash.

Beware the Zenith TV/VCR combo..... -Tim

www.recyclenorth.org






"Bob Shuman" wrote in message ...
We still have two vintage Zenith televisions that are in perfect working
condition. The first is a 19" "portable" that was purchased in 1982. The
second, a series 3 25" oak console unit that was purchased in 1983. Both
have seen regular use since they were purchased. No electrical repairs to
either set in the 20+ years we have owned them. We also have a 13" Zenith
System 3 that was purchased in 1987 that is also still working well and has
not seen any repairs either.

Add to that two vintage VCRs (1985 and about 1990) which I've needed to
replace belts on and do minor repairs to the mechanical threading mechanism.
Yes, Zenith made some great stuff in the good old days. As you can see, we
were sold on them and bought nothing else ... a real Zenith family!
Unfortunately, the product went down hill after that and I saw this
firsthand with brothers and sisters TVs purchased in the mid-90's that had
the picture tube problems. At this point we opted for Hitachi, Toshiba, and
Sony products, which also have served us well to date (but only time will
tell).

Bob
"Bill Webb" wrote in message
k.net...
Our family had one since sometime in the '70s, in fact predating me,
that gave us years of trouble-free service. When it finally gave up the
ghost, the picture [when it had a picture--see next sentence] was still
crystal clear. (looking back, it was almost certainly a cold solder
joint, but I was too young to know this or attempt a fix at the time,
and my folks had gotten tired of whacking the TV to get the picture back
:-)

Beware the Zenith TV/VCR combo.

Of course Zenith never built a combo, they are either Orion or Funai depending
on where ya buy them. You can't fault Zenith for the combos, every name from
Admiral to Zenith has a Chinese combo that isn't even distantly related to the
actual company, but it is a shame what Zenith did become. I was selling new
Zeniths back in 1983 and could wholeheartedly say "these are fantastic sets"
but by 1992 I was ashamed to sell them, and that was before all the tubes went
bad.
Ron