# The cost of TVs: Then and now



## oposky2006 (Jan 4, 2010)

I was reading an article on TV prices through the years, from the 1930s to present day, and it's mighty interesting how prices have changed.

For instance, in 1939, a 12-inch RCA Victor cost $600, which is about $9,200 in 2008 dollars:


Then, in 1948, the "large" 20-inch Du Mont was released for $2,495. That's $22,000 in 2008 dollars:


In 1992, Philco released a 35-inch color TV priced at $2,300, which is close to $3,500 in 2008 dollars.


I know we have some older members here who have gone through the age of black-and-white, the emergence of color, the arrival of HDTV, and soon the widespread introduction to 3DTV.

Do you guys remember how much you spent on your first TV sets? What brands they were? What bells and whistles they had?

I was about 10 years old when my parents bought me my first TV, which was about 13 inches and an RCA. I remember watching a baseball game and eating Ritz Crackers to break it in. I reckon he spent about $400 on it. That's close to $600 in 2008 dollars.


----------



## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

The first projection TV sold on the consumer market was the Advent 1000 back in 1974. IIRC the price was about $7000, which would be over $30,000 in today's $. I have to chuckle when I see people lament the high price of some products. We have been spoiled by the constantly dropping prices in television.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

When I was growing up all we had in our house was a 13" black and white Television. My Parents bought our first 21" color TV in 1978 and if I remember correctly it cost them $900 and is still in use today at there house:unbelievable:.
My first TV I bought was a Yamaha 29" monitor in 1988 for $1200 it had a fantastic picture until the flyback transformer died in 2003.

On a side note: The thing I still cant get over was how much my parents payed for our first computer the Apple IIe it cost them $3200 Just think what kind of a PC you can get for that money today! My Amiga 4000 with Video editing hardware that I still have today cost me $2200 in 1992


----------



## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

It wasn't that long ago when a CRT widescreen Tv's cost a fortune..

I bought one of the first Philips 32" widescreen TV's that were imported to Aus.about 8 years ago..
It was at a time when TV manufacturers were competing against each other, as to who could fit the most features onto a TV!! 
This set had full surround sound with rear speakers supplied..a built in sub-woofer..PIP..Freeze frame etc. etc...It took 20mins to run through the demo program, just to list all the features!!

That set cost me $6000.00 AUD!!:unbelievable:
I shudder every time I think about it..:thud:


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

The first TV I bought with my own money was a 32" Goldstar CRT back in '86 (or was it a 27" hmmm...). Seems like it was $899, I returned it within weeks. The second was a 19" Mitsubishi CRT for $398 (this was a great little TV).


----------



## mikeb (Oct 22, 2006)

In 1979 we gave $1400 for a 25" RCA Colortrak special addition that the oak cabinet was actually oval :gulp:. At the same time we also gave $925 for our first top load RCA VCR and we were giving $26.95 for blank tapes :yikes:. At that price we always used the 6 hour recording speed :T


----------

