Sony PVM 3230?

[mjkerpan]

I have stumbled into a chance to pickup a couple of 32 inch Sony PVMs for nothing more than the cost of bribing some friends to help me move them. Apparently, they are low hour units that were used as presentation monitors in an architectural practice and were taken out of service when big LCDs came onto the market. Are there any ticking timebombs with these? Do they have a service menu to fix geometry with or do I need to open the back and use pots? How is the composite decoding? (for Gamecube)

[vinnyguy]

Well if you're only paying the cost to pick them up then go ahead and pick them up. My first thought. Even if they're ticking time bombs they'll only kill them selves, not take you with them.
I'd pick them up, where abouts are they located? Midwest?
I don't know anything about the pvm3230, but my guess is that it is a larger version of the pvm2530 and nothing more. I owned a pvm 2530 and it was an excellent set.

[FinalBaton]

If they're free then I would definitly look into them as well.

Be warned that they won't exactly approach BVM quality(but that's not necessarily a bad thing, some people prefer that look), since they have a rather low TVL count, and the color reproduction is not as precise. I briefly had a PVM-2030 and I can confirm this. It still looked beautiful though! For a professional CRT they have a rather rough looking grille, but they still look a good cut above a consumer CRT. You just gotta be aware that 650 TVL for a 32" inch tube is on the low side, so that you know what knid of picture to expect.

As for as fixing the geometry : from what I could gather, everything (or close to) can be fixed by tweaking pots on the board that's on the side of the tube, under the casing. But then again I might be wrong. Phonedork has a vid about the 2530 and he speaks briefly about fixing the geometry :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmVE-S8L774

[mvsfan]

also whats nice about the 3230 is that it has regular bnc connectors instead of the 25 pin port. although for a while there i had several of those cables.

also, the 3230 is old. it may need some adjustment, and/or some new caps.

I agree about the 650TVL. its kind of low for the big screen size.

I have a 36" consumer tv that has 800 TVL.

Make sure you buy your friends some pizza afterwards. Sonys ARE VERY HEAVY. The last time i moved i had someone else move my sony and they got food afterwards.

[daskrabs]

Do they have a service menu to fix geometry with or do I need to open the back and use pots? How is the composite decoding? (for Gamecube)

No service menu. You have to adjust pots on the side after removing the back casing. Composite performance is mediocre. The mono PVM's are much better at decoding composite. But those don't come this big, and are not stereo. This model, like a few other similar ones, has a built-in stereo amp that sounds great, and speaker terminals. I love mine. RGB looks amazing, as does component and S-video. It's my primary console display. I'll never give it up. Highly recommended. Also, they're rare as hens teeth. They cost ~$10,000 new in 1990.

[tacoguy64]

There's another one in Detroit but is being sold for $650.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/vgm/5561026746.html

I haven't heard of this monitor before i saw it on this ad but looks like a bigger pvm 2530 which that link above shows you how nice those look.

[DragonmasterDan]

I have stumbled into a chance to pickup a couple of 32 inch Sony PVMs for nothing more than the cost of bribing some friends to help me move them. Apparently, they are low hour units that were used as presentation monitors in an architectural practice and were taken out of service when big LCDs came onto the market. Are there any ticking timebombs with these? Do they have a service menu to fix geometry with or do I need to open the back and use pots? How is the composite decoding? (for Gamecube)

I have a 3230. The only problem I've had is the internal audio amp died and I had to buy an external lepay amp for sound. Beyond that the geometry has been perfect. It's nice for using svideo as well, so for GameCube that's the way to go.

[KOF]

Looking to get one of these if you ever did pick them up and now you may sell one.