Originally Posted by
jperryss
Just like with cars, there is a market for original/unrestored, restored to factory spec, AND upgraded/restomodded examples. A properly-done console mod will always increase the value for the right buyer, and there are plenty of those right buyers on eBay and in gaming groups.
CRTs can be a big hassle for people that want a decent gaming experience. An unmodded NES looks and play like butt on a modern display, but good CRTs are inconvenient and difficult to find compared to even five years ago. They are heavy and ugly, and many of them have burn-in or worn tubes that cannot be restored. CRTs require a dedicated space for classic gaming since you can't or wouldn't want to connect anything modern to it. Modern TV stands aren't designed for CRTs, so even if you find one strong enough, any CRT over 20" diagonal will hang off of the back. You can't put unshielded speakers close to a CRT without causing purity issues. Unless you're using a pro monitor like a PVM/BVM, adjusting things like geometry and convergence is a big hassle. And what do you do when your CRT stops working? Nobody repairs them anymore. I'm in MA and the closest reputable CRT shop is 5 hours away in NY. I can't exactly throw it in a box and ship it out to be repaired.
Get a modern TV set up the way you want it, and you'll likely have many trouble-free years of use. Have a CRT professionally calibrated and within 5 years you'll start seeing edge and corner geometry problems as the caps gradually drift out of spec.
My 28" RGB CRT monitor is basically new and was just pulled out of its original packaging last year. The picture on this tube rivals the best NOS arcade monitors that I've used, and it accepts RGB SCART input. It'd be foolish to suffer with composite just because that is the best that Nintendo offered 30+ years ago, so I standardized all of my consoles with RGB output. Even if my CRT released its factory-installed smoke tomorrow, I still enjoy the benefits of those upgrades because I've simplified the process of integrating an OSSC and moving everything to my OLED. And if I eventually cheese out and just decide to go with emulation, I could easily sell and recoup my original investment on every one of these mods.
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