5 replies to this topic

[dave4shmups]

I'd love to get a Vectrex, but the fact that the vector monitor is built in concerns me, because I'd like to get one used, and I don't know how much life (so to speak) those monitors have in them. And I don't have the technical skills to replace one.

[Seob]

Quote

because I'd like to get one used

Where would you buy a new one then?
Think the screen has a pretty solid life span. Most vectrexs die because of bad capacitors.

[save2600]

I'd be more worried about the laser burning out, power supply blowing up or chips desoldering themselves in a modern game system than a Vectrex X-Y monitor going bad.

[potatohead]

Those things are going to have a very long life. The video drive circuits will likely need some service before the CRT becomes unusable. Really, the failure points are the heater filament, breakage of the crt itself and the phosphor screen.

Breaking the CRT isn't likely to happen, unless the device is handled poorly. The filament has a very long life. Many CRT televisions made in the 60's are still operating, as are o-scope CRT's.

The screen could see some damage when it's driven really bright for extended periods of time. Failed video circuits could cause this too, drawing on some of the screen with too much energy. A no-display region, or dim display region, like a dot in the center, or where the score is displayed are likely failures.

All of those are avoided by exercising reasonable care for the device.

A vector display just isn't all that complex. All mature tech. Fairly easily serviced too, minus finding a replacement CRT. Not sure those are going to be easy to find. Somebody here can comment on that.

Short story? Do it. The things are great, and I totally second the failures cited for modern systems. Those happen all the time.

[dave4shmups]

potatohead, on Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:53 PM, said:

Those things are going to have a very long life. The video drive circuits will likely need some service before the CRT becomes unusable. Really, the failure points are the heater filament, breakage of the crt itself and the phosphor screen.

Breaking the CRT isn't likely to happen, unless the device is handled poorly. The filament has a very long life. Many CRT televisions made in the 60's are still operating, as are o-scope CRT's.

The screen could see some damage when it's driven really bright for extended periods of time. Failed video circuits could cause this too, drawing on some of the screen with too much energy. A no-display region, or dim display region, like a dot in the center, or where the score is displayed are likely failures.

All of those are avoided by exercising reasonable care for the device.

A vector display just isn't all that complex. All mature tech. Fairly easily serviced too, minus finding a replacement CRT. Not sure those are going to be easy to find. Somebody here can comment on that.

Short story? Do it. The things are great, and I totally second the failures cited for modern systems. Those happen all the time.

Yeah, I'm totally aware of the failure rate of modern consoles, and (aside from Nintendo) it's creepy. OK, well thanks then!

[Uzumaki]

The big concern with Vectrex is the long discontinued dual op amp chip used to drive X and Y deflection on the CRT. It's under-rated for current Vectrex. Originally Vectrex was going to have a much smaller CRT but MB demanded bigger CRT and the part wasn't upgraded for larger CRT. If the chip blows, good luck finding replacement It may be possible to grab a higher rated op amp chip that has similar characteristic but you'd need to either modify existing board or build a socket adapter to mount new chip as it's likely the replacement would have different pin outs.