Well, it looks like my 3 year-old 42" Panasonic 1080p plasma decided to stop working. When I turn it on, static flickers for 0.5 seconds before it turns off again then the power light begins blinking. I removed all devices hooked up to it so it just has power only (I should be able to navigate menus at least), but still a no-go. I tried another power cable too; also a no-go. So I'm forced to look for a TV repair place. Anyone know a place inside of 610 that's good? I can take it there, or they can come to me -- I don't care. Also, any ideas on how expensive this might be? From what I've looked up thus far, it seems like it could run up to $300 including parts and labor... that's about a third of the price of a new TV (and I'm eying one of those Quattron LED TV's). Or, better yet, anyone have any ideas I could do myself to fix this? Something I might not have done already and could test out?
TV's are getting to the point they are printers Cheaper to replace the printer than the fricking ink with TVs it is easier to replace than fix Rocket River Disposable products
That's mostly what I'm thinking. Yeah, the LED TV will consume less energy and give off less heat and I could give my sister the fixed plasma for Christmas, but I'd still be $1000 in the hole. Financially, it's better to just get it fixed.
2007 called. They want their TV pricing back. Lower-end 42-inch model LCDs (which probably have better features than a 3-year-old plasma) are hitting the $300-400 mark.
Key words are lower end, which I'm guessing the OP's TV is not. Some people will splurge for the higher end TVs, which I don't think they consider as disposable.
Don't know anything about TV repair services. But this thread made me remember TV repairmen of yesteryear. Back when TV's had tubes, the TV guy was always making house calls to repair the TV. He would pull out this big wand type thing and wave it in front of the TV, replace parts and fine tune everything. That was a big business back then. Now days, if the TV is out of warranty, people just buy a new one.
Yeah, no, not going to get a lower-end if I need to replace it. It'd likely be a Sharp Quattro 40" LED TV which is ~$1000 (on sale for $929 @ Bestbuy right now). Guess I'll call some random repair places tomorrow and see what's up.
There is no point in dropping $300 on an already worn TV when you can spend a hundred or more and replace it with a brand new TV.
A broken 3-year-old repaired TV is at best lower-end. A new lower-end tv is going to be better than his repaired, and will probably last longer. This is just the bitter pill of technology. The day after you buy something, the next best thing comes out cheaper. I hear you- you get what you pay for. I try not to skimp on electronics. If you're really hot for the Sharp, get it from Amazon for 817.90. Sign up for Amazon Prime for Students. Google how to get a .edu email and use that. Then the shipping is free. For a warranty, do Squaretrade. You're probably looking at around $100 for a 3-year, and if you google Squaretrade coupon, there are 20% off coupons floating around.
Wow. This is great advice. Lots of useful info here. (not very happy that non students get the amazon perk however, but ill let that one slide )
There's a guy I know who fixed my Hitachi 63" projection TV (RGB separate guns shooting into a mirrror) a long time ago... and he also fixed a TV/VCR combo I had in the kitchen. I'll see if I can find the dude's number... Message me through the board if you're interested. Never mind, just call. His name is Boris: 713-854-9063 - I don't know if he has the same number. I've had it in my texts for a long time.
wreck- I'm a legit student and work at UT on top of that, so I get the discount legit. But it's a good thing for Amazon all around. I shop there way more than I would due to the Prime membership. You might be able to get a warranty extension from squaretrade. Check em out.
Again the key phrase is lower end, he can pay a $100 more for a new TV but will he be happy with the quality of a lower end model? He has already said he won't go the lower end route if he's needing a new TV. That brand new lower end TV is still lower end, again is he in the market for a lower end TV? He's already said otherwise, and him exploring the repair option leads me to believe he had a higher end model that he invested good money in. That's why I questioned the disposable viewpoint, there are still higher end TVs out there that people are willing to pay for and won't easily throw away if needing repair.
A Panasonic VIERA 42" 1080p for 600 would walk all over your TV. An 800 dollar 50" version even more so.
