best buy and Hitach....... up yours

[pikehunter]

I'm happy with my CRT TV's and hope they keep on going, knock on wood. I haven't seen much on the TV that is worth spending that kind of money on that everyone is talking about. It's bad enough paying the cable bill!

 

$500 bucks just for a bulb! WOW! I was in the Home Depot in Bronte just before XMas. Right inside the front door was a pallet of 27" TV's for $99 bucks each! I will continue to ignore the newer technology as long as possible. For 99 bucks you don't even need to concern yourself with an extended warranty! I have an Aunt and Uncle that may have the best solution...not even one TV in the house!

 

Best of luck on finding a cheap replacement bulb.

[supernaut]

I've had my 40" LCD Samsung for over a year now without any problems. I also heard that Sony and Samsung use the same components, except the casing.

[Big Cliff]

I bought a 37" LCD Acer about a year ago at the Source, $1200.00 and we love it! Our house is open concept and there is a big window with lots of light that use to reflect off our old CRT TV and at times it was hard to see the screen. The LCD doesn't have this problem at all so it was perfect for our room. My computer moniter is also an Acer LCD and again, I really like it. I have had no problems with either.

[holdfast]

Here is a helpful Link http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7813_102-0.htm...ssageID=2444309

 

But I recommend that you browse Consumer reports next time you pass by a Bookstore. I would not be too worried if I bought a Sharp, Toshiba, and Panasonic. If the manufacturer's Warranty expires less than 2 years you may want an extended. Consumers Reports doesn't recommend extended warranties because they believe with most electronics problems will occur within the first year. For newer type TVs, Check the Warranty and the Repair frequency in Consumers Reports when and if they print them. Stay away from RCA, not a good history

[PAZE]

I've had my 40" LCD Samsung for over a year now without any problems. I also heard that Sony and Samsung use the same components, except the casing.

 

Actually sony uses hitachi parts in there tv's

[Headhunter]

i refuse to even look at anything made by Sony, much less purchase it! Sony outsourced the manufacturing and assembly of their products to the lowest bidder early this decade. They are now no better than any of the other southeast Asia sweat shops manufacturing equipment for the world market.

Have you ever tried to get Sony to service their broken down pieces of junk? Good luck!

Now, not to hijack this thread, but Clampet, you need to open your ears and listen to some audio equipment make by an audio specific company, you will be amazed at what you've been missing in your music all this time.

It's like the difference between buying a Canadian Tire special rod and reel combo and buying a high end rod and reel!

HH

[Terry]

sadly enough, good ,really good audio equipment doesn't get it's moneys worth with me

 

I am tone deaf and some hearing loss from years of headphones and loud music, damn Pink Floyd for being so good

and loud , Led Zeppenlin look what you did

[shane]

HaHa! Pink Floyd and headphones....that'll do it.

[Abberz]

I feel you pain.

 

I used to work for an affiliate of best buy.....I'm sure you can guess which one. PSP is joke. Sales associates will go as far as lying to sell you on their plans. With the high turnover in retail sales the associate who sold you your Tv probably doesnt even work there anymore. They are paid 15% commission on that 500 plan and roughly 75-100 commission on the tv, therefor they can double their salary if they can get you on the PSP plan.

 

Here's the catch too, if you are a sales associate not selling PSP to 15-25 percent of your customers....GOODBYE....so thats why people lie and so on.

 

Knowing what I know now. Don't pay to fix something that isn't broke when its brand new. The $500 PSP would have paid for the new bulbs....which do go from time to time....it usually is based on usage. With electronics if they are going to have problems they usually go within the first year which is generally covered under manf. warranty.

 

Conclusion dont ever buy PSP.

[KyleM]

When I moved out west in August we purchased a 42 inch Toshiba LCD...no probs yet.

 

3 weeks ago I purchased another accept Plasma this time and it was an LG.

 

The Plasma has much better picture although it gets ghost images very easily.

 

 

They were both fairly cheap. Toshiba 1400, LG was reg 1900 and we got it for 1400.

The trick is to wait for sales, I never pay full price for anything. I also told them to shove

the 3 year deal up the ying yang.

 

The place I shop out here (Visions) has a great program.

If you purchase the extended program and never end up using it, they give you a store credit for what the program is worth.

[lunkerbasshunter]

well 30 years ago you bought a tv and it lasted 30 years lol. today you buy a tv and it lasts a few years

 

Good thing they have come down in price! however they sure dont last that long. I have a 42 inch samsung and its been great but i was warned that the bulb may go on it as well so its not just the hitachi its all of them.

 

Cheers!

[Photoz]

I bought a 34" Sony XBR in 1987 for about $4500.00 . . . the picture started to take longer & longer to get the right colour in 2002 . . . I finally had a guy come in . . . checked it out, and told me after 15 years of trouble free use, he wouldn't be puttin' out the $600.00+ to extend the life another year or 2 . . . . gimme $50.00 for the call, and go buy a new one!! I did . . . this time the 36" XBR, for about the same money . . . at The Sony Store. I was politely asked if I wanted an extended warranty . . . . I suggested if they had one for years 13, 14 & 15, I'd take it . . . . I don't think a lot of people buy extendeds on Sony? I've so far gotten 6 trouble-free years outta it! Oh yeah . . . . it came H D ready, WITH the box . . . . I haven't a clue how to hook the H D up . . . I'll bet it'll knock the socks off regular programming!

[outllaw]

i bought the sony bravia. its un compared to. matched with the theater system, hd also. believe me i have been thrilled to go lcd.

[Big Cliff]

Thought this might interest a few of you:

 

Sony Rear projection being discontinued

[Dutch]

Home theatre has been a passion of mine for going on 2 years now.

 

Ask questions before you buy - the sale associate would have probably known the PSP did not cover bulb replacement (hopefully).

 

Never, ever buy PSP - they make waaayyy too much off them for what they are worth. Every website you read says to stay away - so stay away.

 

Brings me to my next point - do your research.

 

DLP's and RP LCD's many times have a bulb setting, kind of like high, medium, low - have it set on low or medium and you will get longer bulb life.

 

Calibrate your TV - the first thing you should do is take it out of "torch mode." Reduce your contrast and brightness setting they are usually set at 100% and 75% respectively out of the box. A properly calibrated TV should be, in most cases, set at less than 50% in contrast and similar in brightness.

 

I love this stuff and read Home Theatre websites and forums daily - PM me for advice on anything HT related.

 

One last tip - DON'T buy expensive cables - they make no difference at all. The same $150 cable costs $10-$15 online.

[danc]

Never, ever buy PSP - they make waaayyy too much off them for what they are worth. Every website you read says to stay away - so stay away.

 

The only time that it's not good is when you never use it. I had my entire "light engine" replaced just over a year after my factory warranty was up. Basically, the "light engine" was the complete inside of my tv. I bought new, unproven technology when I bought my $2000.00 DLP. So I was comfortable buying the psp. And it paid off.

 

To say "Never, ever buy PSP" is just wrong. It's an insurance policy. You don't buy house insurance hoping that your house burns down and you can cash in. There's 2 ways at looking at it.

[John Bacon]

The only time that it's not good is when you never use it. I had my entire "light engine" replaced just over a year after my factory warranty was up. Basically, the "light engine" was the complete inside of my tv. I bought new, unproven technology when I bought my $2000.00 DLP. So I was comfortable buying the psp. And it paid off.

 

To say "Never, ever buy PSP" is just wrong. It's an insurance policy. You don't buy house insurance hoping that your house burns down and you can cash in. There's 2 ways at looking at it.

 

I figure that I have saved several thousand dollars by not buying extended warranties on anything that I buy. I have yet to have to replace or have anything repaired during the period that would have been covered by an extended warranty. Even if I do eventually have to replace one or two items that would have been covered by an extended warranty, I will still be ahead of the game by not having paid for extended warranties on anything that I buy.

 

The only time that an extended warranty would have come in handy is for my oven. It still works except for the self cleaning feature. I have a wife so not having the self cleaning feature really isn't that important. Certainly not worth the cost of the warranty.

 

I would say that if you never buy extended warranties will almost certainly come out ahead of the person who does buy them; even if that other person does ending up using them on a couple of purchases. This is especially true of high tech items; you will probably be able to buy something better for less money in the 2-4 year period that the extended warranty would cover.

[Dutch]

The only time that it's not good is when you never use it. I had my entire "light engine" replaced just over a year after my factory warranty was up. Basically, the "light engine" was the complete inside of my tv. I bought new, unproven technology when I bought my $2000.00 DLP. So I was comfortable buying the psp. And it paid off.

 

To say "Never, ever buy PSP" is just wrong. It's an insurance policy. You don't buy house insurance hoping that your house burns down and you can cash in. There's 2 ways at looking at it.

 

Definitely like buying insurance - who likes to throw away cash on auto insurance and house insurance each year when you never have a claim? The only difference with a PSP is that you have a choice to buy it - with home and auto it is not a choice.

 

I guess we can agree to disagree - my opinion is that in the short and long run PSP will cost you more than not buying them.

 

I always laugh when I remember the time some guy at The Source tried to sell me a PSP on a disposable $10 pack of AA batteries - that's right batteries - for the bargain basement price of $2.99.

 

The only thing about buying a PSP is you can get a lower price on your electronics purchase is you agree to buy one. Their policy states you can return the PSP within 30 days. Get the lower price and voila, money saved and refunded when you return it within the 30 days.....it's not cheating, it's just being frugal.

[danc]

I would say that if you never buy extended warranties will almost certainly come out ahead of the person who does buy them; even if that other person does ending up using them on a couple of purchases. This is especially true of high tech items; you will probably be able to buy something better for less money in the 2-4 year period that the extended warranty would cover.

 

The repair on my tv would have cost around $1500.00. I don't buy psp for everything. In fact I've only bought it for 3 things ever. Two of the three things have had to be totally replaced. I guess that I'm a smart shopper. But to say that one should never buy psp is wrong. Like anything else, you have to do your homework. I'm way ahead of the game because of it.