Sharp Aquos 20" worth repairing?
Jean S. Barto
I have a 2002-era Sharp Aquos flat-panel TV, 20” LCD screen, that died back in May. I played close to top dollar for it when I bought it. I took the set to the Sharp- recommended TV repair place, and after having it for over a month and trying a number of things, they told me that it was “beyond them” to repair it, and that if I wanted it to be repaired, that I’d have to send it out to Sharp and have them do it. It’s more than just having a fuse blown, the problem is with some other part that I don’t recall the name of right now. Naturally, this involves taking the TV to the UPS Store and having them pack it, because I don’t have a big enough box or the packing materials to pack it correctly.
This is an analog set (not HDTV), but does have the S-Video and composite video (Yb?) hookups, so I guess it’s possible to get composite video to HDTV adapters?? I never had a problem with the Sharp Aquos before it pooped out, and actually, I don’t think it was used too much or anything like that—and when you pay $1500 for something (like I did), I would have thought the TV would have kept on going for awhile longer.
I went without a TV for a month, but then bought a 19” “Element” HDTV—which I think is Circuit City’s house brand. The price was right. It works OK, but the picture on the Sharp was much better, I think. I really had to turn up the contrast and other values on the new set so as to have a decent picture (meaning, not too dark/low contrast)
So, is the Sharp set worth fixing? If not, what other brands (Sharp and others) should I consider for a 26” to 32” HDTV set? A combo DVD/VCR would be hooked up to it, as well as a 2nd generation TiVo box, and a new (just got last week) 160 GB Apple TV drive. No other stuff (game consoles, etc) would be hooked up to it, and I’m the only person watching it—and I sit about 12 feet from the TV. Also, it will be hooked up to Cox Cable and the Apple TV for now, and if I find I’m watching the stuff I download from iTunes more than cable, I’ll file for a “cable divorce” this fall!
The 19” “Element” brand TV that I bought recently would go into my bedroom, or I’d sell it locally.
Thanks for your help/advice,
Jean in VA
Art
"Jean S. Barto" <jsba...@cox.net> wrote in message news:C497FABF.3C6CE%jsba...@cox.net...
Suggest Calling SHARP customer relations first and discuss the product, and probable repair costs with them. It may be less expensive in the long run to buy a newer Sharp Aquos product. Being six years old, the required repair parts may no longer be available from the original suppliers. BTW I do have an Aquos and am very happy with it.
phil-new...@ipal.net
| I have a 2002-era Sharp Aquos flat-panel TV, 20? LCD screen, that died back
| in May. I played close to top dollar for it when I bought it. I took the
| set to the Sharp- recommended TV repair place, and after having it for over
| a month and trying a number of things, they told me that it was ?beyond
| them? to repair it, and that if I wanted it to be repaired, that I?d have to
| send it out to Sharp and have them do it. It?s more than just having a fuse
| blown, the problem is with some other part that I don?t recall the name of
| right now. Naturally, this involves taking the TV to the UPS Store and
| having them pack it, because I don?t have a big enough box or the packing
| materials to pack it correctly.
A while back, about May, my Philips 19" LCD died. I posted about it online.
I spent 2 days looking for the receipt with no luck. Someone posted online
suggesting to check the manufacture date, which ended up proving it was still
within warranty. So I called Philips (support number from their web site).
After talking through with them all the steps I had done (turns out everything
they asked me to do I had already done), they went ahead and shipped me a
replacement in advance and had me ship my old one back in that box (even
though I had the original box). They just wanted a CC number to put a hold
on in case I didn't send mine back. Turns out the box they sent it in was
shaped with padding for a unit with the stand remaining on it, so I didn't
have to disassemblt it from the stand. They included a pre-paid return Fedex
label. After doing a 4 day continuous-on burn-in on the replacement, I sent
the old one back. It was a refurb replacement, but it was working.
The problem with my original one was after a couple days continuous-on the
PSU developed a heat-sensitive voltage regulation problem and would kill
the CPU after 20 minutes operation, requiring unplugging to power off and
reset. My guess is replacing the PSU at the repair shop would fix it the
quick way. That or someone could figure out what part inside the PSU was
toast.
Philips has not generally been my first choice for things. But at least in
this case, they certainly kept me happy.
Being as your Sharp Aquos is 6 years old, it's probably a hard comparison.
Hopefully they would have equalled this if it had been under a 1 year
warranty.
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Bruce Tomlin
"Jean S. Barto" <jsba...@cox.net> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I have a 2002-era Sharp Aquos flat-panel TV, 20” LCD screen, that died back
> in May. I played close to top dollar for it when I bought it. I took the
> set to the Sharp- recommended TV repair place, and after having it for over
> a month and trying a number of things, they told me that it was “beyond
Time to get a new one then. I mounted one of these on the kitchen
dinette area wall for my mom around that time, and it's still going. In
that time they went to half the price (yes, same Aquos brand, same 20"
size). But it's only got an NTSC tuner, and while I haven't heard of TW
trying to kill analog channels yet, there's really nowhere in that area
to put a cable box.
But at least I did make sure that the box was saved (along with the
stand), for when the more likely case that she just wants to get a new
TV to replace it someday, with the old one still working.
Advertise the broken one on craigslist or freecycle for a month or so to
see if anyone wants to try fixing it themselves, and then you won't have
to worry about trying to dispose of it. Or even offer it to the TV place
if they'll take it for spare parts. These days if something isn't worth
fixing, it really isn't worth fixing.