TV repair (it'd be nice to have an archive - hint :)
Skyhooks
recent series I've very recently experienced (#1 new tranny and #2 new
windshield [pandora's box])! Meaning, I am knocking-on-wood that
something else doesn't come along my way.
OK, the vertical hold control on my nearly 15-yo 19/20" Mitsubishi TV
has gone kaput -- talk about getting dizzy!! Any "pro or con"
recommendations for a TV repair person within a 30-mile radius? Or,
perhaps we should just give up on this TV since it's as old as it is and
buy a bigger and newer TV, say at least a 25"? Or, I could lurk on
cmi.classifieds to buy a used one?
If it's decided to buy a new one, I'd appreciate any pro or con
recommendations for a vendor. I would, however, like to avoid Best Buy
and Circuit City. I'd prefer to support a local establishment if the
price difference is not significant.
Thanks.
Skyhooks
hmardis at uiuc dot edu
"reply to" address antispammed -- remove the xxx.
cc
Darn, too bad it couldn't have happened a few weeks ago when so many TVs
were being sold on cmi.classifieds. (I've gotten a couple of great
deals on 13" ones in the past couple of years.)
You sound like me, however, "these things are supposed to last
forever". Treat yourself to a new TV!
--
Cheryl
To reply remove *spamfree* from name.
***********************
Reality is a scary place to visit...
Oh Toto, I want to go home...
The opinions expressed within this writing are mine and mine alone. (No
one else would admit to it.)
Rob Remus
wrote:
>As far as brand suggestions - go with the one with a nice picture. I'd
>say avoid generics, and if it's significantly cheaper than similar
>models - much as it sucks - it's probably for a good reason. G.E. TV's,
>i'm told, have tubes that often go bad after 2 or 3 years.
>
>Sometimes "you get what you pay for" is really true - so I'd say stick
>with the name brands like Sony, Philips/Magnavox, RCA, etc...
>
>Sony will be the most expensive though...
I don't mean to nit-pick, but GE and RCA are basically the same TVs
with different branding... I've heard that both have reliability
problems after a couple years. However...
I have a 25" GE which developed some problems after a few years of
use, but Hung Nguyen was able to fix the problem for $50 (another
poster mentioned that he is no longer in town, however). The TV is
still working great, and is now about 6.5 years old.
Our "living room TV" is a Sony 27", which is now about 2.5 years old.
About 6 months ago, we had a power surge which fried its main board,
but did not harm any of the other devices attached to the same surge
protector (the surge protector's breaker was not tripped -- a cheap
surge protector with no warranty). GoodVibes (where the TV was
purchased) fixed the problem for $330. We paid $500 originally, and
the same model currently sells for $450. In hind sight, it may have
been smarter to buy a new one...
One finally note -- GoodVibes service was *very* slow, and customer
service was poor. It took about 1.5 weeks before someone even looked
at our TV, another week to get the parts in, and another 1.5 weeks of
"testing" before they let us have the TV back. ...just over a month
total, over which I placed about 10 calls for status updates. Each
time I was given minimal information, even after many questions, etc.
About all they would tell me is that it wasn't done yet... and I
couldn't speak with the tech working on it... We don't watch a ton of
TV, but a month is still a long time to be without one...
-Rob