HDTV confusion

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

hi
I visited Best Buy and the three TV on my list are

Mitsu 55313
Toshiba 57H83
Samsung 5529WH

Any suggestions. Should i buy the extended warranty. I plan on using
my visa card and visa doubles the manufactures warranty.
Guys what are your thoughts on the above TVs.

The best buy sales also was pushing his monster surge protectors.
Does that really improve picture quality.

Let me know
thanks

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

I've been told that if the lightning wants in, it'll blow the protector but
jump through it anyway.

If I had a few more $$, I'd get the APC to do the job, as mine is a LCD
running the fan to cool down after shutdown, and that would run it long
enough to do the job if the power went out.

"david" <athaided@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cade243d.0405141851.c872725@posting.google.com...
> hi
> I visited Best Buy and the three TV on my list are
>
> Mitsu 55313
> Toshiba 57H83
> Samsung 5529WH
>
> Any suggestions. Should i buy the extended warranty. I plan on using
> my visa card and visa doubles the manufactures warranty.
> Guys what are your thoughts on the above TVs.
>
> The best buy sales also was pushing his monster surge protectors.
> Does that really improve picture quality.
>
> Let me know
> thanks

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"david" <athaided@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cade243d.0405141851.c872725@posting.google.com...
> hi
> I visited Best Buy and the three TV on my list are
>
> Mitsu 55313
> Toshiba 57H83
> Samsung 5529WH
>
> Any suggestions. Should i buy the extended warranty. I plan on using
> my visa card and visa doubles the manufactures warranty.
> Guys what are your thoughts on the above TVs.
>
> The best buy sales also was pushing his monster surge protectors.
> Does that really improve picture quality.
>
> Let me know
> thanks

Can't comment on the Mitsu or Sammy, but I have had an excellent experience
with the exact Toshiba model you specify. It has amazing picture quality,
multiple inputs, easy to use remote/menus/options, is easily adjusted in
terms of the convergence (with a small trick in the service menu...but its
quite easy, trust me), and is an all around great value. I use Comcast HD
cable, and I have had excellent luck with HD quality programming, as well as
DVD's. I have also found that a normal DVD player gives basically the same
quality picture as a progressive scan player because of the quality of the
line-doubler (or whatever you want to call it) present in the TV itself. I
am really happy with this TV.

I got the extended warranty, but the reasons I got it may be different for
your situation. I am young (23), and have a lot of , shall we say,
inebriated guests on the weekends. No kids, but that could be an issue with
you, dunno. The idea behind the warranty, in addition to giving me peace of
mind, is that I am fairly likely to spill on, bump into, or fall into the TV
over the course of the 4 years. Never mind someone else, who is probably
even likelier. If I need it, its there, if I don't need it, I still feel it
was money well spent. If I had kids, and I will eventually, it would be
even less of a quesiton. Never know what the little ones are capable of.

I would advise against buying the Monster cables, surge protectors, line
conditioners etc etc. Your average cables and stuff will work just fine. If
you really care about quality, I would suggest a different route than
Monster. It seems that while they are of decent quality, they are really at
the high end of the low-quality market. For that price point, you can do
more with your money. I just bought some optical cables and a dig-coax from
http://www.partsexpress.com . Haven't received them yet so I can't advise on
quality, but seems like they are on the ball with their shipping (UPS
tracking numbers in hand at the end of the day) and I found some great
deals. ebay is always an option as well, as I have had good luck there in
the past.

Good luck,

Matt

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Dave Balcom wrote:
>
> I bought a Panasonic 40 inch rear projection LCD (PT40-LC12) a year and a
> day ago (meaning the factory warranty JUST expired on the 16th). About an
> hour ago the picture went completely dark meaning something blew (probably
> the bulb) as there is no picture at all but the power switch is flashing. I
> called Best Buy's service number and have a tech coming out in 2 days.
>
> I went ahead and bought the 4 yr extended warranty knowing it was a newer
> technology and thinking the bulb would be the weakest link (bulb cost alone
> is $314 online). Was it a good decision? The extended warranty cost $300 so
> if the bulb did go then I am already ahead...

Let us know how you make out with that. Extended Warranties generally
consider the bulb to be a "consumable", which means that you still have
to pay for it when it fails. But they may not always enforce that.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Dave Balcom wrote:
> On Tue, 18 May 2004 07:24:22 -0400, Jim Gilliland
> <usemylastname@cheerful.com> wrote:
>
> }Let us know how you make out with that. Extended Warranties generally
> }consider the bulb to be a "consumable", which means that you still have
> }to pay for it when it fails. But they may not always enforce that.
>
> Will do. I am not so sure it is even the bulb as there is no failure light
> now or warnings on screen that it was due to be replaced. If they try that
> I will be pissed as that was the main reason I went ahead and bought that
> particular $2400 TV (the salesman said "even if it smells funny, call us
> and we will fix it under warranty." ) He even mentioned the cost of a bulb
> and how the extended warranty is cheap insurance should it fail.

Yeah, they all seem to do that. Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears,
everybody - the sales guy will tell you that the bulb is covered, but
it's what's in the contract that matters.

I got a call from Circuit City suggesting that I buy their extended
warranty for my HD set. She told me that she was absolutly sure that
the bulb was covered - she'd even checked with her manager. I told her
that I would buy it if they would send me that in writing. I never
heard another word from them.

Here's the wording from their contract: "Consumables, such as
batteries, toner, ink, etc., are not covered by the manufacturer
or the Cityadvantage Protection Plan because they have a
defined and limited life."

Projector bulbs aren't mentioned, but it's easy to see how the "defined
and limited life" could be considered to include them. Especially if
the vendor figures out that he's going to lose money on the deal.

But let us know how it turns out in your case. Maybe it'll go smoothly.
Good luck with it.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

On Tue, 18 May 2004 11:43:22 -0400, Jim Gilliland
<usemylastname@cheerful.com> wrote:

}> }Let us know how you make out with that. Extended Warranties generally
}> }consider the bulb to be a "consumable",

OK. The tech just left and I spent all afternoon on the phone.

He said they DID cover the bulb but just this morning had a meeting and now
consider them 'consumables' and no longer covered. Huh??? I asked him how
they could arbitrarily cover them one day and not the next -- especially
when the salesmen are selling the extended warranties saying bulbs ARE
included. He said he argued the same thing with his boss but it came down
from BB's corporate office that they were replacing too many bulbs and they
cost too much. I didn't go off on the tech as he was just doing his job but
said I would fire off a letter to BestBuy to complain (he agreed with
that). The tech said he would order the bulb for us and that it cost about
$265. I asked about the factory warranty and he said Panasonic only
warranties the bulb for 90 days. DAMN!

A few minutes later my wife called me and said the tech called his boss who
had him call the BB store manager direct. He explained what happened and
how the dept. manager told me the warranty was supposed to cover the bulb
and that we were upset and threatening to return the TV to the store (he
said that on his own). The store manager agreed to replace the bulb at no
charge this one time. It looks like I will get most of my money back out of
the extended warranty anyway.

Meanwhile, in the interim, I had called Panasonic and explained what
happened and the time frame. They said the bulb was included in the 1 year
warranty but it goes from the purchase date and not delivery date (meaning
it was expired by 1 day). Panasonic said there was still a small window
that they could work through to resolve the issue and may be able to sell
me a new bulb at a reduced rate or extend the original warranty. They
referred me to the local service center to get a service call started. I
called them, who then called BB's contract provider N.E.W.(?) and was told
the same thing -- they were covered but are now considered consumables.
They are going to call Panasonic and see what can be worked out on
replacement bulbs. What a headache!

Can you imagine a car company covering say an engine (the TV is useless
without a bulb) for a while until they discovered they wore out too fast
and then decide it was too expensive to cover any more? What a terrible way
to do business...


Later,
Dave