THSCC Forums

I need a TV repair person. Preferably one who will come to my house since it is a big projection unit. I really don't want to have to drag it around town. But will if it's the only recommended option.

thanks!

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http://www.greywinds.com

Stop throwing stuff at the TV

Try Garner TV & Appliance. The repair guru was a guy named "JJ" the last time I was by there.
Plus you can visit w/ Adam the CEO/Owner of the ultra fun go-cart racetrack- Rush Hour Carting.

I had the NOW! A/V service guys come out a couple times for my RPTV. They are now Tweeter, but I'd imagine the service guys are the same - at least they were shortly after the transition. The last repair has held for a couple years now, for whatever that's worth. They did have to have it hauled into their shop for that last repair though to get access to the bigger test equipment.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

Interesting! If you're talking about the one on Glenwood. That is where I bought this Mitsu projection TV when they were NOW!. It's worked flawlessly for almost 7 years. It acts like horizontal or vertical amp is on it's way out. The picture quality is still excellent and I honestly could care less about HDTV so I want to fix if it I can. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

If that doesn't work out I'll call the guys in Garner Bret. A friend has some passes for the cart track and has been bugging me to go over there for an hour. We'll see.

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http://www.greywinds.com

Graham, I hope you find someone who will fix it if that is where you want to go. But unless it turns out to be REALLY cheap (less than $200 ??), I also would not throwing away money on an old standard definition RPTV.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but your comment about it having an 'excellent' picture in an HDTV world is an oxymoron. You many not care about HDTV content, but TVs that support HDTV resolution usually have a much better image with standard defintion material than older TVs. Especially most older large RPTVs. This is assuming that the newer TV has a decent line doubler and I think most do at this point. A good example of this is to watch a widescreen enhanced DVD on an old RPTV and a newer HDTV side by side. It's still standard definition, but it almost will always look better on the HDTV.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Won't take it wrong it all Richard. So let me restate this. I personally don't feel the need to throw away my old tech RPTV for HDTV. I already own a small HDTV unit. If I can fix the one I have for under $500 then we, Ann and I, will be just fine with it.

HDTV. Yes, more scan lines, higher resolution, etc.. Very nice. When I *have* to replace my RPTV it will be with a flat panel HDTV of my choosing. Right now the contenders on that short list are all between $3K-$5K. We don't want to spend that kind of money at the moment. We have something else to invest in this year.

We'll see how it goes getting the existing RPTV evaluated.

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http://www.greywinds.com

shees, what flat panels are you looking at that cost 3-5K! You can get a pretty nice 42" LCD HDTV for around 1K these days. You must be wanting to wait until you can get something REALLY nice. . .

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2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

I am guessing that Graham must have a really large RPTV so something in the 40" range may not going to be a good direct replacement. But in general I agree. You can get some really decent stuff in the 32-40" range right now. That is a sweet spot with respect to screen size.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

My RPTV is a Mitsu VS5077 50". When it came out it was hot stuff. It cost about $3K. I could have bought a 50" one for about half that from one of the other makers. I put that money in the gun technology at the time that had the best quality. I never had to run the gun temps at "Hot" to get a good picture like the cheaper manufacturers do. To this day I still don't need to do that. You don't have to sit directly in front of it to see it properly. It has a very wide range. The cheaper ones didn't.

If I can hold off another year or 2 then I'll be getting at least a 50" or better flat panel that I can wall mount. Ann really likes the "thinner the better". I tried a 60" unit back then after coming from a 25" TV. She came home and... well let's say had a moment... She made me take it back and get a 50". That's as small as I'm going in our living room.

So incase the TV is a loss. Why don't you guys tell me where I'm going to get a decent quality 50" TV? Can't be another RPTV or Tube type that is 2ft deep. More like DLP or Plasma. I see these name brands at Best Buy like LG and Insignia that I'm not really up on. Haven't kept up on the big name players as to who makes a better TV vs who has better marketing...

I use a TW Cable box so fancy tuner features don't mean much when it is locked on Channel 3 all its life and acts as a pass thru device.

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http://www.greywinds.com

According to Consumer Reports LG flat screens have a poor reliability score. If I was in the market, I'd head for the warehouse stores, Sam's, Costco, BJs to find which one has the brand and features I'd want, they definitely have the best prices and large selection. Don't buy a HD that doesn't include a cable card slot unless you want to have to install a shelf under the wall mounted unit for the cable box. That kinda defeats the concept, No?

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

If you buy a new TV, look at cnet and avsforum for reviews. Then actually go to a store and look at the TV before you buy it, then shop online for the best price. We got ours at Amazon for about 60% of out Best Bey etc. wanted.

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2003 Subaru WRX Sportwagon = daily driver/boost and booster seats
2000 BMW 540iT = wife's kid hauler
2012 Toyota Highlander = the boring reliable vehicle

Agreed that cnet and avsforum have good info.

While tradeoffs abound in the different display types, I'd highly recommend looking beyond the much hyped LCD types especially if you are looking at larger sizes.
My current fav is the Lcos stuff in the Sony SXRD line. If you don't need a flat, hang it on the wall display then its hard to beat the price/performance of this technology.


Frank

Thanks folks! I'll look on Cnet and Avforums before I buy anything.

The TV repair guy from NOW!/Tweeter came over and checked the TV out. He said it's pretty much the equivalent of the mother board. Lot's of poor quality capacitors and poor or cold solder joints (a trait Mitsu is apparently noted for during those years). He said about $400 in parts if he could even find another board plus labor. He told me I got more than my moneys worth out of the TV and just pitch it. It's 10 years old.

So I'm shopping. My budget is limited and I can't get what I would like to this year. So I started looking at DLP TVs in the $1,500 range. ~50". I did find a Toshiba in a 56" that they wanted to unload at Best Buy at a good price. So I'm window shopping now and waiting for the old TV to just crap out.

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http://www.greywinds.com

Just my two cents :

Sony KDS 50A2020

replace the 50 with 55 or 60 for the larger models

or looks at "last years" model and replace the 2020 with 2000. Sony claims the only diff is the the newer one has a black enclosure instead of silver. Both are 1080p, excellent black level and contrast, HDMI, etc. No PIP or cable card if that's important to you.

Best Buy has these displayed but mail order is cheaper , you can have the 60" in your home for $2100 the 50" is closer to $1500. ...

Frank