Consumer Reports: "Don't repair this TV..."

I have a 2 1/2 year old, 27" Sanyo DS27930 TV that began to occasionally turn itself off last week, but now won't turn on at all - it just makes a buzzing noise for a few seconds when I try to turn it on, and then turns itself off. 9 months ago it fell off its stand onto a carpeted floor, but worked fine after that until this problem cropped up.

I'm trying to decide if I should repair or replace it. According to Consumer Reports, "It doesn't make economic sense to repair off-warranty ... conventional TV sets under 30 inches." Do the experts here agree with Consumer Reports' recommendation, or should I pay ($40) for an estimate to see how much it would cost to have it repaired?

TIA, Harry

You're probably looking at $100 or so for the repair and you could expect a few more years out of it then. Only you can determine if that's worth it.

If the $40 is deducted from the repair, and the repair is a simple one, then it may pay to repair. Also, you have to consider that after the repair is done, there is no guarantee of how long the rest of the set will last. The average repair for most common faults in TV sets, with about 1 hour of labour, can range from about $70 to $120 depending on the time and parts involved.

Generally speaking, it does not pay to service any TV set or appliance unless it is a fairly expensive device, it is less than about 3 years old, and it has had very little use.

--

JANA _____

I'm trying to decide if I should repair or replace it. According to Consumer Reports, "It doesn't make economic sense to repair off-warranty ... conventional TV sets under 30 inches." Do the experts here agree with Consumer Reports' recommendation, or should I pay ($40) for an estimate to see how much it would cost to have it repaired?

TIA, Harry

Always get a free quote. If your repair shop wont do that, find another one. Backstreet type shops are often a lot cheaper, and often the only worthwhile option with electronics.

The repair age is not dead yet, but theres now more thats not worth repairing than is.

NT

I agree with Meow. Also, Sanyo TV's are a good buy, & usually worth repairing, if you get a free estimate, & have a reasonable shop, or buddy in the business. If the TV worked after being dropped, you MAY have a break in the main board, likely be the flyback transformer, & it finally arced out across the break, you may have a bad horizontal output. Dani.

I'll assume you're not inclined to attempt a repair yourself. If so, then I would first determine what a new set will cost. These days, even a new large-screen TV is fairly inexpensive--often less than $300. If that isn't appealing, consider picking up a second hand set (via Craigslist, for example).

Acquiring a second-hand set may seem laughable (and stingy), but considering that high-definition TV is less than two years away, and any standard format set you have now will shortly become obsolete (unless you spend additional money for a yet-to-be-available converter box), this is a reasonable option.

On the other hand, if you're mechanically inclined, you could open it up and see if there's any obvious damage to an accessible component. If you spot the problem, this may save the repair shop the time--and your money--to diagnose the problem. I did this a few years back with a set that would pulse on and off, sometimes in the middle of the night (frightening!). I knew the problem was in the power supply, so I took the set to a local repair shop and accurately describe the symtoms. The repairman said, "Oh yeah, that's a common problem with the XYZ transistor in the high-voltage line--Thanks!" The repair bill was about $50. That was 17 years ago, and the set still works.

-Dave

Just to clarify, 2 years is the changeover to DIGITAL-only broadcasting. There is no requirement that it be HD. Stations are free to use their frequency allocation any way they want. Many just multi-cast multiple SD feeds.

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100$ to do some soldering ? I do those for 35 or 40$ . It takes less than an hour and i get the customer back many times over on other items and they tell others . The extra business far outweighs trying to rip people off .

Not exactly true. They AFAIK are required to have one unencrypted sub channel. The rest is up to the station. The FCC recently made a rule change that made The Tube go away. A crystal ball is required to know how it will turn out.

Digital, including HD, is here. Analog goes away in 2 years. Have been watching all the networks through antenna for 2-1/2 years. All the stations I receive have HD in the evening(at least). I'd kick myself if I'd waited this long to go digital.

Why are you assuming that anyone is ripping people off? Read the posts and respond with something useful, if you have something useful to say.

Leonard

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Bad advice. A shop that gives free estimates or "backstreet" type shops are often the most likey to rip you off or give you ineffective service IME.

Leonard

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They've been available for years, digital satellite receivers and digital cable boxes convert to analog TV output.

Depends if it's JUST soldering, or if other work is needed. Often bad solder joints pop other parts.

Hi!

I would at least investigate a repair. If you stop right now and take the set to a competent repair shop, the problem should be easier and less expensive to repair. Waiting until the set really blows up or fails to turn on entirely will make the repair more difficult and expensive.

The only thing working against you is the fact that it was dropped. Even if it fell onto the carpet from its stand, falling just the right way can cause serious and not immediately evident damage to a device. Fortunately, if damage was done, it would have been pretty obvious because the tube is by far the most delicate component of the TV. If the picture was good when it stopped working, then a repair is much more likely to be worthwhile.

William

Maybe "The Tube" is gone by you, but it's still here in the Chicago area on WGN 9.2.

The FCC did recently rule that ALL subchannels have to comply with E/I (Education/Information) rules. Before, it was assumed only the primary needed to comply. I don't know if it's national, but here in Chicago, they run some zoo program that talks about animals with jazz playing in the background on Saturday mornings.

There are several stations here in the Chicago area that only carry one or more SD's.

On the other hand, the main PBS station, WTTW-11, is going overboard. It reduced it's HD from 1080i to 720p (for PBS-HD), and how has THREE SD subchannels (simulcast of the analog, PBS Create, the new Spanish- language V-me.)

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For some people that means all TV goes away in two years. There is no way that I am going to buy a new HD TV set just to watch the same old crap that I see right now. In fact, about the only TV I watch is the news, and even it isn't worth paying for. I'll keep one TV and the DVD player till one of them quit working, and have the cable turned off.

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Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

I've also been thinking on the same lines. very simple basic TV and internet./ I pay 158 a month for nothing but crap!. Old repeats over and over again. it's not worth it any more. I would rather stop at block buster and watch a DVD commercial free.

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change

will

From posts in the HD group I'd guess still having The Tube is the exception. Mostly pointing out that rules are still changing.

I said in my area. Sure you have SD channels but you also have all the HD channels. Dayton,OH isn't exactly huge and has all HD. Small cities may have SD only stations. Characterizing the nation as being mostly SD is wrong.

I'm getting 3 PBS stations through cable. 2 of the stations are as you say except the last SD is an Ohio channel. PQ is terrible on it. Not aware of them making changes to HD here. The third channel from Cincinnati is HD and one SD, 24/7. Great PQ. My HDTV is 720p so the extra bandwidth for the SD subchannels would be a good thing. It's going to be different for everyone.

broadcasting.

SD

change

will

stations

waited

Nothing to discuss if you don't like TV. I watch TV mostly in HD(1080i/720. Not crappy 480p/i. Have been capturing it to my computers hard drives, skipping commercials and watching what I want when I want for 2+ years. Cards can be bought for much less than $100. Now have an HD media player that I send the shows to through the home network and watch it on the HDTV. About 10 years ago my big TV bit the dust after 15 years. Bought a 20" to hold me till HD became reasonable. Had no idea it'd be this long. After 2 months of watching the HDTV still have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming about the PQ. Got to go finish watching the NASCAR race now.