dying hdtv

[gary l ray]

In 10/2004, I purchased a Sony 55" kdf55wf6ff from Circuit City for $3099.00 At that time, I did not purchase the extended warranty. I love both the set and picture.

In 02/2006, I had to replace the bulb in the set ($230.00). In July, I noticed a bluish white cloud in the center of the screen and an intense blue area in the lower right hand corner. The area tends to enlarge then shrink over time. The overall color of the set is not good anymore. It has cost me another $200 in home repair costs to finally be told the TV has a bad or defective light engine.

The Sony certified technician told me that the light engine had been bad all along, that I was only beginning to see problems. After reading many of the posts on this site, I am really beginning to question the Sony light engine. Anyway, this is a good testament to purchasing the extended warranty.

I am now in a situation where both Sony and Circuit City refuse to do anything. I asked Sony if they would consider just sending a new light engine and I would cover the repair but they refused.

Does any one here have any other suggestions as to how this situation can be better handled? The TV is only 23 months old and almost unwatchable. I feel like I am stuck in the middle of a losing battle.

[lcaillo]

The problemis not sony, other than the light engine is not sealed so dust and contaminants from the air can get into the light path. LCDs have a tendency to burn polarizers sometimes and then panels if that is not dealt with quickly. This can be made worse by contaminants in the light path.

Call Sony and complain. They sould be offering parts to field repair these light engines by at least changing the polarizers, but they do not. They should also have designed the sets with a filter on the air intake. They may offer some relief. Call your dealer and complain. A good dealer would intervene and attempt to get some accomodation from Sony on a catastrophic failure on a set this young.

Worst case, send the light engine to PTS for a rebuild for about $400.

[Satch0922]

so its not just their rear projection tvs that are junk .....

$3000 for tv that lasts less than 3 years. That just shows you what kind of junk they pedal these days.

[lcaillo]

Do you believe that it is typical of Sony sets to only last 3 years? Funny, we have been selling them for a couple of decades and the seem to last, on average, more than ten years for us. Does that mean that someones set will not break when it is 3 years old? oF course not. Some break sooner, some never break. We fix most of them until they are more than about 10 years old.

The "they don't make 'em like they used to" refrain and the "Sony sucks cause mine broke when it was x years old" doesn't make it true. Televisions are more complex and larger than ever, so there will be shorte lifespans and more complex problems than the 19 inchers from 30 years ago. Every manufacturer has their dogs and has problems at some time. Sony is still one of the better products to sell if you have to face your clients when they have a problem, and I do.

[Satch0922]

We fix most of them until they are more than about 10 years old.



Not sure you meant what you typed....but I think I know.

Hey, bottom line is that I have had 2 Sony rear projection HDTV's in the last 4 years. Both of them blew up multiple times. Both of them had more issues than Newsweek and here is another thread about a completely different Sony going bad. Maybe it's because their not made in Japan anymore.

My intentions may all be for not as people in this forum have already bought a Sony tv. I should post my experiences elsewhere to save someone the grief of owning one of these time bombs.

[lcaillo]

The point is that when they do break, they can almost always be fixed reliably and are not throw-away items like many products that you buy. Your experience has been a bad one, for sure. But you have to understand that it does not mean that Sony is not still a good choice for many people compared to most of the products on the market in terms of reliability and service. Your experience is with two sets. Dealers and servicers have experience with dozens, hundreds of sets, and your situation is not typical. There are hundreds of thousands of set sold each year.

What do you think would be better? Maybe a Philips because you have a neighbor who has not had any problems with his Philips set? Maybe RCA? LOL!

The fact is that the industry does not publish failure rates and does not keep good statistics on out of warranty repairs. The indivisual manufacturers try their best to not admit when they do have problems. The better ones take care of problems when they arise. Sony extended the warranty to 4 years on the sets that had the CRT flicker problem and has replaced PDPs older than that with a particular design problem. They continue to have some of the best tech support and access to documentation in the business. Yes, they are a beaurocracy on the scale of a state government and just as screwed up at times, but in the context of the value in the products you buy and the competition, they are a good player in the market.

Sorry about your experience. Perhaps if you had a better dealer or better servicers it may have been mitigated or less unpleasant.

[damondlt]

I can't say ,I've EVER had a bad Sony product.I still have my sony Betamax from 1983,that works better then any VCR I've had in that time.I own 2 sony tv's and one is 6 years old,never a problem!Can't say that about Samsung,RCA, Sharp,Zeinith,or Goldstar.Never got more then 4 years from any of them.2years for the RCA,and Goldstar.I bought my PS2 whan it first came out too,Still going strong!! Its sounds to me that those model tv's should have had some research done,before they were bought!!

[Satch0922]

Well I do appreciate your civilized response. :cheers:


T
Sorry about your experience. Perhaps if you had a better dealer or better servicers it may have been mitigated or less unpleasant.

[rudyusmc1980]

last ditch effort, contact the credit card company. maybe you have a benefit of 'double the manufacturers warranty'.

[ohheck]

Not sure you meant what you typed....but I think I know.

Hey, bottom line is that I have had 2 Sony rear projection HDTV's in the last 4 years. Both of them blew up multiple times. Both of them had more issues than Newsweek and here is another thread about a completely different Sony going bad. Maybe it's because their not made in Japan anymore.

My intentions may all be for not as people in this forum have already bought a Sony tv. I should post my experiences elsewhere to save someone the grief of owning one of these time bombs.

Sony's owned as follows; 1984/Sony XBR CRT..sold to friend in 1989..still works fine. 1989 Sony XBR CRT...gave to son in 1998...still in use daily. 1998 Sony 36" Flat screen...gave to son for use in game room...still runs perfect. 2005 Sony KDF42WE655 LCD rear projection..one minor problem fixed by Sony under warranty. 2002...Sony Vaio Computer...still in use..no problems. That's 22 years of Sony purchases, which has convinced me that Sony does indeed produce a superior product. No grief on my part. Sorry that your experience has turned you sour on Sony.

[goblue123]

I have the same problem. I just ordered (from Sony) a new optical block. They charge $500. SEARS wanted $1500 for this block!

Ok guys - now we know what to do for the blue pixel/blue corner problem = call Sony and get a block.

But now what...can we install it ourselves? Anyone try this? It looks fairly simple...on the order of a video card installation...but I havent cracked the tv case yet. No instructions that I can find on the net either.

Anyone? Anyone?

[gparris]

Rather than blame the entire company, Sony, maybe it is more of a "FAQ" to those interested in bulb-based RPTVs with LCD optical blocks.
I am certain that one of my clients has experienced the pain from his/her Panasonic, Mits or Hitachi LCD RPTV due to a bad optical block, premature bulb burnout or even back mirror (reflector) problems...but not just Sony.
I have the same set as the first poster, only a 60" set bought in 12/2004.
It sits in a finished basement room used for movie watching and gym.
If it had a problem, I bought a 4-year extended warranty and CC had better fix it, but I blame the technology, not Sony, who is in its 5th generation of LCD RPTVs, so it must be doing something right this long (or fooled a lot of people).
Unless there could be an issue with burn in, I currently recommend plasmas since the pricing has gone down recently, not RPTVs, or I recommend LCD panels, if there is a greater chance the client could have burn in due to use and watching habits.
Pricewise, RPTVs still offer great value over some flat panels HDTVs, so there is a tradeoff as with any technology, as none are perfect, just one type closer a match than others, depending on the final user (consumer/client).

[lcaillo]

I have the same problem. I just ordered (from Sony) a new optical block. They charge $500. SEARS wanted $1500 for this block!

Ok guys - now we know what to do for the blue pixel/blue corner problem = call Sony and get a block.

But now what...can we install it ourselves? Anyone try this? It looks fairly simple...on the order of a video card installation...but I havent cracked the tv case yet. No instructions that I can find on the net either.

Anyone? Anyone?

A little tedious and you have to be carefull but nothing hard about changing it.

BTW, PTS is rebuilding these for $375.