ufcrusher

Most of us have the unfortunate experience with some piece of our electronics going down. On Saturday, I had yet another piece of electronics go down and it was a BIG one. My Cinema Series Toshiba (Toshiba's top line up similar to Sony XBR, Pioneer Premier, and the old Onkyo Integra) television decided to go crazy. It decided that the component video inputs should no longer work.

This is right after we had finished watching one movie through them and I put in a second disc, only to have a very black screen. That is definitely NOT a good feeling.

The TV is about 5 years old now, so there wont be any warranty. I am hoping that Toshiba might step up since it is an obvious defect in one of their top end sets. If not, I have no clue how much it would cost to get it repaired....probably more cost effective to buy a new HD set.

This is not fun.

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DOH!!! JOO KILLED IT!!!!

(j/k) Sorry to hear about your loss.... any word on how much the repair would be? I'd at least ask... before droppin' $2K+ on a new one.

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Showtime

sorry about your loss...

you did check the player and the wire/connections, right?

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ufcrusher

LOL - Yes. I tried 2 DVD players with 2 different sets of Component video cables. The only thing question mark is if one of the splitters went bad. As they are completely passive, I do not think that would be it. Furthermore, I have had a bad splitter before and it generally just gives you static as though you are using a bad connection.

Both sets of component have been up and running for several years, which is why I was able to quickly determine that it wasnt the source or the cable.

I actually am going to run another diagnostic on it once my FIL leaves tonight, but I didnt want to go back into my world of wires while he was here. Especially since it was already wired for multiple players and had worked that way without incident for a long time.


I emailed Toshiba to ask them several questions. i figure they would know if it was a matter of a board with connections that could easily be replaced vs. a set killer. I doubt they will do anything for me, but you never know. Hopefully they will tell me its a known hidden defect and replace the set.

Honestly I have been looking at new sets for a while...BUT.....I was looking for another room, not this one. If I have to replace it, I think I am going to go with a Costco special. I can get Sony's, Toshiba's, Panasonics, Pioneers, Samsung, and a bunch of other named brands, as well as the Vizio, Maxents, and other no names.

To make matters worse, I just dropped a lot of money on taking the bar exam in Feb...meaning that I have NO money that isnt required for other things. At least the set is 66% working and I can still use it. If not, well I know where any holiday money we get is going.

sizemic1

The repair cost may not be as bad as you think.
I had a TV go completely out on my once, a guy came out to my house and fixed in place for less than a $200. Turned out it was just a bad I/C Chip. So I wouldn't get to uptight about it just yet.

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Grimm

I have a Phillips 50" rear projection TV that bit it at about a month after the manufacturer warranty expired. The repair man had to come out at least six times to get it to work right.

Original cost: $899.
Repair cost: ~$1200.
Using free CC extended warranty: Priceless.

Have you tired googling your model to see if anyone discusses the problem?

LPMiller

if it's just a board problem, the repair might be quite cheap. Find out who are authorized toshiba repair places in your area and get a quote or two.

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Grimm

My $1200 repair on the $900 TV was "just a board problem".

ufcrusher

What makes it worse is I HAD an extended warranty on it, 3 yr, which I am pretty sure expired. I am going to have to dig through all of my receipts to find out for sure, but I am 99.9% sure that its long gone. There had never been any problems with it so I didnt see the need to drop another few hundred to extend the extended warranty! When you end up spending close to the same amount on the warranty as you do on the product (the re-up was $399 for another 5 years, plus the original extended warranty.....it would have been almost $500 in just warranty! Figuring I bought this set as an employee, that number is getting awfully close to what the initial purchase price was.)

I am going to see about getting a quote on a repair, I just hate how most TV repair shops will charge you X unless you get the repair done and then come up with a number that is EXTREMELY high.

ufcrusher

Hmmm....I went onto Toshiba's site and they have what would be the equivalent set for dirt cheap now. I guess thats what happens with analog TV's when the HD versions come out.

I called the authorized repair center in my area....the guy point blank told me that the price of the board would be $350 for the part, plus labor. It would run me $50 just for him to check it out and I asked what other things could possibly go wrong. His only idea was possibly some sort of internal connection problem, but he doubted that. The guy told me that I would be better off NOT repairing the set. He said I should either just live without my component input OR buy a new set. The repair cost would probably be MOST of the price of the new set, without any of the benefits.