Repair or buy a new TV?

[chim_girl]

My Sony Wega TV has gone 'pop'. The screen flashed before going into standby mode. I've been able to get it to turn on once, no pictures but will allow sound for about a minute before going back into stand-by mode. Now I can't even turn it on. Nothing, zlich just a flashing standby light.

Question is, does anyone have any idea whether this is likely to be fatal? Is it worth spending money repairing a 5 year old TV?

If is a lost cause, does anyone have any recommendations as to what to replace it with? Current TV is 28inches, don't really want anything much bigger.

>>> Edited by chim_girl on Sunday 9th January 17:50

[ErnestM]

Better off buying a new one. Five years is a good run for a TV. The technology has moved on and you would probably be more pleased with the picture on a comparable sized new one. We just had to make that decision on our Sony widescreen that had tube troubles. Cost to fix=$1500, cost for the comparable new model=$2300. The new one arrives on wednesday.


ErnestM

[mybrainhurts]

Am I imagining things, or have people been having a lot of trouble with Sony TV's lately....?

[tvradict]

Well not a Sony.

My mum just replaced her 15 year old Toshiba, I've had a 28" Toshiba for 6years and its still going strong.

Toshiba and Panasonic are usually pretty bullet proof TVs.

Unfortunately Sony are now relying on a Reputation built up years ago.

My handycam broke last year and Sony say it can't be fixed

[thebluemonkey]

Sounds like the tube transformer has bitten the dust. Only answer is a new tv, about £3000 should cover it

it probably is possible to repair it though not really worth it IMHO

[vixpy1]

thebluemonkey said:

Only answer is a new tv, about £3000 should cover it

Wed1ge said:

£3000 for a Fking telly!

>> Edited by vixpy1 on Sunday 9th January 16:33

[Mustard]

chim_girl said:

This is the second one I have had with the same symptoms, the first model went within the first 6 months and was replaced under warranty. Sony wouldn't say what the fault was.

We had one (Sony) do the same years ago, 1st one blew after about 6mths, then its replacement lasted for years.

Sounds like the tubes blow in which case far more cost effective to buy new one, 28" Widescreens are well under £500 these days

[thebluemonkey]

tvradict said:

Unfortunately Sony are now relying on a Reputation built up years ago.

A reputation which is unfortunately propagated by a huge advertising budget and advertising funded publications who claim to be unbiased.

[chim_girl]

Thanks gentlemen, it looks like I'll be buying a new TV this week.

The big decision is whether to spend more and buy a plasma screen or stick with old tech until the prices drop a bit more.

[Zad]

Highly unlikely to be the tube or the HT transformer. It's probably the chopper transistor in the switched mode power supply. If you are unlucky then when it failed it took some more of the power supply with it. Component cost, £1 to £20. Repair time cost... who can say. Shouldn't cost you anything to get a quote from a tv repair place.

5 years is a typical life for a Sony unfortunately. Yes, there are some that go on for decades, but the Trinitron tube is rather prone to going "soft" and it's performance degrades. The Golf GTi of the TV world. Highly engineered with a perception of reliability. Unfortunately the real world is different.

Mike

[Balmoral Green]

Good old fashioned CRT of say 24" maybe up to 28" with flat widescreen. Loads of choice from £200-£300.
Still the best in terms of picture quality per £.

[ErnestM]

chim_girl said:

Thanks gentlemen, it looks like I'll be buying a new TV this week. The big decision is whether to spend more and buy a plasma screen or stick with old tech until the prices drop a bit more.

We where considering a plasma but as we have two sprogs that don't quite understand that TV's are not "touch screen" at the moment (and my three year old still runs his hot wheels and die cast cars over the screen), we decided that discretion was the better part of value

ErnestM

[edc]

When our 29" Sony (10 years) went, repairman looked at it for nothing, suspected part circa £60 labour time not too easy to quantify. I sold it on ebay

[JulianHJ]

My local Sony Centre is doing 32" Wega sets with Freeview, a VCR and a DVD for £450 at the moment. My parents paid something like £1500 for a very similar package without Freeview or DVD around 4-5 years ago from Currys.

[chim_girl]

Tempting offer but I'm not sure I'd have another Sony. Since my first post I went and found the handbook and purchase receipt. It turns out the TV is less than four years old, probably nearer three based on the fact that that the first one was replaced after 6 months.

[Mustard]

I like my Panasonic Stuff, I think its probably as good as Sony, Cheaper and more reliable by the sounds of it

[little me]

When we replaced out TV, we went for panasonic too - it came as a package, TV,DVD player (altho we already had one ) video, we just bought the stereo to go with it. Looked nice once set up - we went for the chrome effect stuff - looked nice!
All under £500 as i remember!

Jane x

[JulianHJ]

chim_girl said:

Tempting offer but I'm not sure I'd have another Sony. Since my first post I went and found the handbook and purchase receipt. It turns out the TV is less than four years old, probably nearer three based on the fact that that the first one was replaced after 6 months.

Fair enough, once bitten and all that. I've always had sony stuff - probably in excess of 40 products (I like to upgrade regularly!) and have never had anything fail on me. Our Sony TVs have always been rock solid.

[Balmoral Green]

I wont buy Sony either, I had six seperate Sony products fail one by one over just a few months. All were over 1 year old but under two. Sony didnt want to know, despite the added impact of several unrelated but coincidental failures. They were out of warranty and that was that. Sod brand loyalty, they were all replaced, but not with Sony products.