Is a flat panel TV worth fixing?

[Sheepdog1968]

You really need to price it out. Otherwise it's just guess work. Also, you might send it in to get fixed (might be able to deliver it to a local branch of the business) and they may just send you a newer unit.

[KaLiFORNIA]

I bought a LG 42 inch flat screen. I got the extra warrenty! It started having red pixilsin the right top corner... after about an hour or so. The longer the tv stayed on, the larger the red spot got. The repair guy came to my house and replaced everything he could,he put over 5,000$ worth of parts into at that time a 2,200$ TV.Go TV shopping, Sony is good, so is Samsungs new super thin tv. DONT GET 3D that needs glasses, they already have 3D TV's that dont need the glasses....

[E81]

Get LED, you can hang it on the wall with a picture frame string (the metal ones). Its pretty light and very thin! What the guys are saying is right, they are brighter, better colors, less electricity to run, runs cooler, and will last longer. The prices are coming down a lot on them too. I guess it really depends on how much you want to spend, then you can hit up YUGO for the hook up!

[Merc1138]

BTW, be aware that there are two types of LED tvs.

Standard, which just replaces the CCFL lamp from a normal LCD screen with LEDs. These use a little less electricity, and do not provide a superior image to a normal LCD tv.

Local dimming. These are the models with an array of LEDs that sit behind the LCD panel or around it. It allows sections of the screen to be dimmed when those portions of the screen should be darker. The result is blacker blacks, and less of a halo effect around a colored area against a black background.

[Which Way Out]

not a great idea, cause it will let out mercury just like batteries you dont want to through them in the trash they should be disposed of correctly. FYI

Buzz kill, but your right damn

[Mohawk]

Sony is good, so is Samsungs new super thin tv. DONT GET 3D that needs glasses, they already have 3D TV's that dont need the glasses....

If your after a Samsung you better do it quick,., Samsung is going CI exclusive and will no longer be sold at general retail level. No more Best Buy or Costco., Once the 2010 models are gone youll have to come to people like me (and Yugo apparently., Greetings fellow Tech ) to get them., They are outstanding displays though. Shop around., the 2010s are going for dirt cheap.

[Yugo]

If your after a Samsung you better do it quick,., Samsung is going CI exclusive and will no longer be sold at general retail level. No more Best Buy or Costco., Once the 2010 models are gone youll have to come to people like me (and Yugo apparently., Greetings fellow Tech ) to get them., They are outstanding displays though. Shop around., the 2010s are going for dirt cheap.

Hey buddy...yeah hes right......(personally I dont like samsung they are too vivid. LG is my thang but thats just me. I have a LH90 FULL panel led still the best picture to this day) try to find a full panel not edge lit like I stated before.

[Satex]

My kid just broke our 3 year old 46" Sony flat panel TV.

Time to put the kid up for adoption. JUST KIDDING!

[RRichie09]

Take the TV to the shooting range!!!

[kperry]

Yeah, but the color is rendered through that white light. I am going to make an assumption here that higher CRI is going to show better color in a backlit LCD panel. I know it makes a heck of a difference in forward lighting stuff. Higher CRI stuff (>85 is what I am talking about) is more difficult to get done with the conventional blue LED with yellow phosphor. It can be done with RGB LEDs but I guarantee they don't use those in TVs.

They do, they're just about $45K, however. Dolby PRM-4200

[mag360]

not when you can get a P42S2 panasonic plasma for $600 or so.

you CANNOT beat the panasonic S series line for picture quality per dollar. easily outperforms LCD/LED's double it's price. they are outstanding. Yes you can pay a stupid amount more for very little to show (i.e. back lit LED's, more expensive plasma sets). I too thought I needed and could really "tell" the difference between the S2 for $600 and the VT25 for $2500. If you don't want/need/care about 3d then your wallet will be so much happier. more money for everything else. they have 42,46,50,54, 58, 65 in the S2. next up would be the GT25 (3d).

[xXBigJoeXx]

Costco has a 55" Sony LED Internet Enabled TV for $1499 and comes with the wifi adapter (usually $100) and additional warrenty. Prob cheaper then trying to replace the screen....

[Subotai]

I got the extended warranty at Best Buy. The TV went out and couldn't be repaired. So, the manager lets me "buy up" after giving me credit for the old TV. I throw in an extra 250 and get a 46" TV!

[Beatone]

Much cheaper to buy a new one.

[Bryansix]

When I was at Costco shopping for a TV I asked this question. The two TV folks told me no. Dump it and get a new one. They even told me not to buy the ones they had for sale at the time. Both told me to get a LED TV because it ran cooler and lasts longer.

Do you think they might have ulterior motives? Like bumping up new TV sales perhaps? Not the best people to ask.


My wife works at the call center for a major television manufacturer (not going to say which one). She handles these calls all day long. From listening to enough stories from her and her experience also repairing TVs (they start CSR in the repair department for a week) I can tell you that all that needs to be done is swap the panel. The rest of the components are fine especially if it still turns on and displays something.

Now as to the second question of worth. Two factors come into play here.
1) How good is the warranty?
2) Is the energy savings of upgrading to an LED worth the incremental cost of the upgrade? In essense, what is the ROI?

1) Yes, you broke it. However good warranties will sometimes include the option for onsite service. Yeah, you have to pay but you might not have to ship it. Also see if they will give you an advanced exchange? In essence, you pay up front, they ship you a new TV, and you ship the old one back in a pre-paid box the new TV came in. Lastly, see if they have a local repair center. For me, the repair center is 2.5 miles away from my front door. I could literally cart my TV there on a dolly.

2) Figure out the time you use the TV, the mean watt usage of each and then figure out how many years the LED upgrade will take to pay off. Then figure out the percentage payoff per year and find out if that is higher then any credit card debt you have? If the percentage is higher then go for it. If lower, then pay off the CC first. If you don't have CC debt then use a lower percentage to compare against like the best interest rate you can get by investing the money.

In conclusion, don't decide based on the comments here alone. Call Sony and find out the cost of the repair first and if they can do it locally or in your home.