Frakkin' plasma died
 

Our Samsung PN50C7000 shit the bed last week. Just died while wife was watching it. We have it on a good surge protector, so don't know.

Read up a lot and found that like everything else, they use cheap capacitors, and the ones on the power supply board usually die. So I pulled the board and didn't see any bulging, but was convinced it was the supply since it didn't power up at all and the protective relays kept clicking...and ordered a new one (ouch).

It showed up two days ago and I put it in...and it powers up now, but still no image or sound.


TV is right at 1yr old...just out of warranty. I can't believe we decided to splurge on this POS and it died like that...fucking nearly $2000 worth of TV for 12months...and we're never home.

I like hustler and sick and fucking tired of high-dollar shit that should be quality crapping out well before it's time and finding that these companies have zero customer service.

Anybody know about this shit and want to help?

Anybody just want to bitch and moan with me?

I can tell you that my Panachronic plasma has been going strong for 3+ years now.

I almost went with the samsung and very glad I didn't.

My Dell MB crapped out a few months back, and it was the same problem. Cheap chink caps died, and fried the HD controller circuit. Didn't know about the problem until I did some reading, and now I see several caps that have burst slightly on the end.

It's payback for always buying the cheapest, until all that's left is the chinese made crap, with no alernatives.

That's why I buy the cheapest POS TVs that Walmart sells. I don't chase technology. If you buy a $500 TV vs a $2000 one you can get one better than the $2000 one a year later for another $500 (and have two TVs). Yes, I'd cry if my $500 TV broke since I am a cheap ass but at least I would have $1500 in my pocket to replace it with.

FWIW, I bought a TV about two months ago. I got it online at Walmart.com and picked it up at their store a week later. The price was about $70 cheaper than what they had as a comparable unit in store. Hopefully that will help.

Oh, you might check ebay for a new MB for that thing. I don't know what they go for but you can probably get a used one from someone who threw a Wii remote through the screen.

I think they can be fixed, so all is probably not lost. I'd do some googleing if I where you, see if you can find a common problem withe the model that you have and see if it's something that you or a repair shop can fix.

Seriously, this is why I don't splurge on new electronics and tech stuff any more. I got a 32" HD Olevia on Craigslist for $200 a few months ago. [Drago] If it dies, it dies. [/Drago]

my panasonic HDTV (1080i 34" tube!) is still going strong.

only thing wrong with it is the hdmi connection. there isn't one. this thing's over 10 years old!

Thanks for the lecture gramps...but I certainly wasn't chasing technology. I specifically waited for the proven new gen plasmas to come down to our price range while everyone else was chasing LEDs. We paid for size, not new tech, and thought we were also paying for a quality name.

(don't take offense at the gramps thing...I respect your opinion)

Wow...read post please. I did google on common problems, which was how I ended up paying $140 for a power supply board on eBay. Next most common thing is a toasted y-buffer...but I'm not going to go around chasing every board on the back of that giant paperweight.




I am going to buy a $500-600 Vizio/Prisma/someotheroffbrandshit next time though. Just didn't expect next time to be this soon.

Tomorrow is dead day for me, to study for finals, and found a bloke still answering the phone afterhours that thinks he can swing by sometime in the morning.

:facepalm: My bad.

I too have a panachronic plasma. So far it is doing well

I just bought a55" Samsung LCD...hopefully it lasts or I'll kill.

My Samsung plasma is a few years old now and still working fine. I would certainly be a tragic time if it did die though, sorry for your loss.

If you have, or know someone that has, a costco membership they have decent prices and add a 2nd year to the warranty at no charge. FWIW.

Go Panasonic Plasma and never look back.

Interesting...

I bought a 55" rear-projection Toshiba in '99. One of the very first of the "big" HD sets. Three CRTs and a huge mirror. It's so old that it's a native 4:3 aspect ratio and has no tuner (they hadn't standardized on 16:9 or 8-VSB and QAM yet.)

Still works like a champ. There's a tiny little bit of upwards tear on the red gun in the upper-right quadrant of the screen that I can't totally null out with the convergence controls, but it's been like that since day 1; I was just too damn lazy to do anything about it while it was under warranty.

That is actually the first and only "real" TV set I have ever owned. Prior to it, I used a Commodore 1084 monitor (which had composite inputs) with an old VCR as a tuner. I had that monitor for about 15 years before I finally retired it, still in perfect working order apart from a broken power switch, which I replaced with a toggle sticking out of the side of the case.

If anybody still made three tube rear-projection sets, I'd probably buy a new one to replace this one with when it finally dies. I still think they look better than any of the flatscreen or light-gate technologies available today in terms of contrast, color saturation, and smoothness.

I remember reading about your TV not too long ago. My BIL had a Mitsu 65" flatscreen HD rear projector of similar vintage that he was giving away...but it went to his other sister as we already had a "big" TV.

I really wanted it as it was great for watching soccer matches on.

I have a 10yr old 29" Sony CRT..currently too broke to buy a new TV. It works fine, so there. I would go Panasonic, if anything.

Sorry this happened to you too. I had a really nice last gen Samsung DLP, 56'' that I paid something like $1800 for about 2 years ago, and it already shit the bed about 6 months ago. After replacing nearly every fucking part in it, for about $500-$600 (started with the lamp ballast, then the power supply, then the main board, all while following the factory service manual I pad an additional $30 for), it still has the same issue. Powers off after 20 seconds of turning it on, and then it powers on and off until it either freaks out and all of the lights start blinking, or until I turn it off. All of the capacitors looks fine, and the new power supply even has larger capacitors to replace the undersized ones on the old board. Still shit. I've given Samsung my business on most all electronics for a long time, but I refuse to buy another TV from them. Everything else seems fine still. What irritates me most is this particular TV set is known for this problem, and I have seen probably thousands of complaints of the same problem, and Samsung will not issue a recall or give anybody refunds or any kind of credit for now TV's. Fuck them.

I gave up and went Toshiba and couldn't be happier. I'm so ballin' I left the 56'' DLP behind my new 55'' LCD. :bowrofl: $3200 worth of TV on a fragile, undersized TV stand.

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-55G300.../dp/B0038JECJU

For $1200, it's hard to beat.

I agree. I have a nearly 10 year old 50" Toshiba 16:9 HD CRT in the man cave. I love it. Awesome black levels and contrast, and a nice smooth image. If you have the floor space for it, or a wall you an sink it into, CRT rocks.

That stinks man, but you'll do yourself a favor if you spend an extra $100-$200 on a Panasonic.

Also don't be afraid to haggle with the tv sales guy at the chain store.