Talk of The Villages Florida - Television repair

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gatorbill1 (Post 2233933)

Best buy has a 65" Samsung for $499 - and you can probably even find for less $$

Yep. That's how things go with electronics. Years back we bought a 40" Sony hi-definition TV, 1080p, which had just come out. Lots of 720s out there but we wanted THE BEST and forked over $1,200 to get it. I remember hooking it up at home and marvelling at the gorgeous colors and crystal-clear definition, thinking that this it the best that TV can get. But not too long after 4K UHD hit the market; we bought one (48") for the living room and relegated the 40" to the bedroom. Gave it to my granddaughter when we moved. It works as well as it ever did but you'd have a hard time selling it for any kind of money today.

Live with the annoying line for another year or two. Then dump the dinosaur and get the fanciest TV out there--which itself will be obsolete in three years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawgolfer (Post 2233995)

Safe yourself the frustration and expense. My Samsung failed 15 days after the factory warranty expired. Best Buy wouldn't even look at it as I hadn't purchased its extended warranty. I spent $500 with a local repairman who tried his best, changing both circuit boards, but to no avail.

Samsung TV's are very hard to take apart. There are no screws. Instead, the two halves fit together and are held together with "tabs" and "slots" which click in place. These are nearly impossible to, first, separate, and even more impossible to align and connect.

My mistake was buying at Best Buy. If you bought at Costco, you get a second year of its warranty as well as a third year of warranty from an insurer. Sam's Club and BJ's offer much the same. If you bought from either of these three, you may have a warranty of which you are not aware.

The repairman did me a great favor and asking if I had purchased the Samsung using a credit card. He pointed out that the credit card companies offer an additional warranty for appliances purchased on their cards. I submitted a claim to VISA. The warranty is handled by an outside company in Nashville. I had to jump through a lot of hoops. However, I was, eventually, paid 80% of the purchase price.

HINT: Do not through the TV out until the company which handles the credit card warranty has told you to do so. I did, and it caused me an additional headache as the company claims it may need to have the TV examined. I finally resolved this with a letter from the repairman laying out the problem, his efforts to fix the TV, and photos I took of the TV and the serial number as it was being hauled away by The Villages disposal service.

Sam's is the way to go. When we moved here We bought a 65" Sony Bravia (mistake...). It had the standard 90-day no-questions-asked return policy as well as the 2-year Costco warranty which I thought was pretty good. Got it home and as my wife doesn't watch TV and with my hearing I need earphones, hooked them up. I had tried the TV speakers but they sounded pretty tinny, which I expected. Worked well--until we got notice that the grandkids were coming for a week. I bought a soundbar. Upon hooking it up I discovered that if the soundbar is hooked up you have to disconnect the headphone tower from the back of the TV (located smack in the middle of the back, naturally) for the soundbar to work, and the only way to do that would be to move the TV away from the wall and physically unplug the headphones. There is no way to toggle between the two with the remote: a call to Sony verified this fact. I was about six weeks beyond the "no questions asked" return date, but thought I had a legitimate issue so I talked to the folks in Electronics at the Costco in Altamonte Springs. No dice. I asked to speak to the manager, who was very nice. I politely said I had been a good Costco customer over the years buying a lot of electronics from them, and that I would be appreciative if Costco recognized that fact and took the TV back. She said she'd call back that afternoon, which she did...and said to bring it back for a full refund. I told her I didn't want a refund but wanted to exchange it for another TV which would most likely cost a lot more, which I did, giving Costco something like $500 difference.

Both of us happy.

I always try to buy a television from Sam's Club or Costco instead of Best Buy. Sam's and Costco have a 90-day return policy, but Best Buy only has a 15-day policy. After 15 days, Best Buy not accept a return and will refer you to the manufacturer for a warranty repair. Also, you should carefully examine the TV screen for minor defects and dead pixels. During the return period, you can return the TV for a full refund for any reason. But, after the return period, some manufacturers will not repair or replace a screen unless it meets their "dead pixel policy" for a defective screen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2234008)

Just a comment. If you don't mind spending some money, you can buy a Bose 600 or 900 soundbar and Bose wireless bluetooth headphones. The headphones will connect directly to the soundbar, and you can use the headphones and/or the soundbar for the TV sound. Expensive, but very convenient.

Consider it an opportunity to Upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogeyBoy (Post 2233909)

I have a 65" Samsung television that unfortunately is just out of warranty. I now have a pencil thin vertical line, just enough to be annoying. Does anyone know of a reasonable technician? I hate to throw out my $1200 TV but don't want to spend $600 to fix it. Maybe one of you is familiar with this kind of problem and the solution. Thanks.

Call Samsung. There should be a reset feature in the menu. Try reseting back to the factory original settings. Samsung products have gone downhill in quality the past few years.

Many years ago we had a 46” Mitsubishi TV that developed the same problem. The tech replaced $3200 worth of electronic parts (under warranty) to repair the TV for which I paid $1800. Did not replace the screen though. The TV is still operating perfectly. It won’t die and give me an excuse to replace it with a larger one (darn it !). My point is that unfortunately it will cost you more than the TV is worth to have it repaired unless you can find the parts on Amazon and do it yourself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2234003)

Live with the annoying line for another year or two. Then dump the dinosaur and get the fanciest TV out there--which itself will be obsolete in three years.

My SIL has had a 46" vizio for about 12 years now. It worked fine until a thin red vertical line appeared one day about six years ago. She refused to allow it to affect her pocketbook :crap2: and kept right on a watchin'. This distraction lasted about two years then suddenly disappeared one day for about three years. Then, lo and behold, it reappeared about a year ago. She's still awaiting its disappearance :Screen_of_Death:

Fred

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogeyBoy (Post 2233909)

I had a Vizio that did that. Only a month out of warranty. Called Vizio and they tole me to replace the screen was not worth the money. Bought a new TV (not a Vizio). Everything these days is Disposable!

For those that use hearing aids, hearing aids that have Bluetooth can hook up with tvs that have Bluetooth eliminating the need for headphones. Check your hearing aids and your tv to see if they are compatible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbene (Post 2234116)

If your television doesn't have Bluetooth, you can buy a small Bluetooth transmitter/receiver for less than $20 on Amazon. You just plug it into the audio output on your TV, and you can connect to any Bluetooth device.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elixir34 (Post 2234076)

By the "same problem", do you mean that the screen had a single vertical line on the screen that would not go away? This usually indicates that the screen is defective.

sometimes you can slap it a few times and it will go away. no kidding

Many years ago while in an electrical engineering class about to watch a VHS video on some high-tech topic, the professor, a brilliant man with several advanced degrees and author of several technical books, could not get the TV to work. He tried a number of things to solve the problem to no avail. He called in the lab tech in, a grizzled middle-aged brute, who scratched his beard, looked over the situation, and confidently whacked the TV on its side. It immediately started working and the class erupted in applause and cheers and a standing ovation. I learned more from that incident than from any of my engineering classes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PersonOfInterest (Post 2234024)

Consider it an opportunity to Upgrade.

Unfortunately this one was an upgrade, one of Samsung's higher end models.