My TV is fried

[richjac]

Turned on the TV this morning only to see what looks like severe ghosting - three images - one red, one green, one apparently full color - on all inputs to 3.5 year old Sony KP-46WT500 rear projection TV   There's also that acrid smell like burnt wiring or something... I'll unplug the TV and call Flanners, I guess.  
Somehow I feel that the repair cost will be greater than 25% of a new TV - I see a Grand Wega 50" projection LCD with built in HDTV tuner on sale for $1620, 42" for $1288.  Do I really want to spend $350 or more repairing this one?  

I guess the real question is, what's the expected life of a RP TV?  I already had the CRT tubes replaced under warranty.   Which technology would have the lowest cost over a 5-10 year life?

[StarvingForHDTV]

Personally, when or if my CRT RPTV breaks down, I will not spend a dime to repair it.  Yes, the picture looks great, but the thing is a beast compared to other technologies.

My next move will be to a 1080p LCD or LCoS.  I have to avoid DLP because I'm one of those people who can see the rainbows.

Good luck in your decision, and sorry to hear about your TV.

[Doug Mohr]

Turned on the TV this morning only to see what looks like severe ghosting - three images - one red, one green, one apparently full color - on all inputs to 3.5 year old Sony KP-46WT500 rear projection TV   There's also that acrid smell like burnt wiring or something... I'll unplug the TV and call Flanners, I guess.  
Somehow I feel that the repair cost will be greater than 25% of a new TV - I see a Grand Wega 50" projection LCD with built in HDTV tuner on sale for $1620, 42" for $1288.  Do I really want to spend $350 or more repairing this one?  

I guess the real question is, what's the expected life of a RP TV?  I already had the CRT tubes replaced under warranty.   Which technology would have the lowest cost over a 5-10 year life?

I am not a professional electronics guy but I tinker and went to school for Electrical Engineering. I feel that probably half if not more of electronics failures are related to bad power and heat.
Heat is easy to deal with, a super quiet fan and a few extra heat sinks do wonders for that, but the power is tough to deal with. I have a quality UPS at each media center (I'm trying to get away from calling them TVs ) and that seems to help, but the only true way to cure it would be to install an Isolation Transformer at the service entrance to the house. Big money compared to repair costs, but it would help your equipment live longer. Only you can decide if it is worth the expense. I have not been able to justify it yet for my house.

The quality of consumer electronic power supply seems to be going down from the ones that I have dissected in the last 10 years. I only assume as product life cycles continue to drop from a technology standpoint, the lifespan will continue to decrease.

These are just my opinions and have no documented data to back these claims up. :cool:

[Doug Mohr]

I have to avoid DLP because I'm one of those people who can see the rainbows.

Me too :hug: