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TV broken - is repairing worth it?

inbetween

inbetween

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Hopefully the TV guys can steer me int the right direction:

6 year old Mitsubishi Diamond series rear projection 55" HD ws55511

From my limited research, seems to have a red convergence issue. The red is not aligned with the blue and green and the red is also glass shaped towards the left top of the screen. I tried the on screen adjustments and the red will not move when adjusted.

Any idea on a repair cost? Is it worth it? Should I replace it with something else?
Don't need a 55" tv but we're used to it now :sifone:

Suggestions? Thanks.
 
Good question. I have a 42" EDTV plasma in the guest room. Recently, a black vertical bar appeared so it looks like a split screen but isn't. Considering the price drop in price since I bought it 5 years ago, replacement is probably cheaper.
 
I had issues with my 7 year old Toshiba rear projection. I ended up just replacing it with a 50 Panasonic. After a few months I finally got around to getting rid of the 57 Toshiba that had been sitting in an extra room. I had to push it down 3 steps into the garage.....it nearly flipped over since no one was even at the bottom to "catch" it. Happened to plug it in and the dam thing works now!!!!! (try pushing yours down a flight of stairs and see what happens!) :)
 
I was quoted around $300 to fix our Toshiba 65" with convergence issue. Common problem I found parts online for $45 but you have to be able to solder on a circuit board. I sold it on ebay for $100 bucks.
 
Most stuff.... no. Cheaper not to keep her. Shame too... you used to be able to get things serviced for less than they can be made in asia. Now... two hours of shop labor plus parts is more than a new one.

Your TV... yes. I am not a rear projection fan... but that is a nice tv. I sold high end audio video in the 90s and our projection guy was always a busy man.
Sounds like you need an in-home service plus an alignment once the convergence can be adjusted. Sounds like some keystoning too.
 
t500hps said:
(try pushing yours down a flight of stairs and see what happens!) :)
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If it wasn't already downstairs...


fund razor said:
Most stuff.... no. Cheaper not to keep her. Shame too... you used to be able to get things serviced for less than they can be made in asia. Now... two hours of shop labor plus parts is more than a new one.

Your TV... yes. I am not a rear projection fan... but that is a nice tv. I sold high end audio video in the 90s and our projection guy was always a busy man.
Sounds like you need an in-home service plus an alignment once the convergence can be adjusted. Sounds like some keystoning too.
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Thanks. It has been a great tv with a great picture and some good features for the time. I'm also not a huge fan of the projection stuff - physically huge. I would love to have a comparable flat panel in it's place, but $$ prohibitive right now. So we are trying to decide: Replace it with something less expensive and flat or repair it.
 
TVs are evolving so quickly that most likely a replacement will have a significantly better picture and cost a fraction of what your last one did.
 
Chris said:
TVs are evolving so quickly that most likely a replacement will have a significantly better picture and cost a fraction of what your last one did.
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No doubt. But that TV, if straightened out for a few hundred bucks would be worth it. Most not.
Makes me think of dvds players. I once got 700 bucks for a regular dvd player. Now you can buy one that would kick its rear for 35.00.
 
inbetween said:
Thanks. It has been a great tv with a great picture and some good features for the time. I'm also not a huge fan of the projection stuff - physically huge. I would love to have a comparable flat panel in it's place, but $$ prohibitive right now. So we are trying to decide: Replace it with something less expensive and flat or repair it.
Click to expand...

If you can find a 55 inch flat for the right price.... by all means... :D

I am assuming that you are connected to cable and the digital conversion is a non-issue?
 
I have the exact same HDTV and had the exact same problem. Had it fixed for $460. They came out, removed a board, and came back a couple days later and installed the repared board. No problems since them.

IMHO, 99% of the TV you watch is 1080i or less. Keep your Mitsubishi! :D
 
I have the same TV, had an issue with it a while ago (not the same issue as yours though) the service guy came over diagnosed it and said it needed a whole new board. Was 1000, when I told him it wasn't worth it he said he would fix the old board for 100 bucks cash. Gave him the cash, he soldered it, was done in 15 min.

I keep waiting for it to die to give me a reason to upgrade to flat screen but the damn thing just keeps going and going.

I'd tell you to get an estimate for repair, I bet it won't be as much as you think. Probably be worth fixing
 
fund razor said:
If you can find a 55 inch flat for the right price.... by all means... :D

I am assuming that you are connected to cable and the digital conversion is a non-issue?
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I am cabled. This is not our only TV so I am thinking about waiting for the big flats to come down in price.
 
clayinaustin said:
I have the exact same HDTV and had the exact same problem. Had it fixed for $460. They came out, removed a board, and came back a couple days later and installed the repared board. No problems since them.

IMHO, 99% of the TV you watch is 1080i or less. Keep your Mitsubishi! :D
Click to expand...

It has been a great tv. But $1000 gets you some good NEW stuff today.

macjazzy said:
I have the same TV, had an issue with it a while ago (not the same issue as yours though) the service guy came over diagnosed it and said it needed a whole new board. Was 1000, when I told him it wasn't worth it he said he would fix the old board for 100 bucks cash. Gave him the cash, he soldered it, was done in 15 min.
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What's his number and will he travel?
 
been out of the tv business for a few years now but that is a good tv. that being said you are probobly looking at around $500 to fix and that is about what that tv is worth now days with all the advances.
 
inbetween said:
It has been a great tv. But $1000 gets you some good NEW stuff today.



What's his number and will he travel?
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Not sure I remember his number, found him in the yellow pages. Little old asian guy who had a small tv repair shop. Doubt he would want to travel from Northern Va to ohio though. Sorry:(
 
inbetween said:
It has been a great tv. But $1000 gets you some good NEW stuff today.
Click to expand...

When you can bring yourself to carry it out to the curb.... then it's time to replace it. If you can't picture it sitting out there at the curb... call around and find your board repairman. :D
 
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