Our Big Screen is Back!

Okay, I'm following up on my post about our Toshiba Theatreview Projection TV. It flaked out two weeks ago and we got the service man here today from Electra Sound.

He was great. The whole repair cost us $350, including the service call. He said it was our convergence integrated circuits (also called convergence amplifiers) that shorted out. It happened, not from lightning strike or power surge, just from wearing out over time. We have the TV on a surge protector, but still, it just wore out.

He said they usually last 4-6 years, so we were lucky to have it last almost 10 years. Still, he said we can expect another 1-2 years from this set before we should replace it. He said most people replace their sets after the second big repair. This was our first big repair.

He also cleaned the inside of the lens and the mirror, which did help the clarity of the picture. I thought there was no burn-in problem on this type of projection TV, but he said it "can" happen. It's just unusual. He said when there are TVs that have the ticker running across the bottom of the screen all day long, that can burn in. Also, the shopping channels where the screen image doesn't change for hours. We haven't tuned in to the friggin' shopping channel ever, I don't think.

So, our beloved TV is back. That's the good news. The bad news is, we don't get to get a flat screen TV just yet (LCD, plasma, etc.). He said he has been repairing a lot of the flat screen TVs, and he frankly suggested that it is good to either wait another year or two for the components to get more field tested, or to get a big long warranty on anything you buy today.

Great advice, I thought.

After he said to wait, I asked him if he had bought one yet. He said he had. An LCD DLP.