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Am attaching a pic of how my Plasma is connected.
Is it fine or should i use a proper spike buster as well?
Kindly advice.
Thanks.

After reading the spike buster story, I am also bit concerned. But I have connected my LCD, STB in a Stabilizer. Worth enough?

Aroy - I cannot find a removable part in the Belkin (6 plug) spike buster I have. Am I missing something? Or am I supposed to open it up?

Also, the part near the switch is the one heating. up. Will a blow fuse cause heating?

You have to open it up. If you are lucky you will find a burnt part. Else switch it on for a minute or so, switch it off, disconnect from mains and then use your finger to find a "hot" part.

Some links
Mains Filter
05 08 CHIP Power Protection and Management

Hi
After reading through this forum and taking advice from fellow videophiles i had booked Panasonic U series 46inch for a cost of 62thousand. But had to cancel the booking later.
I had booked the TV in Viveks in Chennai after comparing the prices with panasonic showroom in tnagar and viveks in adayar. There was a difference of 2000rupees between them. The viveks guys were also helpful during demo and answered all my questions. Though i had initially prepared to pay half the amount in cash and use my card they suggested that the have a scheme called 500 where i have to pay only 500rupees and can take the TV and the total amount would be paid in a 10month period as EMI with no other charges. Though i dont like paying in EMI's i gave into the persuasive arguments of the guys in the store. I was informed that the TV is in their storeroom elsewhere and would deliver it on Wednesday. I told them i will pick it up from the showroom and want a demo before delivery. I went to their showroom on wednesday and found out that bajaj finance has held out on its payment as i had two address on my billing form and they want to cross check. They wanted new proof of my billing address and delivery address. I said i dont want the EMI asked them to return the 500rupees (which they did) and asked the store guys to show me the television before i pay the full amount. Now comes the shocker, they were not willing to bring the television from the store room unless i pay which i frankly refused. Then a neatly packaged box arrives which had the demo TV which was used in the showroom for quiet some time (3months). The store guys kept saying that it is as good as new. I refrained from blasting them and walked out. Me and my better half has decided to put things on hold for another couple of months and go for panasonic 50 V series and take it from panasonic showroom itself. Cheers

^^^ buyer beware!! Caveat emptor!!!

Just curious....if it was in a neatly packaged box, how did you confirm that it was the 3-month-old demo TV ?

Saw these posts only later.

Spike buster does just that - filters out the sudden variations in voltages and power.

IMHO, voltage stabilisers have very slow response times. Suppose the response time of your voltage stabiliser is X milli seconds, and for a rated output of 230V, if voltage goes up by, say, 10% for a period of less than X milli seconds, the stabiliser will feed 253V (230 plus 10% of 230V)for the time voltage shot up, before the voltage levelling happens. So, you are better off NOT using a stabiliser for your TVs and other electronic equipment.

This problem, afaik, does not exist in servo controlled stabilisers. But they cost above 4K for a model capable of powering TV + STB + CD/DVD player + A/V receiver / speaker system. I had taken an estimate couple of months back.

This gyan is from other threads in this forum, so, do not blame me if I am wrong and your equipment goes bust.

Aroy - I am now searching for a screwdriver!!!

Edit:- During lighting strikes and sudden changes in mains voltage - like when transformers blow out or the inverter kicks in (like in my case - nothing happened to the spike buster connected to my computer that line is not fed through the inverter), the aggravation caused by stabilisers can be very high. AFAICT, even for UPSes, this problem exists; unless this you use a pure sinewave, online UPS.

This because both UPSes and Inverters supply momentary surges in voltages while changing over from mains to battery and vice versa. I have verified this in my own UPSes, and that is why I have put in a spike buster between the UPS and computer.

It's better to avoid Viveks. I also suspect that I got a demo TV when I bought a Philips TV from Viveks, Bangalore, four years back. I noticed few marks on the TV once it was unpacked. I went to the showroom, but they did not accept that it was the demo TV that was displayed in the showroom. It seems to be a common practice :Frustrati with dealers. They should be having a few demo pieces rather that filling the showroom with demo pieces which are later sold to unsuspecting customers.

Few lines of my experience buying the Sony EX500 32". I Was looking for a Demo piece. Primarily, I believe the Demo peaces have been running for a while and get tested thoroughly. Second, one gets a discount and offers on buying a Demo model.

When I went to Reliance Jubilee Hills to buy an LCD, I was shown the Sony EX500 and I liked it, but was about to move on. Then I heard a sales man whispering into the ear of the sales man attending us that this is the Only piece available. That actually made me more interested in the model. I made an act of not being too happy about it and blah blah. Asked for a discount and got it along with a box of 40-50 DVDs and a Sony Headphone set. I immediately ordered the salesman to take the model off the wall, clean it and pack it. The model was thoroughly cleaned in front of me and packed. Check was made for any scratches. In showrooms such as these, items like cables, remotes, etc. are never used. They have their own peace which is common to all models. Hence, the one belonging to this model was in a sealed plastic packet.

Enjoying it for the past 4 months with no issues what so ever.

The tip of buying a demo peace was given to me by an uncle of mine, who had an electronics store in CRT tube TV era almost 20 years ago. He had told me, that no two TV screens can be same. All pass through strict tests and all, but trained eyes will see slight variations in screen colors, sound, etc. The dealers know this and pick the best one to be kept on the shelf for Demo. Have always picked TVs off the demo shelf and not sealed packs from store rooms, enjoyed the discounts and the service. None have given up on us, including an almost 19 years old BPL BXR 26". It was opened just once to change its speakers which got spoilt after about 10 years of usage due to the coastal weather. Have bought about 8 more TVs including 5 LCDs in different cities. All demo pieces. All working perfectly fine.

PS: He also said, this applies to TVs only and nothing else. He says this stands true for LCDs too. He being a dealer believes it, so I believe it too.

MaSh

Very risky thing for Plasma TVs. Showroom runs those on high Brightnees and Contrast. This causes image retention.

First thing I do is check number of hours TV is run (In TV's Service console). If it is more than 5, TV was used as a demo piece.

Though I vaguely agree to the first part that no two TV's behave the same, but I don't think the dealers are experienced/qualified enough to note the difference since with modern day manufacturing, the tolerances are way too small to be detected by human eye/ear.

Secondly, I don't think dealers open the TV boxes in advance to see which is the best and put it as demo. Most of the time, I've seen the demo TV's not calibrated for optimum settings and often does not show the best picture. However on some TV's, there are factory set DEMO modes (Ex. Philips) which are well calibrated but a demo TV settings hardly stay in one setting since many customers play with the settings and dealers does not bother much.

Though the above "fooling around" may not impact LCD TV's much, but for Plasma TV's the initial running-in is crucial and it is best to avoid demo models.

Regarding Demo Piece. I had bought a 24" 1920x1200 LG monitor about three years ago. After six months I wanted another one, but it was out of stock every where. Finally I saw a Demo piece in an LG showroom. I negotiated hard and got 3K discount on the 24K MRP. The display was slightly off, but the dealer said that the warranty would start the day I bought it. Within a week the display developed two dead rows. LG promptly changed the panel to a brand new one. I got a brand new monitor at a good discount.

So Demo pieces are a good buy if you get a hefty discount and the warranty starts the day you bought it. As in most case the TV develops problem just when the warranty is over (if at all), you get an extra benefit in that the problem, if it crops up, will be well before end of warranty period!

I got my Philips 42PFL9703 as a demo piece too over a year ago. The price of a new one was well over 100k with the MRP being 130k. This one had 140 odd hours when checking on the service menu and looked brand new. Also needless to say it had the best picture quality of all TVs i've seen till date in real world (read non pitch dark) conditions. I managed to snag it for a 56k.

So demo pieces are not all that bad. It just depends on the deal you can manage.

Hi Team,
This thread appears to have grow leaps and bounds.
I am looking for a 42" LED tv and fully confused which on to go for.
My requirements are -- it should be full HD, no 3D, excellent pic quality and should not burn my pocket (economic). Please pour in your suggestions, suggesting reasons for the same.