[charanreddy]

Hello All, The amount of knowledge TeamBHP has keeps surprising me. This is the last place I would have looked for TV buying advice, but I trust fellow BHPians more than any other forum on the internet for unbiased advice. So here goes my question, on eBay.in there are sellers who buy TV from Malaysia or Hongkong (I guess) and sell it here much cheaper. For ex: a 40" Samsung F5000 thats costs 58K in store costs like 36K there. The flipside is there is only a 1 year seller warranty for repair.

Do you think it makes sense to go for this deal? My understanding is that the best LCD / LED TVs are fragile and will last for 4 to 5 years max (Compare that to a 21" CRT in my house for the past 20+ yrs !).

Does it make sense to take a chance with this TV for roughly half the price and expect it to last for 2-3 yrs. After 2-3 Yrs I am sure we will find more technologically advanced TVs or atleast the best TV's we have now at a huge discount.

[avimal]

My samsung LED TV 46" is showing lines all over the panel. I paid Rs 1 lacs through my nose just 4 years back and as per support, it will require Rs 50,000 to repair.

What should I do? Isn't this fault of samsung of providing sub standard but high cost product? Can I go to consumer court? what are the chances that I will win?

I will appreciate any help.

[Samurai]

Welcome to modern technology. I spent 2 lakhs on a Samsung 50 inch plasma in 2006, and display went kaput in 2012. Repair cost quoted was 48K. One could get a brand new 50 inch TV for a little more. So I sold it for 1K.

What will you say to the consumer court? If the equipment is out of warranty, and the manufacturer is offering paid service, there is nothing to complain about.

Plasma/LCD display doesn't have any serviceable parts, so you have to buy that part in full.

[baludharmarajan]

I understand your concern however modern devices are no longer reliable.
I bought a Sony Xperia ZL for 28k and damaged 3 times in 4 months. Once it was damaged within 6 hours of repair. Since the warranty is over please sell and buy new one.
Big companies have dedicated lawyers and since its out of warranty this case cannot be won as they are offering to service it.

[VKS]

LED/LCD TV's are not repaired on component basis as in the CRT's . The complete part is replaced . I believe it is the LED panel in your case.

I had a malfunctioning LCD TV and the service centre detected it to be Panel issue ( 20k in my case -which is costliest to repair) ,finally it turned out to be a main board which costs 3k.

[indian21r]

As others have mentioned the products currently available are being designed keeping in mind a life of five years.

you no longer get products that last a lifetime. This is also keeping in mind the speed at which features are becoming redundant. And companies make money if people are repeat customers. Take the case of cell phones whose life is hardly 2 years even if you spend 50k. Any product where technology changes are easy to implement and changes fast will have a short life cycle.

Since you say it is out of warranty, you will have to pay for the repairs. Now if you are spending 50k, then it is better to buy a latest generation product.

[shashank.nk]

We had a Sony LCD tv (W series) which we bought for 1.3 lakh in 2008 go bust in late 2010. The display started showing lines and later on these lines weren't even stable,it was moving up and down making it impossible to use.

The best option is to never buy anything of the same brand again. Unfortunately,that is all we can do. We exchanged it for a Panasonic plasma getting 5k.

[DCEite]

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 - purchased on 1st March 2014.

Centre of Display started leaking liquid underneath. Gave it to service station who did a shoddy job and now there is a small hump in the middle of the screen.

It seems Samsung electronic products as a whole is degrading day by day.

[hellmet]

Not to sound like a rant, but this is one of the reasons why I don't spend a lot of money on electronics and why I stick with my trusty 7 year old 29" CRT TV even though I have the cash to "upgrade" to a better screen. The CRT is a rock solid technology and is simple enough to be repairable by a road side technician for few hundreds of rupees.

And, I don't have to watch "stretched" video either. 4:3 it is !

[madbullram]

one way to insure is to buy extended warranty or 3rd insurance like the TATA AIG which covers household products upto 50k. check out their website.

[rajeshsundaram]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Not to sound like a rant, but this is one of the reasons why I don't spend a lot of money on electronics and why I stick with my trusty 7 year old 29" CRT TV even though I have the cash to "upgrade" to a better screen. The CRT is a rock solid technology and is simple enough to be repairable by a road side technician for few hundreds of rupees.

And, I don't have to watch "stretched" video either. 4:3 it is !

Exactly.. LCD cannot match CRT's natural color tones. A properly calibrated CRT computer monitor can easily outclass the LCD monitors worth USD500 or USD 900. Same goes with TVs. I still use my SONY 21" CRT TV. No issues so far.

I really wonder how people are so happy to watch stretched 4:3 in their brand new LCD TV. And I have seen people who change the setting in LCD TVs to 16:9 even though the TV signals are still 4:3.

Originally Posted by madbullram

one way to insure is to buy extended warranty or 3rd insurance like the TATA AIG which covers household products upto 50k. check out their website.

Are you sure? I am in the belief that unless a physical damage is occurred those household items cannot be claimed under warranty.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by DCEite

It seems Samsung electronic products as a whole is degrading day by day.

I have also started to feel like that out of my experience.My Samsung AC failed within four days of expiry of the warranty period. My Samsung Laser printer failed similarly immediately on the expiry of the warranty and the service guy estimated 50% of its price of the printer as the cost of the replacement part.

[BoneCollector]

My 25month old Sony Bravia 40inch LCD had gone kaput last October. I took it to service center where it was detected to have an internal damage to LCD, and panel needed to be replaced, cost quoted was ₹24k. I was pissed off considering that I had paid over ₹40k for a TV and it lasted just over 2 years. So I shot off a mail to Sony India through their Facebook page. I got a call from their Kolkata head and they agreed to repair it for ₹6.5k only. So I gave it for repairs. About 10 days later, they informed me that since the part is unavailable, they'll replace my old LCD TV with a new LED TV of same size. Now I have decided to go in for extended warranty before my regular warranty expires.
In last 1 year, I have got LG to refund money for a faulty refrigerator they sold us, have got Sony to replace my TV and am waiting for Voltas to replace my AC which had gas leakage due to a faulty cooling coil in its unit. In all cases, the products have developed snags a few months after their warranty expired and in all cases, I have taken Facebook and Twitter route to voice my concerns. The response of these companies have restored some faith in them. Although I feel all the electronic companies have started using inferior and cheap components.
I'll suggest you write to them once and wait for their reply.

[driverace]

Hi Guys,

Looking for a Screen. Expected to serve as:

1. Laptop display extension - For at least a year or so.

Primary use: video streaming/surfing/photo editing(?)
secondary use: Standalone (first) TV - to play movies/TVseries off HDDs.
We do not intend to use it connected to DTH/cable though.

2. Bedroom TV(?) + occasional extra screen to work with.
(this would be after we shift into our home - around early 2015)

This will help me push actual "full blown" TV purchase untill I save up enough!
I have depleted funds now - after booking a flat

--

Suggestions welcome.

Any feedback on this Micromax screen:
Link: Micromax TV (32")

It's only - 1366x768 :(
But costs like 20K!
Has built in speakers (decent!)
Has all standard connections VGA/HDMI/AV in/out/USB.

Thanks,

Ace.

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by rajeshsundaram

Exactly.. LCD cannot match CRT's natural color tones. A properly calibrated CRT computer monitor can easily outclass the LCD monitors worth USD500 or USD 900. Same goes with TVs. I still use my SONY 21" CRT TV. No issues so far.

I really wonder how people are so happy to watch stretched 4:3 in their brand new LCD TV. And I have seen people who change the setting in LCD TVs to 16:9 even though the TV signals are still 4:3.

Every man to his own opinion

Just get an HD set top box where the broadcast is in 16:9. Also the calibration ranges on all the recent flat panels are huge, so if you have the patience and knowledge you can set up the right color tone. So I doubt a CRT monitor can outclass LCD in terms of calibration.

Also all HD movies are in 16:9 so I think the CRT era is over. Maybe you can set it in 16:9 mode but then you lose out on image size. And over age CRT tubes also fade in and cannot reproduce original vibrant colors.