My grandfather is giving me his Big Screen TV its about 5 yrs old or maybe older, it has not been used in the last 3 yrs the color on it went out and he just really didnt want to deal with it. So thumbs up I think he said I just need to take it to get fixed. Ive tried finding info online I dont remember the brand but Im not coming up with anything. My co-worker says its not worth it to get it fixed and get a converter instead buy a new big screen which is something we do not need and will not buy brand new we are happy with our regular t.v. Butttttttt it would be cool to have if it can be fixed. Whats your take or is anyone else going thru this?

We have a big screen, rear projection, where the picture started bowing and colors messed up 3 mos. after warranty expired. Of course, Toshiba would do nothing to help. It will cost us around $500 to fix it, so we're simply biding our time until we can get a new one.

You don't have to take it in; with the size of these things, most repair places will come to your house.

__________________
Make someone's heart smile today.

$500 compared to $1000 and up I dont think is bad if its going to last us a couple more years.... what about the HDTV?

I'm curious as to what brand it is. We have a 57" big screen (rear projection) HDTV-ready Sony that is over 4 years old. We recently had the color go on it too.

We researched the brand on google and found our problem to be common with our TV and also read that all we needed to repair it was a cheap piece (sorry don't know exactly what). A local TV repair place charged us $71 for the part and to solder it on the circuit board. All we had to do was remove the board and take it to him.

It now works great and was an easy fix! I didn't know what we had been missing. Apparantly we've had problems with the picture for awhile and didn't really notice other than it didn't look too hot.

I'm saying this because your grandfather's TV might just need an easy fix as well. If it's HDTV-ready without a built-in converter, all you need is a converter from your cable company to use the HDTV feature. It might not be a lost-cause and is worth checking out.

Good luck!

__________________
SAHM of 4

July food budget: $500.00
Eating out spent: $85.00
Groceries spent: $248.12
Total spent: $333.12

With our Toshiba, the reason we are deciding to hold out is that they would be replacing the guts to it, and I'm not comfortable w/how long that will last (the set was $1900 to begin with), and they will only warranty it for 90 days. That part played a huge part in the decision.

In ours, though it wasn't just the color - it was the bowing, the ghosting/blurriness and things turn red - the convergence is off and I can't fix it through the remote. The $500 quote was from a couple of different places, but we haven't had anyone come to the house yet. The guy at Ultimate Electronics said that it would be best to just get a new one, since they do go bad so quickly. Consumer reports just did a writeup on big screens, which you may find helpful in the recent issue.

__________________
Make someone's heart smile today.

OHHH!! $71! I havent been able to make it to my Grandfathers house yet to check the brand out, I asked him to check and he keeps forgetting Which is why I have not made any calls. He did mention just taking a box or something out of the back of the tv and not taking the whole thing. As soon as I find out the brand and an estimate I will update everyone Im crossing my fingers its an easy under $200 fix ahhhhhh

Hi! We have a sony 57 inch tv that did the same thing. My husband googled the problem and found a site that had step by step what to do. We ended up paying , I think it was...$ 20.00 at the most and my husband did it himself. Picture perfect now. Saved us atleast $500. Our maytag ice 2o fridge computer board went out on us(of course after our warr was up) , too and my husband googled that. We ended up paying for just a fuse! That saved us another $500!

__________________
Kalen


Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.
Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

From what I understand, if the TV isn't HGTV ready, you only need a converter box if you don't receive your signal through cable or satelight, which most people do anyway.

We must have the same TV!!! That was exactly what happened with ours 57 inch Sony!! The convergence went wonkers. DH found the step-by-step instructions on how to fix it on the internet.

He pulled out the circuit board and took it to a TV shop who replaced and soldered the chip (he didn't have a soldering iron or he would have done it himself). Total was $71.

I'm betting that's the same problem you're having with your Toshiba!!

__________________
SAHM of 4

July food budget: $500.00
Eating out spent: $85.00
Groceries spent: $248.12
Total spent: $333.12

Yup! The convergence went out! We were quoted $500 to fix. My fridge went out about a month before my tv. I was sooo proud of my husband for saving us so much $ Thanks goodness for the internet and smart dh!

__________________
Kalen


Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.
Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas