Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dlp

Bad Mitsubishi TV

bodgy — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:23:04 -0800

Need advice on Mitsubushi DLPs. Been burned twice, being offered WD-73835 as a replacement for my current 73" Mitsu DLP. Is it a good TV? We bought a Mistubishi 62" DLP in 2005 and had nothing but problems, with 3 optical engines replaced thanks to Best Buy's Service Plan. Best Buy sent us a gift card for the full purchase price of the TV so we could get another.

Thinking we had gotten just a bunk TV, we added some of our own funds to the gift card and purchased a Mitsubishi Diamond 73" DLP from Best Buy's Magnolia shop in November of 07. A few months later we started noticing bright spots on the TV, some as big as 4". They looked like lens flaring. We called Best Buy's plan and it was picked up for service by a local shop, just like our last one, but since we'd had the TV less than a year it was under Mitsubishi's warranty, not Best Buy's, and Mitsubishi said there was nothing wrong with the TV. The local shop agreed the TV had a problem, but did not know how to fix it, and Mitsubishi refused to do anything under the warranty.

We persisted as the spots were noticable, but Mitsubishi said this was "normal". We started to persue options through Best Buy's Magnolia department as we had their Service Plan, and then we started getting harassing calls from a guy named Rico at Mitsubishi on both of our cell phones. The person we dealt with at Best Buy told us Rico should not be calling us, but he continued to call and be very nasty on the phone with us telling us that there is nothing wrong with our TV, they're not going to fix it, and we should just deal with it. He also said the repair shop told him nothing was wrong, even though the repair shop said there WAS something wrong but he didn't know what would fix it.

The local Best Buy employees were very helpful and finally took the TV themselves to a St. Louis service center for repair. They saw the spots but also did not know how to fix them, and claimed that their diagnostics showed no problems. They tried a calibration but the spots persisted. Even though they could see these bright spots themselves, since the diagnostics showed no problem they wanted to return it to us unfixed.

With Best Buy having our TV for six weeks, we finally contacted the Magnolia CEO. We got a response the same day, Best Buy is replacing our 73" Mitsubishi with a new one. We were given the option of the current Mitsubishi 73", which is the 2008 model year, vs our 2007.

This would seem like a great solution; however, after having 2 Mitsubishi DLPs go bad repeatedly, being harassed on the phone by Rico from Mitsubishi, and the problems with getting this TV repaired, we are nervous about getting a 3rd Mitsubishi DLP. However, the Best Buy employees tell us that they'd never seen a problem like this before and sell a lot of the Mitsubishis. The Best Buy manager then offered us a Samsung 67" DLP if we'd prefer, but that is still DLP technology and is also worth about $1,000 less than our TV that still resides in Best Buy's repair shop.

We've been given no other options at this point, but in looking at other TVs at Best Buy, getting a smaller DLP or LCD would have us losing over a thousand dollars by getting a smaller, cheaper TV. 65" plasma televisions cost thousands more than our current TV, and even if we were given the option to pay the difference out of our own pockets it's more than we wanted to spend, which is why we went with what we did.

Our "best" option seems to be to go with a 3rd Mitsubishi DLP, but I was hoping you or one of your readers might be able to offer some advice.

My Samsung DLP has required multiple repairs since July

neilkod — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:48:05 -0800

My out-of-warranty Samsung DLP has been plagued with issues for the last 6 weeks. Routine issues, or do I have recourse? Samsung HLR4667WAX/XAA DLP. First week of July, my DLP's bulb died after 6500 hours. Fine. I can handle a bulb-I knew this was inevitable as soon as I bought the set (about 2004). After $129 and a 10-minute DIY, I was up and running.

Two weeks later, the color wheel went out. Cha-ching - Another $125 dollars and a slightly more complicated repair. After I installed the color wheel, I ran into issues where the set's colors would go all wonky and then it would shut itself off after about 5 minutes, with the lamp warning flashing. I went into the service screen and reset the bulb life counter-that seemed to fix the problem. TV worked fine for about another week to ten days.

Then, for whatever reason, the TV wouldn't turn on AGAIN. That, or it took far too long. Then not at all. For a few days, the TV would power on as long as turned the TV on before the Xbox. If the Xbox was already on, the TV wouldn't turn on. Now, the TV is back to not turning on at all. I get a blinking lamp indicator.

Discount-merchant, who I bought the lamp from, wants me to send the lamp back so they can test it and determine if its OK. According to their website, the bulbs have some ungodly failure rate, like 3 out of every 10,000 are DOA.

A call to 1-800-Samsung was no help, they wanted no part of me because it's out of warranty.

I've performed many other checks on the TV-I've ensured that all of the connections are tight, that the inside is clean, and that the lamp-cover-switch is in its proper position. There are no unusual noises coming from the set-I can hear the whirr of the fans and the color wheel.

Audio seems to work OK - I'm just not getting any picture.

I understand routine maintenance-but this many issues within a short timeframe seems unacceptable. Executive Customer Service is closed on the weekend - I'll try Monday, but can I expect them to lend a sympathetic ear?

Are these things just a big scam?

fvox13 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:37:21 -0800

Where does one buy an HDTV these days? (Rochester, NY if that helps) So, I'm looking to get at least a 50 incher, and I'd like to spend under $1500 (I'd go slightly higher, depending on the set). I don't like Plasma, since I've seen a lot of burnt-in sets. Maybe LCD or DLP?

I've seen *SO* much variation of price... I've looked at NewEgg, Best Buy, Circuit City, and a smaller local retailer (Charlotte Appliance).

Where's the best place to go? I know enough to avoid those $50 HDMI cables, but I don't know where to go to get the best deal / what to look for.

is a 1080p projector worth it right now?

Silky Slim — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:35:13 -0800

i'm getting a new projector to replace my existing one. my current macbook only has a 720p native resolution (1280x800) so i'm leaning towards buying a projector with 720p resolution. but thinking forward, with blu-ray players etc, will i have problems playing 1080p movies in 720p? and how will they look? is there a big difference? also, 1080p projectors seem to be much costlier than 720p. for instance, boxlight make a projector called broadview which has 1280x768 resolution and only costs about $1400 (i've been happy with my current projector which is also a boxlight). however, it seems 1080p projectors only start at about $3,000. is this true?

I gave up TV. Now help me buy a TV. (...Or a humongous monitor for my computer/dvd player.)

jkl345 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:43:11 -0800

A couple months ago, I sold my old Sony Trinitron and gave up TV. It's been fantastic and I haven't really looked back. But I *have* been missing watching movies on a screen bigger than my 15” laptop. I've also always wanted a bigger monitor for my laptop, so I can juggle more projects at once. So I'm starting to look around for a large LCD monitor or sizable HDTV to serve these needs. I've had a couple co-workers at previous jobs tell me they use an LCD TV as a monitor and they swear by it for cost savings and multi-functionality. I'm kinda clueless though and need your advice. I've read through some similar AskMeFi questions, but most of them were from 2005 and 2006, so (in theory) the technology should be getting better. I won't accept anything short of a 1920 x 1080 resolution, so that should help with the resolution issue... or maybe I just totally misunderstood the problem with using a TV.

My budget:
I'd be willing to pay around $500, up to $1500 for a perfect device, although I'd prefer to go cheaper. 40" is probably the perfect size for the room it'd be in. (I don't need a 60 inch monitor necessarily but I kinda feel more comfortable paying $1000+ for a 60” DLP HDtv with tons of hook ups and multiple HDMI inputs, than paying $1000+ for a 32” LCD computer monitor. Am I missing some huge advantage over the 32” monitor?)

My needs:
- Widescreen, HD resolution
- Over 30 inches, ideally (Uh, less than 60”, I think)
- Able to plug my laptop into it to use as a big monitor
- Able to plug my DVD player into it (so I don't have to keep using my laptop as a DVD player)
- Able to plug a possible future Blu-Ray or Xbox device into it and get full HD quality
- Cheaper is obviously better, but I don't mind splurging for something really cool or high quality that will last me forever (No plasmas! I don't want to derail things but I've had 3 friends with horrible experiences using Plasmas. So, no plasmas.)

Would be cool:
- Thin profile (LCD's are cool, but not mandatory)
- Having the whole TV tuner/remote/speakers option might be good for resale and useful in special cases (Superbowl or entertaining guests)
- The ability to rotate (from portrait to landscape) is cool too. (I realize this contradicts the previous request since I don't think any TV's can do this. But wouldn't it be cool?!)

Any specific recommendations on models, tutorials/guides that have been helpful to you or general real world anecdotal advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

You down with HDTV?

MarkLark — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:18:10 -0800

Looking for advice on HDTV purchase, where to buy, which models are recommended and which to avoid. Plasma, DLP, LCD? OMG! Hi all - I'm looking to purchase a new HDTV (perhaps as soon as this weekend) and considering the hefty pricetag involved, I just want to be sure I'm making the right choices. I'm looking for any useful tips you can throw my way, or at least guide me in the direction I think I'm going.

We currently have a 48-inch HD rear projection which needs to be replaced. I have an unhealthy obsession with CNN so now there is a permanent CNN logo burned into the bottom left hand corner of the screen. That's now going to be "my" TV so I'm in search of something nice to replace it.

After scouring all askMeFi posts tagged with HDTV, I came across a recent post which gave much praise to the Samsung brand. After checking various models via online reviews (CNet was a good resource, linked in that post), I've taken a shine to the HLTxx87S series, which is the new "LED Engine DLP", no bulb to burn out. Has anyone heard anything - good or bad - about either these models or this new type of video technology?

Finally, price: I was originally setting my max price at around $1500-1600 (US). One of the reasons I'm leaning towards the model above is because Amazon has the 56" model for $1600 - or a 61" for $1800. This seems to be a great bargain considering their regular list price and what other stores list them for.

Assuming I went with this model, is it worth an additional $200 to get 6 more inches (hmm that sounds weird). Is it possible to go "too big"? I've heard of "smearing" on some sets during fast-action scenes, and wonder if this would be more evident on a larger screen.

My last (and nearly biggest) concern is the fact that this would be purchased from Amazon. Has anyone made a big-ticket purchase like this from Amazon before? The pros are that their prices are much cheaper than any of the Big Box places in my area (Best Buy, primarily) - plus there would be an added bonus of no sales tax. I'm concerned with having something that large shipped to me, what happens if it's faulty and needs to be returned, etc. If I end up not going through Amazon, I'm probably going to have to look for a different set at a Big Box store that fits my budget.

I'm not totally sold on this model or brand yet, so if you know of other reliable sets in the approximate neighborhood of $1500, 50+ inches and are burn-in resistant/proof, I'd love to hear about it. (Some gaming may be done on this set as well, but will be primarily for watching HD cable/movies, if this matters.)

lcd dlp plasma oh my!

Industrial PhD — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:09:13 -0800

I have about 19 hours to decide which HDTV to buy. Thoughts? After 21 months of solid performance, my Sharp 65" 1080i DLP finally started having problems. Due to a botched warranty repair, I am being refunded about $2700 from Costco. I intend to repurchase from Costco, and I thought I would query the hive as to recommendations for good 1080p sets out there right now, for about the same amount of money. I will be receiving the refund tomorrow afternoon, and would like to purchase something while I am there, as I have been without a TV for a month now, and my netflix are collecting dust.

I have 2 component devices and an HDMI DVD player, if that makes any difference. Bigger set, the better of course :)

Help me find a DLP lamp?

geoff. — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:21:57 -0800

I need a lamp for my Toshiba 44NHM84 DLP. The repair place wants $471.01 for the lamp, this seems a tad high to me. I am, however, having a hard time finding a lamp from a non-Ebay source online. Where should I go for DLP lamp replacements?

My Samsung DLP tv is completely messed up!

riz1 — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 07:01:27 -0800

My Samsung DLP HDTV is giving me major grief. I was having minor convergence issues on the cable component and then yesterday I came home and there is huge blue streaking on all the components! It looks as if the blue projection has been bent across the top and bottom of the screen. Allow me to give more a detailed account of what is wrong...

I have a Samsung DLP HDTV (model # HCN4226W) that has been giving me minor grief for the past couple of months. At first it seemed like the convergence was off ever so slightly causing the reds, greens and blues to 'smear' on the edges of the TV. I tried to use the perfect focus feature, which simply made everything worse. I was then forced to fix it manually though I could never get it completely aligned.

Fast forward two months later, I move to a new apartment and get a new cable provider. My friend accidentally hits the perfect focus feature totally messing up the TV again. This time its so foobar, that we couldn't even manually fix it. The weird thing at this point is that the other components, such as the DVD player are still working fine. My friend switches it to 480i from 1080i and somehow magically it's back to sort of normal. Now yesterday, when I turn on the TV there is enormous blue streaking on all the components. If you can imagine, there are large curved blue streaks at the top and bottom of the screen. It seems like a major convergence issue.

I have no idea what to do now, since I'm not even sure what exactly is wrong or if a thousand things are wrong.

Help! Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated. We bought the TV used, so I'm not sure what the repair policy will be or how much it will cost...

I have an HD fly in my DLP

quixado — Sun, 21 May 2006 17:17:14 -0800

The back of my DLP HDTV, has a vent in the back for the light projector. Some light escapes out of this vent. A small bug got into the house recently and found the light from the vent. It then discovered an illumination jackpot inside the set. This resulted in a big bug inside the unit and projected onto the screen that I couldn't get out. Does anyone have tips on keeping small insects out of a projection TV like a DLP without restricting the airflow to the lamp, potentially damaging the set?

List of theatres with digital Sith?

mojohand — Wed, 18 May 2005 12:29:06 -0800

There has to be a list somewhere of the U.S. theatres showing The Revenge of the Sith in digital projection or IMAX, but I'm d*mned if my weak-ass google-fu can turn it up. Help me.... No. Must. Resist.

New TV

Evstar — Sun, 02 May 2004 18:41:35 -0800

I'm going to be getting a new tv soon, and I'm having trouble making a
decision. I can get the last generation Samsung 50" DLP (HLN5065W) for
$3 500 CND (about $2 600 USD) or the new model, the HLP5063W for $5 000
CDN (about $3 465 USD). Do you know anything about these T.V.'s? Which
would you recommend? I'm having a hard time finding reviews for the
newer model, I'm not sure it's out yet. Anyway, any help would be
appreciated.