10yr rear projection tv dead - what would you do?

[JavaBrewer]

So the kids tv, a 10 yr old 50" Mitsubishi rear projection box, dies tonight. Actually it fires up but gets no picture or sound and cannot change inputs. This is the kid's game (Wii, PS2) tv and thus I am getting lots of *pressure* to get it resolved. I'm of the mindset that electronic stuff today is throw away - meaning it's more expensive to repair than replace. I learned my lesson a couple years back with a video camera repair...should have just replaced it with a new one.

It's also a couple weeks past the holidays and frankly I'm still recovering financially. You know how that goes. What would you do?

1. Toss the sucker and go shopping for a newer flat screen LCD. I'm thinking a 42" LCD Costco special hung on the wall.
2. Move our 4 year old 60" Pioneer HiDef rear projection upstairs to the kids area and replace with a 50" or so LCD as the new family unit.
3. Pay a repair man to see what's up with the ailing box and go from there.

What says the pelicans?

[Dave L]

4. buy some board games

[strupgolf]

Originally Posted by Dave L

4. buy some board games

+1

[75'930cab]

I just went throught the same thing with my ole Sony big screen. It works but the picture is like watching it through a fun house mirror! So I replaced it with a Samsung 50" plasma and I wish I would of done it sooner! Now I need to figure out on how to get rid of this old big tv! I'm thinkin about listing it on Craigslist for cheap or free.

[sammyg2]

Toss it out, it'll prolly cost 4 or 500 to fix, if parts are still available. Check out craigslist in your area and buy a decent working replacement for half that.
Lots of people dumping decent rear projection big screens because they had to have one of those flatscreens like the neighbors down the street.

[dtw]

I have a very nice but older Hitachi 57" rear projection - it was 'new to me' a few years ago with something-or-other color convergence card broken. Cost $650 or so to get fixed - definitely worth it to me, beat the cost of similar new models by a long shot.

[rcecale]

David,

If you really need to replace it, and you don't want to shell out the cash of a brand new TV, take a stroll through the Craigs List "Free Items" for your area. I see a lot of televisions like that listed in the Atlanta area that have minor problems that just might do it for you.

In fact, I have an RCA 48" projection tv being stored right now that would be perfect for you. too bad we don't live closer, I'd give it to you. the picture works fine, there is just no sound. For a while I just connected up a DVD Player/Sound System to it and it worked just fine.

Perhaps you can find something like that on Craigs List...for FREE!

Randy

[rcecale]

The again, for $500.00, you could upgrade them to a 60" setup like this one!

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/fur/525155132.html

60" Mitsubishi Platinum Series 1080i HDTV Rear Projection television, great picture, rarely used with NO problems along with oak entertainment center with dvd/cd pull out slides and lighting also in very good condition. You pick up, $500.

Just a little jaunt down the freeway to Chula Vista.

Randy

[ZOA NOM]

Whatever you do, don't put a plasma in the kids game room. I'd guess two weeks before the most popular game pause logo winds up seared across the screen.

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

So the kids tv, a 10 yr old 50" Mitsubishi rear projection box, dies tonight. Actually it fires up but gets no picture or sound and cannot change inputs. This is the kid's game (Wii, PS2) tv and thus I am getting lots of *pressure* to get it resolved. I'm of the mindset that electronic stuff today is throw away - meaning it's more expensive to repair than replace. I learned my lesson a couple years back with a video camera repair...should have just replaced it with a new one.

It's also a couple weeks past the holidays and frankly I'm still recovering financially. You know how that goes. What would you do?

1. Toss the sucker and go shopping for a newer flat screen LCD. I'm thinking a 42" LCD Costco special hung on the wall.
2. Move our 4 year old 60" Pioneer HiDef rear projection upstairs to the kids area and replace with a 50" or so LCD as the new family unit.
3. Pay a repair man to see what's up with the ailing box and go from there.

What says the pelicans?

Don't call the plumber that the other guy did.

[Mule]

If you are used to looking at a 50" 4X3, and switch to a 42" 16X9, you will have a MUCH smaller picture than you're used to. To keep your current size picture you'll need a 60" or better. Gert a 1080P Toshiba or Samsung DLP and you'll love it. $1500 or so should hook you up at Tiger Direct.

[JavaBrewer]

Great tips everyone. I'm not going to drop more than $200 on a used TV and I found a couple candidates on Craigs list this morning. This TV will live upstairs in the kids loft area and is used for movies and Wii/PS2 so a big box TV (heavy) is not what I'm looking for. It's going to be hard enough getting the dead 50" outta there. If I can score a working set that can last for 6 months or so that would be great.

Board games - how about Risk last night till 11:00 pm - my conservative wife wiped us all out We love board games.

[tabs]

Buy LCD at Costco....

[Porsche-O-Phile]

What about a projection unit that you can shine on a wall?

[varmint]

time to push the envelope of the wal mart return policy.

and get you kids a book on WW2. make them read for a few days.

[nostatic]

+1 on LCD at costco. For games LCD will be a better bet than plasma, use less energy, and be lighter. The kids likely won't notice the sub-par performance for movies. With a plasma you will get temporary burn in with persistant game menus, etc. They go away, but can be annoying. The PS2 will output 16x9 as should the wii so even a 32" screen should be plenty big (just got one of those for the ex).

[RickM]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

What about a projection unit that you can shine on a wall?

Mucho $$$$ for the units I've seen.

[JavaBrewer]

Craigs list comes to the rescue. The wife and I agonized for a couple days on what to do. We hated having our hand forced on buying a new flat screen and if we did it would have been a larger one to take over the main family duties.

So instead I dropped $75 for a 2 yr old 27" flat tube. The bonus is that we get to use our entertainment center again and it holds all the goodies (PS, Wii, Stereo, iPod connector, speakers, etc...). The entertainment center is on life support - no viable use with the new flat screen technology - so we're happy to have it in use one more time. The nice thing is that the kids like the *newer* flat tube tv more than the old rear projection they had. The picture is brighter.



This may delay a LCD/Plasma purchase for another year or more. That stuff can only get cheaper and better right!

So long to the rear projection unit. I'm calling Amvets or putting a free ad on Craigs this week.