On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 23:09:41 -0400, "M" wrote:

I think I'll buy a (plasma) HDTV soon.

I have fixed my 20-year old Panasonic several times over its lifetime
(typically
capacitors, etc.that I've learned about here), but will I be able to fix an
HDTV?

I'm competant with scopes, DVMs, soldering and the like but if new TVs are
made like the computers I work on, the repair philosophy is "replace the
board"
and my experience is not valuable then.

What do shops do now? Do they just replace the defective board like a
computer
motherboard or troubleshoot the problem to the part? Are the devices
surface
mounted that prohibits their replacement or can devices be easily replaced?

I typically don't take the "extended warranties" but in this case, is it
worth it?

Finally, do you think I would be able to buy service info like I got for my
Panasonic?

It's a different (service) world these days.

TIA
Mike



I don't have much experience with plasmas, but for other types of
HDTVs a lot of those same old problems still apply. I still see a lot
of sets with things like bad soldering, broken coax connectors and
power supply problems. In my experience, those hard to find,
impossible to solder large ICs rarely fail. When they do, it's
usually the result of a lighting hit, or botched repair attempt. I've
observed a lot of the poorly skilled people resort to board swapping
when it wasn't at all necessary. These people don't last long because
there isn't much money in board swapping.

The lack of schematics would make me avoid a plasma if I was
interested in repairing it myself. CRT HDTVs are pretty conventional
apart from the metal box that contains all the digital processing.
Andy Cuffe

-- Use this address until 12/31/2005

-- Use this address after 12/31/2005