I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?

- Dave


********************

Dear Hitachi,

My HDTV (Hitachi 53UWX10B) just developed a serious convergence problem
which it's "Magic Focus" auto-convergence tool will NOT fix. I have not
moved the TV in months. Plus I haven't abused it or used it excessively
either. And I bought it less than 2 years ago.

Preliminary discussions with some authorized service centers (ASC)
suggests that it will cost at least $300 for a CRT alignment. Probably
much more to replace potentially bad IC chips or boards. Some ASCs
won't even come out here (or want to charge $200 just to come out)
because I live about 40 minutes from Phoenix.

It's very disheartening that my $2700 investment in a Hitachi product
will cost me so dearly less than 2 years later. Up until now, I've been
very happy with this TV.

Is there some kind of product recall on this TV ?

Is there any thing that Hitachi can do to help ?

Is there any thing else you can suggest?

Sincerely - DC


PS - I have JPEGs of the screen images (if it'll help diagnose the
problem).

-----------

"Dave@UltimatePix" wrote in message
...
I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

If the TV only has a 1 year warranty, why should the company be expected to
fix it when it's a year out of warranty? Do what everyone else does, call a
local shop & have them make a service call. (next time, buy an extended
warranty policy)

I have the same model 53UWX10B HITACHI projection HDTV. Just yesterday
it started to have the exact same problem. The convergence is way off
and magic focus will not fix it. The TV is 3 years old and I called
Hitachi today and they were not very helpful. When I told the guy that
I was surprised that this set went bad so soon, he said, "well the TV
is several years old". So don't expect Hitachi TVs to last more than
3 years. I have a CRT Emerson that has lasted me ten years, so far.
HITACHI SUCKS, I will never by another Hitachi product again.

I am neither defending, or slandering Hitachi here, but I can tell you
this: If MAN made it, it will break. Whenever returning a repaired set to
a customer, I am often asked the age old question, "Is it going to break
again?" Most everyone acts shocked at my quick, honest answer - "Yes, of
course." Sometime in the future, maybe near, maybe a long, long time from
now, that TV, etc., etc. WILL break again. Only Heaven and Earth last
forever. I believe your Hitachi may need convergence output ICs - probably
a small price to pay for 53 inches of viewing pleasure regardless of brand
name. I wish I had even just one dollar apiece from everytime I heard a
phrase like "I will never buy RCA again", or "I will never buy Zenith
again", or, or, - you get the idea... Funny thing is, there's not one brand
(except maybe some obscure name) that I HAVEN'T heard in one of those
statements...

"smann" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have the same model 53UWX10B HITACHI projection HDTV. Just yesterday
it started to have the exact same problem. The convergence is way off
and magic focus will not fix it. The TV is 3 years old and I called
Hitachi today and they were not very helpful. When I told the guy that
I was surprised that this set went bad so soon, he said, "well the TV
is several years old". So don't expect Hitachi TVs to last more than
3 years. I have a CRT Emerson that has lasted me ten years, so far.
HITACHI SUCKS, I will never by another Hitachi product again.

Also, this is a very common problem with most RPTV designs that use the STK
Convergence Output Devices. The actual devices operate at a high thermal
level and tend to break down internally. Great Design SANKEN produces and
manufacturers purchase for implementation in their sets. Also, many times
some of the low value resistors are damaged in the convergence output
circuit. If you are a service technician then you already know how to
diagnose and repair the set. However, if instead you are just a ranting
consumer then call the local Hitachi Authorized Servicer, pay the $
150 -$300 USD to have the set fixed, or go buy another set that you will
have fail again in another period of normal use.
"Phil Bowser" wrote in message
...
I am neither defending, or slandering Hitachi here, but I can tell you
this: If MAN made it, it will break. Whenever returning a repaired set
to
a customer, I am often asked the age old question, "Is it going to break
again?" Most everyone acts shocked at my quick, honest answer - "Yes, of
course." Sometime in the future, maybe near, maybe a long, long time from
now, that TV, etc., etc. WILL break again. Only Heaven and Earth last
forever. I believe your Hitachi may need convergence output ICs -
probably
a small price to pay for 53 inches of viewing pleasure regardless of brand
name. I wish I had even just one dollar apiece from everytime I heard a
phrase like "I will never buy RCA again", or "I will never buy Zenith
again", or, or, - you get the idea... Funny thing is, there's not one
brand
(except maybe some obscure name) that I HAVEN'T heard in one of those
statements...

"smann" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have the same model 53UWX10B HITACHI projection HDTV. Just yesterday
it started to have the exact same problem. The convergence is way off
and magic focus will not fix it. The TV is 3 years old and I called
Hitachi today and they were not very helpful. When I told the guy that
I was surprised that this set went bad so soon, he said, "well the TV
is several years old". So don't expect Hitachi TVs to last more than
3 years. I have a CRT Emerson that has lasted me ten years, so far.
HITACHI SUCKS, I will never by another Hitachi product again.

I just fixed one of these exact same models with the exact same problem Friday.
Problem was caused by loose solder connections on convergence IC's (STK392-110)
causing one of them them to overload and short; also cooked three output
resistors (1.5 ohm, 2.2 ohm, and 3.3 ohm 1 watt. Customer said TV had lost
convergence "several times" before going completely.

"Dave@UltimatePix" wrote in message
...
I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?

- Dave

I sympathize with you. It sucks to have an expensive TV for only two years,
and then be told in is going to cost that much money to fix it. It really
does cost a shop more time and money to work on projection TVs, but a few
shops take it over the top, and charge exuberant amounts simply becuse it's
projection. So it pays to call and shop around for the best rates with a
qualified service shop. Even though you have only had the set two years, the
odds of getting Hitachi to fix it for free are slim to none, but worth a
shot a guess. Any break in price would be better than nothing. The simply
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years. When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now, as you are finding out. Good luck!



********************

Dear Hitachi,

My HDTV (Hitachi 53UWX10B) just developed a serious convergence problem
which it's "Magic Focus" auto-convergence tool will NOT fix. I have not
moved the TV in months. Plus I haven't abused it or used it excessively
either. And I bought it less than 2 years ago.

Preliminary discussions with some authorized service centers (ASC)
suggests that it will cost at least $300 for a CRT alignment. Probably
much more to replace potentially bad IC chips or boards. Some ASCs
won't even come out here (or want to charge $200 just to come out)
because I live about 40 minutes from Phoenix.

It's very disheartening that my $2700 investment in a Hitachi product
will cost me so dearly less than 2 years later. Up until now, I've been
very happy with this TV.

Is there some kind of product recall on this TV ?

Is there any thing that Hitachi can do to help ?

Is there any thing else you can suggest?

Sincerely - DC


PS - I have JPEGs of the screen images (if it'll help diagnose the
problem).

-----------

His best option is to HOPE that he used his VISA,American Express, etc to
buy the set that includes the extended warranty protection and doubles the
manufactures warranty.

It is highly unlikly a call to Hitachi will result in much help at all. As
long as you are nice it cannot hurt to try, worst they can do is say no
which leave you where you are now.

Even UNDER WARRANTY if you really live 40 miles away from the nearest
Hitachi authorized servicer, you would probably have had to pay for the
excessive mileage or take the set into the servicer at your cost. Read the
fine print of the warranty, almost all manufacture warranties are like this
regarding those costs. Some manufactures will cover the mileage in some
cases under warranty.

FYI a 40 mile service call would likely result in FOUR one way trips of 40
miles. Usually the first 15 miles is covered by a servicers area, add about
$1.25 per mile for the servicer to BREAK EVEN on the costs of having a paid
experienced tech on the road, and you can see where the extra dollars over
the usual $50 to $75 trip charge are coming from.

David

bigmike wrote in message
m...

"Dave@UltimatePix" wrote in message
...
I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?

- Dave

I sympathize with you. It sucks to have an expensive TV for only two
years,
and then be told in is going to cost that much money to fix it. It really
does cost a shop more time and money to work on projection TVs, but a few
shops take it over the top, and charge exuberant amounts simply becuse
it's
projection. So it pays to call and shop around for the best rates with a
qualified service shop. Even though you have only had the set two years,
the
odds of getting Hitachi to fix it for free are slim to none, but worth a
shot a guess. Any break in price would be better than nothing. The simply
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years. When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now, as you are finding out. Good luck!



********************

Dear Hitachi,

My HDTV (Hitachi 53UWX10B) just developed a serious convergence problem
which it's "Magic Focus" auto-convergence tool will NOT fix. I have not
moved the TV in months. Plus I haven't abused it or used it excessively
either. And I bought it less than 2 years ago.

Preliminary discussions with some authorized service centers (ASC)
suggests that it will cost at least $300 for a CRT alignment. Probably
much more to replace potentially bad IC chips or boards. Some ASCs
won't even come out here (or want to charge $200 just to come out)
because I live about 40 minutes from Phoenix.

It's very disheartening that my $2700 investment in a Hitachi product
will cost me so dearly less than 2 years later. Up until now, I've been
very happy with this TV.

Is there some kind of product recall on this TV ?

Is there any thing that Hitachi can do to help ?

Is there any thing else you can suggest?

Sincerely - DC


PS - I have JPEGs of the screen images (if it'll help diagnose the
problem).

-----------

Whew! I did pay with a VISA platinum card and just called them to set
up a claim. Thanks for the reminder!

Now I've got to decide if I want to pay them $268 to get a 5-year
warranty on all future VISA purchases...

In article , David
wrote:

His best option is to HOPE that he used his VISA,American Express, etc to
buy the set that includes the extended warranty protection and doubles the
manufactures warranty.

It is highly unlikly a call to Hitachi will result in much help at all. As
long as you are nice it cannot hurt to try, worst they can do is say no
which leave you where you are now.

Even UNDER WARRANTY if you really live 40 miles away from the nearest
Hitachi authorized servicer, you would probably have had to pay for the
excessive mileage or take the set into the servicer at your cost. Read the
fine print of the warranty, almost all manufacture warranties are like this
regarding those costs. Some manufactures will cover the mileage in some
cases under warranty.

FYI a 40 mile service call would likely result in FOUR one way trips of 40
miles. Usually the first 15 miles is covered by a servicers area, add about
$1.25 per mile for the servicer to BREAK EVEN on the costs of having a paid
experienced tech on the road, and you can see where the extra dollars over
the usual $50 to $75 trip charge are coming from.

David

bigmike wrote in message
m...

"Dave@UltimatePix" wrote in message
...
I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?

- Dave

I sympathize with you. It sucks to have an expensive TV for only two
years,
and then be told in is going to cost that much money to fix it. It really
does cost a shop more time and money to work on projection TVs, but a few
shops take it over the top, and charge exuberant amounts simply becuse
it's
projection. So it pays to call and shop around for the best rates with a
qualified service shop. Even though you have only had the set two years,
the
odds of getting Hitachi to fix it for free are slim to none, but worth a
shot a guess. Any break in price would be better than nothing. The simply
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years. When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now, as you are finding out. Good luck!



********************

Dear Hitachi,

My HDTV (Hitachi 53UWX10B) just developed a serious convergence problem
which it's "Magic Focus" auto-convergence tool will NOT fix. I have not
moved the TV in months. Plus I haven't abused it or used it excessively
either. And I bought it less than 2 years ago.

Preliminary discussions with some authorized service centers (ASC)
suggests that it will cost at least $300 for a CRT alignment. Probably
much more to replace potentially bad IC chips or boards. Some ASCs
won't even come out here (or want to charge $200 just to come out)
because I live about 40 minutes from Phoenix.

It's very disheartening that my $2700 investment in a Hitachi product
will cost me so dearly less than 2 years later. Up until now, I've been
very happy with this TV.

Is there some kind of product recall on this TV ?

Is there any thing that Hitachi can do to help ?

Is there any thing else you can suggest?

Sincerely - DC


PS - I have JPEGs of the screen images (if it'll help diagnose the
problem).

-----------

The simply(???)
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years.

That's utter bull****. And I defy you to produce ANY statistical evidence
to back up that statement. Of course "big percentage" is about as vague as
you can possibly be.

When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now

And unless you work for Circus city or Bad Buys...this is also bull****.
Extended warranties are HUGELY profitable to retailers for precisely the
reason that so FEW claims are ever filed (because they ain't
required...because a big percentage of TV do NOT breakdown!!!)




\

When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now
"bigmike" wrote in message
m...

"Dave@UltimatePix" wrote in message
...
I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?

- Dave

I sympathize with you. It sucks to have an expensive TV for only two
years,
and then be told in is going to cost that much money to fix it. It really
does cost a shop more time and money to work on projection TVs, but a few
shops take it over the top, and charge exuberant amounts simply becuse
it's
projection. So it pays to call and shop around for the best rates with a
qualified service shop. Even though you have only had the set two years,
the
odds of getting Hitachi to fix it for free are slim to none, but worth a
shot a guess. Any break in price would be better than nothing. The simply
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years. When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now, as you are finding out. Good luck!



********************

Dear Hitachi,

My HDTV (Hitachi 53UWX10B) just developed a serious convergence problem
which it's "Magic Focus" auto-convergence tool will NOT fix. I have not
moved the TV in months. Plus I haven't abused it or used it excessively
either. And I bought it less than 2 years ago.

Preliminary discussions with some authorized service centers (ASC)
suggests that it will cost at least $300 for a CRT alignment. Probably
much more to replace potentially bad IC chips or boards. Some ASCs
won't even come out here (or want to charge $200 just to come out)
because I live about 40 minutes from Phoenix.

It's very disheartening that my $2700 investment in a Hitachi product
will cost me so dearly less than 2 years later. Up until now, I've been
very happy with this TV.

Is there some kind of product recall on this TV ?

Is there any thing that Hitachi can do to help ?

Is there any thing else you can suggest?

Sincerely - DC


PS - I have JPEGs of the screen images (if it'll help diagnose the
problem).

-----------

"Curmudgeon" wrote in message
.. .
The simply(???)
truth is that a big percentage of tvs nowadays are going to break down in
little more than two years.

That's utter bull****. And I defy you to produce ANY statistical evidence
to back up that statement. Of course "big percentage" is about as vague
as
you can possibly be.

When buying a projectionTV, the extended
warranty is almost a must now

And unless you work for Circus city or Bad Buys...this is also bull****.
Extended warranties are HUGELY profitable to retailers for precisely the
reason that so FEW claims are ever filed (because they ain't
required...because a big percentage of TV do NOT breakdown!!!)

Just as an FYI, my rear projection tv (Sony) had to have the colour guns
replaced just after the 6th month.

I did take an extended warranty (10 year) and will use it for an annual
cleaning at the very least.

Cheers, Derek

"And I defy you to produce ANY statistical evidence
to back up that statement. "

Maybe not his statement but some real world statistics I have gotton my
hands on from manufactures AND service contract companies.

For example, service contact companies base the percentages on having about
a 1 in 5 chance of an ordinary failure resulting in a claim payment over 5
years. That is 20% BTW. By some definitions a large percentage.

When Samsung first started selling the RPTV lines in the US, they had a
serious engineering defect which caused nearly a 100% failure within the
first two years.

Zenith's "L' and "M" line picture tube failures as tracked by Zenith
warranty claims showed over a 35% failure in the first two years. No
numbers for between 2 and 5 years which we did see an inordinately large
number of these.

Thomsons TOB ground problems were prevelant for about 4 years before they
got a handle on a solid fix at the factory. A very large percentage of
those failed within 2 to 3 years. Thomsons own numbers admitted to over a
50% failure during the first year warranty period on the first couple of
generations of the design.

In todays era of manufactures constant cost cutting, there has been an
increasing number of poor quality and reliability of design. How can we
know when the next cost cutting measure by a manufacture results in a sudden
almost total guaranteed failure of a product?

Take the el-junko capacitor situation from the last couple of years. I
cannot tell you how many consumer electronics products I have seen with
failing capacitors from the el-junk batch in all kinds of different
products.

There is more than enough evidence of an increasing number of poor quality
and reliability products across the board from many different manufactures
over the last 10 or so years to be wary of any long term reliability.

Maybe not the large percentage in two years by some peoples definition. But
the fact that Sony had to work extremely hard to get past the initial WEGA
XBR engineering problems to get the warranty claim rate to an acceptable
level is an indication that cost cutting has had an effect on quality and
reliability. FYI the WEGA line now has one of the lowest warranty claim
rates of any tv line on the market as of 2001 model year, somewhere around
3% failure the first year for all the models.

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 21:18:47 GMT, "Dave@UltimatePix" wrote:

I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Call 800-HITACHI or email Hitachi is
generally highly regarded in the service industry.

Alan Harriman

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 21:18:47 GMT, "Dave@UltimatePix"
wrote:

I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?
Nope.

My father in law has a 36-inch Hitachi TV that died 4 hours after the
warranty expired.

Hitachi would not honour their warranty, even though the TV died the
day after the warranty expired. Cost him $300 to get the problem fixed.

That's that last Hitachi in their household.

Brad

Correction to your mis-information.
Hitachi DID HONOR the warranty, the set failed AFTER the warranty had
expired.


Brad Clarke wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 21:18:47 GMT, "Dave@UltimatePix"
wrote:

I submitted the letter below at this link;

http://www.hitachi.net/Apps/HitachiC...ustomerSupport

But got a reply back that they were a component supplier, not the Home
Electronics Division.

Anyone think they'll own up to it and take care of the situation even
though the TV is only warrantied for 1 year ?

Anyone else have problems with Hitachi products?
Nope.

My father in law has a 36-inch Hitachi TV that died 4 hours after the
warranty expired.

Hitachi would not honour their warranty, even though the TV died the
day after the warranty expired. Cost him $300 to get the problem fixed.

That's that last Hitachi in their household.

Brad

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 11:38:19 -0500, "David"
wrote:

Correction to your mis-information.
Hitachi DID HONOR the warranty, the set failed AFTER the warranty had
expired.
Whatever....the fact of the matter is that 1 day out of warranty and
they wouldn't give in even a bit on the repair bill on a one year old TV
that had cost $1,800 at the time.

Brad