Bought a Sony 60 inch LCD kdf-60wf655 in December 2004. It has an excellent picture, friends with other brands comment that the picture is sharper than theirs. However, at about 14 months the thing died, needed a power board (?) replacement, about $400.00. Fortunately, my credit card insurance covered this as the manufacturer's warranty was 1 year and expired. In October 2007 the lamp went out, replaced it myself for about $150. Yesterday there was a loud pop and the picture went black. I though it was the lamp again, but the blinking light (5 times) and an internet search tells me it is the power board again. Am I just having some bad luck or is Sony no longer a top brand? Also, any opinions on whether is worth repairing for about $400.00 to $450.00 or just replacing the set? The same model is of course newer and improved and sells for about $2200.00. I see other brands of the same size for a bit less and will probably avoid Sony.
Sony a lemon?
- Thread starter jb1945
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May be the light engine. I had a Toshiba dlp and it went out and would have cost around $600 to fix.
How many HDMI inputs on that set? Might be something to consider with HDCP. Or maybe larger screen size if you have the room.
Sony no longer means quality. Sony is cheap crap. You are paying for the brand name. Not a quality product.
Agree about Sony, I have got burn by the last couple of products I have purchased. It's sad they used to be such a good products.
Samsung is no better. I own one. Its getting very hard to find a quality set at a good price. I am very suprised about Sony though. They charge a premium for their name.
They strike me as good quality. So does Pioneer. I like the looks of Sharp Aquos but I dont know how reliable they are.
Went out to look for a replacement in the 60" + range. Liked the Samsung HLT 6187 and the Mitsubishi WD 65733 among others. Then I did some research. There is too much information available on the internet! Every set I check out I find someone bashing it for one reason or another. Even reviews that recommend the set are sometimes filled with negative comments.
We retired our KDF-50WE655, purchased Oct 2004, to the game room...but it is still used almost daily since we prefer it over both of our Mitsubishi's for PS3 gaming. I can't say one bad thing about the set; I am still using the original lamp with probably 5000 hours on it...along with a spare lamp I received from Sony.
My 11 month old Mitsubishi Diamond DLP (WD-57831) already burned through a lamp last month (2400 hours) and this past weekend the light engine fan stopped working. So far, my experiences with Sony have been fine (haven't needed any repairs) - both Mitsubishi's needed warranty repair...as did the Samsung.
As such, I have no opinion regarding Sony service; I spent weeks trying to find someone in my area to service the Sumsung, but I will say the folks at Samsung stepped-up to the plate and replaced the set at no charge; the Mitsubishi sets have a lot of nice features, but their DLPs break far too frequently...and also seem to wait a long time for parts. Personally, I cannot recommend purchasing a current Samsung or Mitsubishi DLP...unless you get a really good price and a matching really good extended warranty that included two lamp replacements. Anyway, I was really hoping Mitsubishi would be releasing their new Laser DLPs this spring, but they won't hit the streets until 4th quarter. Additionally, it appears the 65" model will be priced in the $4500-$5500 range...a lot more than I am willing to pay.
Yep, there is a lot of bashing of many of the current sets...well, the technology in these HDTVs (i.e. light engines) just hasn't turned out to be nearly as reliable as the good old fashined CRTs. To be honest, most new appliances such as washers & drivers and refrigerators just don't last like they used to. We keep a spare 22+ year fridge and washer & dryer in the basement...and we just replaced a 4-year old washer (heck, had to replace the dryer too since my wife wanted a matching set) and 8-year old fridge.
I am not a fan of the extended warranty, but I would recommend purchasing a 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty with your next big screen purchase. I purchased my last set from a local higher-end retailer (thebigscreenstore.com). They are typically a little more expensive than the local Best Buy and Circuit City, but they have a half-dozen really good sales each year in which they bundle many of their sets along with a premium 5-year warranty (two lamp replacements). Believe it or not the price was actually cheaper than BB/CC and just about every internet retailer out there. Plus, whenever I have a problem...I just call Ted and he takes care of the rest (no sitting on hold with Mitsubishi or some warranty company). Currently, they are selling a WD-65833 w/5-year warranty for $2899.99 and zero percent financing from Mitsubishi for 16-months. Dollar wise, this is a pretty good deal if you can get a price match in your area.
My 11 month old Mitsubishi Diamond DLP (WD-57831) already burned through a lamp last month (2400 hours) and this past weekend the light engine fan stopped working. So far, my experiences with Sony have been fine (haven't needed any repairs) - both Mitsubishi's needed warranty repair...as did the Samsung.
As such, I have no opinion regarding Sony service; I spent weeks trying to find someone in my area to service the Sumsung, but I will say the folks at Samsung stepped-up to the plate and replaced the set at no charge; the Mitsubishi sets have a lot of nice features, but their DLPs break far too frequently...and also seem to wait a long time for parts. Personally, I cannot recommend purchasing a current Samsung or Mitsubishi DLP...unless you get a really good price and a matching really good extended warranty that included two lamp replacements. Anyway, I was really hoping Mitsubishi would be releasing their new Laser DLPs this spring, but they won't hit the streets until 4th quarter. Additionally, it appears the 65" model will be priced in the $4500-$5500 range...a lot more than I am willing to pay.
Yep, there is a lot of bashing of many of the current sets...well, the technology in these HDTVs (i.e. light engines) just hasn't turned out to be nearly as reliable as the good old fashined CRTs. To be honest, most new appliances such as washers & drivers and refrigerators just don't last like they used to. We keep a spare 22+ year fridge and washer & dryer in the basement...and we just replaced a 4-year old washer (heck, had to replace the dryer too since my wife wanted a matching set) and 8-year old fridge.
I am not a fan of the extended warranty, but I would recommend purchasing a 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty with your next big screen purchase. I purchased my last set from a local higher-end retailer (thebigscreenstore.com). They are typically a little more expensive than the local Best Buy and Circuit City, but they have a half-dozen really good sales each year in which they bundle many of their sets along with a premium 5-year warranty (two lamp replacements). Believe it or not the price was actually cheaper than BB/CC and just about every internet retailer out there. Plus, whenever I have a problem...I just call Ted and he takes care of the rest (no sitting on hold with Mitsubishi or some warranty company). Currently, they are selling a WD-65833 w/5-year warranty for $2899.99 and zero percent financing from Mitsubishi for 16-months. Dollar wise, this is a pretty good deal if you can get a price match in your area.
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Thanks for all the input. It seems my Sony may be a lemon, but Sony is still one of the better brands on the market. I agree that they are not at the quality level they once were, but their prices are also now more in line with the competition. The sony KDS 60a3000 appears to be one of the best values currently available in $2k range.
The loud pop was a capacitor blowing out. They do this from time to time but especially from 2002 to 2004 when some bad caps got released to the world in vast quantities. Someone with some electronic experience should be able to find the blown cap and remove it from the board it is on and put a new one on. It will help if you know someone with some experience in this area.
