3.5yr old Samsung LA32R81B Panel kaput !

[buxx]

Hi,

I have a 3.5 yrs Samsung 32" LCD HD Ready (LA32R81B) which had its power board replaced about 6 months back and has now developed a panel failure (Samsung technician have confirmed this)

They say it would cost 16.5k for the new panel ( + Tax & service charge, another 2-3k , Totally 19K) and the new panel will have a warranty of 1 month only ! crappy after sales policy, i say...

I use this as a Bedroom TV and already have a Sony FHD 40" LCD for the main living space. I use TS HD+ in my house.

I have grown accustomed to the picture quality of the Samsung for SD channels. & seem to prefer that over the rest of the TVs in the house
( have another 32" Panasonic LCD..)
one reason being the wide zoom of the Samsung which to me appears to give a less distorted image of the 4:3 content v/s the rest of the TVs. Or it could be just that this one is HD ready Go figure..!

Anyways, I have done my fair bit of research and know that a similar sized FHD LCD would be 25k and an LED around 35k..

What would you guys suggest?? My main concern is reliability and availability of extended warranty or AMC.

And of course, I would like to spend as less as possible!:yahoo:

Thank you all in advance for reading this...

 

[viper08]

Go for CRT for piece of mind. Else if you been addicted to flat panel Lloyd is VFM with 4 years extended warranty (1+3 labour) or Toshiba. Even 42" FHD LCD Lloyds comes <30K.

 

[prankey]

Go for CRT for piece of mind. Else if you been addicted to flat panel Lloyd is VFM with 4 years extended warranty (1+3 labour) or Toshiba. Even 42" FHD LCD Lloyds comes <30K.

I haven't reviewed Lloyds so can't comment on the quality. Price seems good though (remember VU is also available at similar quality but I wouldn't look at it even if I get it for FREE!).

OP - Where are you located? Have got 3 good options for you:

1. If you are around Bangalore, I can get you around 50% discount for the panel by escalating the matter to the Product Head, Karnataka as your TV was recently repaired which could have caused such failure. I have the same TV and is running strongest like new without any issue whatsoever and I just love the nonreflective, high contrast, deep black level (after calibration) screen. Infact, I am willing to sell my TV for 19k (the cost of your repair) if you are around Bangalore

2. Get a Panasonic 42X30 Plasma with 3 years warranty for 32.5k to 34k. It can beat any FHD LCD/LED TVs especially in natural looking picture and motion performance.

3. Get a Sony 40CX520 LCD from gray market between 30 to 34k!

 

[Kittu]

3. Get a Sony 40CX520 LCD from gray market between 30 to 34k!

Prankey,

Do you have a source who can arrange the TV for that price in gray market?

I will be taking one.

Kittu

 

[god2007]

Go for CRT for piece of mind. Else if you been addicted to flat panel Lloyd is VFM with 4 years extended warranty (1+3 labour) or Toshiba. Even 42" FHD LCD Lloyds comes <30K.

Did you have personal experience with Lloyds TV ?. I have seen Toshiba in action and found good.

Lloyds, Haier, Hyundai etc are available around 30K for 42 inch full HD. They offer 3 / 4 year warranties. I once seen the Haier in a Cochin show room and found no fault with it.But opinions of forum members are against them. IMO those who are in a tight budget and looking for large screens, can opt for these TVs. In another thread it is reported that AKAI 42 inch FHD passive 3D is available for 36K

 

[shredder]

buxx,
you seem to be an LCD guy, Sony FHD, Panasonic 32LCD..... why not give plasma a try? Especially the HD Ready plasmas, they are really good for SD viewing (and equally good for HD content also, as well as for gaming. As an aside, the HD ready plasmas are really good for gaming especially for PC gaming. Reason being that you can max out the settings to play games without having to get a number crunching graphics card since the native resolution of 720p can be handled by even relatively mediocre graphics cards. OK I admit the same holds true even for an HD Ready LCD, but factor in the bigger screen area and motion and we have a clear winner). Don't judge based on the PQ you see on the display pieces in the showroom, as plasma PQ dramatically improves under home lighting conditions. And gets even better after 200 hrs break-in. Don't be worried about screen burn-in. There will be temporary image retention during the first few hundred hours but it becomes a non-factor after those few hundred hours.
As prankey suggested, get the X30. It's 42 inches, giving you more screen real estate than a 32" LED at the same price. If I'm not wrong, an LED at that price point would be edge-lit rather than local dimming. Local dimming LED is superb, but I'm guessing that you'll have to pay through your nose. If you insist on going for LCD/LED then pick an LCD over an edge-lit LED, which has nothing going for it except for aesthetic appeal and marginally lower power consumption.

 

[buxx]

Thank you guys for all your useful suggestion!!

@viper08: Will check out the Toshiba. I like the brand, need to check out on the warranty/AMC options. no space for CRT in the bedrooom..!

@prankey: I am in Delhi, would you happen to know someone in Samsung service here?

I have looked at Plasmas with a really open mind & eyes but somehow I just like the higher contrast/bright images of the LCD. Will go again & give them a fresh chance.
Also, that particular Pana is 1024X768 only...?

I could go for a smaller sized TV if that means buying with B&W instead of grey mkt.
Dont really need a 40 incher for the bedrooom!

@shredder: The reason why I am even bothering with these edge lit LEDs is that the Samsung guy told that they seem to be more reliable than the LCDs. Though I do question that claim...

Hows LG? they seem to be having good affordable options and their products seem to be reliable...? any experience on them?

I really wish Samsung had extended warranty / AMC options..

 

[viper08]

Did you have personal experience with Lloyds TV ?. I have seen Toshiba in action and found good.

Well my cousin has brought it during diwali sales as he is was not intrested in spending too much money. I found qulity is quiet good + warranty is the biggest USP (At least it means manufacturer trust own brands)

 

[prankey]

Prankey,

Do you have a source who can arrange the TV for that price in gray market?

I will be taking one.

Kittu

I don't remember the shop name, but we could visit National market and will visit the shop. However, I did a side by side comparison between 40CX520 and LG and Panasonic entry level plasmas (LG some 3 series and Panasonic X30), they were beating all the FHD LCD and "LED" TVs hands down (in shop mode). Infact, all the FHD TVs were looking like SD showing Star Movies HD (Mirrors 2 movies) as TS already clips about 25% of high contrast content and those TVs were clipping it even more making the picture looking absolutely ugly and practically unwatchable.

So I would suggest going for 42X30 with 3 years warranty instead of 40CX520 without bill and warranty.

@prankey: I am in Delhi, would you happen to know someone in Samsung service here?

I have looked at Plasmas with a really open mind & eyes but somehow I just like the higher contrast/bright images of the LCD. Will go again & give them a fresh chance.
Also, that particular Pana is 1024X768 only...?

I could go for a smaller sized TV if that means buying with B&W instead of grey mkt.
Dont really need a 40 incher for the bedrooom!

@shredder: The reason why I am even bothering with these edge lit LEDs is that the Samsung guy told that they seem to be more reliable than the LCDs. Though I do question that claim...

Hows LG? they seem to be having good affordable options and their products seem to be reliable...? any experience on them?

I really wish Samsung had extended warranty / AMC options..

I will check with my contact if he could talk to his NCR counterpart to get you the discounts.

I had the same perception like you till few months back when I had a closer look at current Plasma models. As suggested to Kittu, if you closely look beyond those artificially enhanced contrast and brightness, even in shop mode, plasmas look way superior to ANY LCD TVs in the market including the top end LED ones! I also used to think that the resolution of 1024x768 doesn't even match those of HD ready LCD/LED TVs, however even on PCs I have seen those LCD TVs running FHD text and graphics and I bet you would not be able to say its NOT a FHD TV. This proves that the picture processing on the current models have become far superior to what we knew few years back and panel resolution and quality hardly matters now. Go to any showroom and see it yourself once again.

Well my cousin has brought it during diwali sales as he is was not intrested in spending too much money. I found qulity is quiet good + warranty is the biggest USP (At least it means manufacturer trust own brands)

I saw Koryo 32" LCD TV today and the picture on it was looking like SD with Sony 32CX420 (another HD ready TV) besides it giving crisp image from the same source. VU is even worst. I haven't really seen others, but it might hold true for the rest as well.

 

[KDM]

Hi,

I have a 3.5 yrs Samsung 32" LCD HD Ready (LA32R81B) which had its power board replaced about 6 months back and has now developed a panel failure (Samsung technician have confirmed this)

They say it would cost 16.5k for the new panel ( + Tax & service charge, another 2-3k , Totally 19K) and the new panel will have a warranty of 1 month only ! crappy after sales policy, i say...

Jeez! Sammy's service is expensive! Sony charged me 13K (12.5K for Panel and .5 K for service), for a 32 inch HD Ready set, last year.

Go plasma this time, especially if you get a 3 year warranty for it.

 

[viper08]

I saw Koryo 32" LCD TV today and the picture on it was looking like SD with Sony 32CX420 (another HD ready TV) besides it giving crisp image from the same source. VU is even worst. I haven't really seen others, but it might hold true for the rest as well.

Yeap.I have seen Koryo and its a cheap chinese product. Surprisingly I have seen besides sansui and sansui was crisp too at almost same price. Llyods is purely indian brand IMHO and I am talking abt overall VFM.

 

[buxx]

I will check with my contact if he could talk to his NCR counterpart to get you the discounts.

Thanks Prankey for your help . I really like this TV and hope that I will be able to get it repaired at a sane price..

 

[buxx]

also, worst case scenario: how much can I expect for this conked off TV ??