Checklist to avoid buying Demo Piece - LCD /Plasma Tv

Reliance digital near my place is offering me Panasonic PDP50VT20 demo piece for 84k. he says its being used for 3 months.! do you guys think its a good offer?

cheers
 
Reliance digital near my place is offering me Panasonic PDP50VT20 demo piece for 84k. he says its being used for 3 months.! do you guys think its a good offer?

cheers

Here is a thread for offers on 50VT20 http://www.hifivision.com/television/21214-50vt20-offers-accross-india-hyderabad-80k-new-post.html

There is no need to read the thread :). I can tell you almost no one has bought a fresh piece for a rupee over 80K since last 4 months.

Current fair price without freebies for fresh piece should be 70-73K.
 
Firstly thanks to all contributors to this thread becoz of which i was Xtra cautious while purchasing LCD TV and thus ruled out possibility of getting demo piece..My bit of advice

1. I bought LG LCD this month..Its always advisable to buy from LG Shoppe or LG Best Shop to avoid being duped...U will get best rate also

2. I told 100 times to LG Shoppe executive that if i get demo piece then i will return it back and confidently he gave oral assurance that if i will prove that its demo piece then he will take it back

3. Just check with him on location of LG warehouse and take assurance from him that it will come from LG warehouse only...U can ascertain this at delivery becoz Tax invoice will be issued from LG warehouse address (Pls note it will not be LG invoice but of some local dealer who is handling distributorship of LG for that area as LG cannot directly sell to customers)..Just check on LG warehouse address online and just see the address is matching on Tax invoice

4. TV unit which i received..Its manufacturing date is just 8 days back of Date of invoice e.g. if i purchased on 19 Dec then in my case manufacturing date of TV unit is 11 Dec.

5. I checked with LG person who came for installation..Just by look he told its fresh piece reason he told that on demo piece u will find 2 or 3 tapes or tape mark on top and bottom opening...In my case i checked minutely and found out its tapped only once through very thick tape which is used by LG (it should not necessarily have LG watermark) else u find card board layer removed if its tapped, removed and then again tapped

6. Lastly he showed me through MENU that usage hours is ZERO and i sigh relief...

Yupee i got fresh piece and very happy with LG service and can enjoy my new TV without worrying that its DEMO piece..
 
Resetting to factory settings will remove the usage hours on the TV. So anything to do about that?

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Got Pana P42UT50 delivered today. Having checked usage hour as per steps listed few pages back, the set had clocked 18 hours 48 minutes at the time of delivery. So should I return it to dealer and get another piece?

Apart from usage hours, I also have other suspicion of it being showroom piece. I ran some solid colour still images and there is no apparent image retention and no visible blemish. Physically there is no apparent scratch or sign of usage.
 
Got Pana P42UT50 delivered today. Having checked usage hour as per steps listed few pages back, the set had clocked 18 hours 48 minutes at the time of delivery. So should I return it to dealer and get another piece?

Apart from usage hours, I also have other suspicion of it being showroom piece. I ran some solid colour still images and there is no apparent image retention and no visible blemish. Physically there is no apparent scratch or sign of usage.

Yes. It may be a demo piece or maybe returned back by a purchaser; second possibility is likely if user purchased 42" and then decided to either upgrade to 50" or maybe an ST50. But I think that clocked hours are not too high; I mean you can live with that. Your call.

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Got Pana P42UT50 delivered today. Having checked usage hour as per steps listed few pages back, the set had clocked 18 hours 48 minutes at the time of delivery. So should I return it to dealer and get another piece?

Apart from usage hours, I also have other suspicion of it being showroom piece. I ran some solid colour still images and there is no apparent image retention and no visible blemish. Physically there is no apparent scratch or sign of usage.

Most likely its a demo / used piece. I would recommend it to return it back. Usage hours is the best way to find out if its a brand new piece or not, nowadays these dealers have become smart, they will clean up the TV without any fingerprints, no dust... but they cant reset the usage hours. Even I got the demo piece from the Panasonic Brand shop (can you believe it, Panasonic brand shop selling demo pieces), I am waiting for the replacement.
 
Even I got the demo piece from the Panasonic Brand shop (can you believe it, Panasonic brand shop selling demo pieces), I am waiting for the replacement.

I think Panasonic has a strategy and a set modus operandi to palm off demo pieces to unsuspecting customers.

When I got my X-30 from the dealer, the box appeared factory packed with no signs of tampering. I was so sure that it was a sealed piece that I didn't even bother to check the usage hours.

A couple of days later when one of my friends came home, I was demonstrating how to check the usage hours when to my utter dismay, the readings showed usage of 309 hours and switching 306 times.

I took it up with the dealer who had in turn taken it up with the Panasonic's sales head of Chennai. Though he promised to replace the set, despite our best efforts for 20 - 30 days, nothing happened. He kept making promises and cited change of warehouse location, holidays, lack of stocks et al and finally stated that the higher ups refused to replace the set as the equipment is not faulty.

Since I had taken it up with the dealer within two days in writing and had an acknowledgement for the same and threatened to take up with consumer redressal forum, the dealer had no option but to replace the set from his stocks. Obviously, the set, with another 100 odd hours added, would've been palmed off to some unsuspecting ignorant buyer.

I have all the relevant proofs and can produce if required. Shame on Panasonic.:mad:
 
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this might sound slightly off topic but nevertheless related .
do you guys think we can avoid demo piece being delivered if ordered from online retailers such as flipkart etc? because they don't have any showrooms.. please let me know if this assumption can be made.
i am wary of buying from the normal shops. the other day i went to one popular chain and not at all impressed. the sales guy was pushing one brand saying its better.. so i am inclined towards buying from croma which is reputed. can we blindly assume that croma doesn't have this practice of selling demo pieces?.. any experience/feedback would be great.
 
How can you say so?

The dealer didn't have stock and the conversation happened with the company official right in my presence.

When the package was delivered, there is absolutely no signs of any tampering. It wouldn't have been possible had it come from the dealer's warehouse.

This is crazy, whom should we trust then

Insist on demo of the piece being delivered right at the dealer's showroom and check the usage hours right there.
 
This is the procedure for some of Panasonic plasma models. I used the below
procedure on P65VT30d and it worked. Even though the manufacture date is Feb 2011, the tv showed that it has been powered only once.

2011 Models : _X3 / S30 / ST30 / GT30 / VT30
2010 Models : _X24 / C2 / U2 / S2 / G20 / G25 / GT20 / GT25 / VT20 / VT25

Press and hold the {VOL -} button ON THE PLASMA TV.
Then press the {INFO} button on the remote control 3 times.

"Start Adjustment Menu" message will be displayed followed
by the Service Menu after few seconds.

ADJUST {Picture Adjustment}
WB-ADJUST {White Balance Adjustment}
OPTION {Option Setting}
V-SUS {V-SUS Adjustment}
AGING
SRV-TOOL {Service Tool}
{1} & {2} buttons move through options

Press the {2} button once to select "SRV-TOOL".

Then press the {OK} button to access it.

Using the cursor keys, highlight the right side
of the last item "PTCT :00.00.00.00.00" :

srv01asm.jpg



Then press and hold the {MUTE} button for 3 seconds.

Time and Count will be displayed in red color:

srv01bsm.jpg


__TIME = Hours : Minutes of operation.
COUNT = Times the Plasma was powered on.

To exit, unplug the power cable.

Now here is my P65VT30d tv. I made the decision to get this after lot of deliberation between a projector and a plasma. Somehow I have never liked the post processed feel on LCD/LED tvs. The tv is extremely heavy (60 kg) and I had to request two strong built people to pull out the tv from the packing. I have connected HDMI1 to apple tv and tata sky to composite video input AV2. So far I have watched Prometheus in 3d. I will be later shifting this tv to a dedicated listening/movie watching/relaxation room which is currently in the making at my new house.

BTW: The Viera Connect is CRAP. The user experience is terrible. Just don't feel like using it. You just cannot compare it with Apple TV.
 

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How to enter the service menu of 32HX 750 to see the usage hours.
Also what are the other ways to check that the t.v i bought is a new one not a demo unit...though i bought it from a sony center listed on sony india's site

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