Care and repair and maintenance of our extinct plasma TV’s, just to keep them going a little longer. (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Yeah, it takes a bit of time with the settings menu on an LED LCD to make it start looking like film again. It can be done (I had an LED LCD I really liked before I picked up the plasma). I wasn’t ready to go 4K yet since my receiver doesn’t support it, but I think I’ll just pretend the new set is HD and not worry about upgrading everything just yet. When it’s time to get a new projector, then I’ll go all in on 4K.

My wife asked if I wanted to kick it in frustration before tossing it. I’m thinking Viking funeral would be more fun.

(I’m kidding, no need to send the fire brigade!)

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, I wasn’t sure what a Viking Funeral is, had to look that up.

I thought you were going to do a David Letterman type thing and hurl it off a roof top.

One other thing, your earlier post reminded me; I forgot to ask about the warranty on the TV repair. I’ll ask the tech, but the receipt says 30 days on parts and workmanship. So it must be a pretty standard thing if your repair guy said 30 days too.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Wayne, sorry to hear about the troubles with two of your plasmas. I hope that you can resolve the problems. Could there be an issue with a fuse inside the Pioneers? It does seem odd that two go out. Maybe it’s something really simple.

Well, my story has a happy ending. I looked on Craigslist several weeks ago, and surprisingly found a total of five Pioneer plasma TVs to choose from, not far away in San Antonio and Austin. To my delights, one of the offerings in San Antonio was a 60” model. I’ve been wanting a 60” for a few years now, but they’re pretty hard to find. So needless to say, I couldn’t believe my good fortune to find one practically in my own back yard.

The seller was asking only $350 for it. Even adding the price of the table-top stand I had to order, our bottom-line outlay is still under $600. I paid $1100 for the last 50” than I bought in 2012, so the price of these things has really come down.

Due to a number of circumstances I won’t bother to go into, we only got it hooked up yesterday, and of course the picture is absolutely stunning! I can’t understand why the public would choose LCDs and LEDs over plasma. Hopefully I’m set until the prices of OLED gets cheap.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gosh, Wayne...you really made out!

Congrats!

 

[Nelson Au]

That’s great Wayne, i’ve Looked at eBay in the past and I always wondered about the condition of the screen glass itself has scratches and then if the plasma screen has image retention.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

No image retention, just eyeball retention. As in, I can’t stop looking at it!

But the nice thing about ebay, if you get the product and it has issues that the seller didn’t disclose, ebay will require them make accommodations, including a full refund.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Sky King]

I've bought my Panasonic Plasma P50ST30 new in 2012. The set continues to operate beautifully with outstanding 3D and hope this continues for many years. I will probably migrate to a 3D projector when the time comes. I love the 3D option and like several here, can't understand why some manufacturers don't include 3D with their higher end TV sets.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Interesting reading, this thread. Sorry for those whose plasmas have given up the ghost. I've been lucky so far...I bought my Panasonic Viera 1080P 50-inch here in Japan in 2008 and it's still working beautifully, nary a problem in 10+ years. It was a very expensive investment for me at the time, and has paid off handsomely as my first baby step into home theater.

Best of luck to others here, that your plasma TVs continue to work properly for as long as you care to use them.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Wayne, I didn’t get a chance to reply earlier. That’s great you have good screens without any image issues. I imagine the cost of plasmas back in the day was one reason for the rise of LCD and LED sets. To the general public, they look fine. Of course I agree Plasma is better.

 

[Nelson Au]

Jeff, John, glad to hear your Panasonic plasmas are still going strong. I hope they keep going for a long time! After I got the power supply replaced on mine, it’s been working fine as well. So far since October 31, the set has been working just like it did before.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Hey Wayne, I didn’t get a chance to reply earlier. That’s great you have good screens without any image issues. I imagine the cost of plasmas back in the day was one reason for the rise of LCD and LED sets. To the general public, they look fine. Of course I agree Plasma is better.

Admittedly I never paid any attention to the prices. But back in the early-to-mid 2000s, does anyone know what LCD TV’s were going for compared to plasmas? I know the Pioneers were always expensive, but weren’t other manufacturers making cheaper ones?

In any event, I think I’m going to put my two dead Pioneers in the shop next month. I’ve found a local shop that will do estimates for a mere $45. I can decide from there if the cost of repair is worth considering or not.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[DaveF]

Next Fall will be ten years, I think, for my pioneer kuro 50”. After a good decade, I hope to retire it, upgrading to 4K. I won’t have any place for it in my house. Is there any resale market for decade old HD plasmas?

 

[Keith Cobby]

After 8 1/2 years of faithful service my Panny plasma died suddenly on Saturday afternoon. Fortunately I bought a Panny OLED last summer, hope it lasts as long.

 

[Mike Frezon]

After 8 1/2 years of faithful service my Panny plasma died suddenly on Saturday afternoon. Fortunately I bought a Panny OLED last summer, hope it lasts as long.

 

[Nelson Au]

Sorry to hear about the Panasonic dying, Keith. Will you try to have it repaired? Maybe it’s the same thing that happened to mine, power supply failed.

 

[Osato]

Preparing for the death of mine. Hoping I get one more year out of it.
2009

 

[Keith Cobby]

Sorry to hear about the Panasonic dying, Keith. Will you try to have it repaired? Maybe it’s the same thing that happened to mine, power supply failed.[/QUOTE

It wasn't the power supply, my son was playing his XBox and the picture turned wavy and then the panel went dark. Not worth spending any money on what is, unfortunately, an obsolete television. Replaced with a 4k LED as he only uses it for gaming. Very pleased with the Panny OLED which I feel is the successor to the plasma (which was old tech at 1080p).

 

[Nelson Au]

When my plasma died last year, I was prepared to upgrade to a Sony OLED. But to me, a TV that doesn’t last longer then 6 years is not acceptable. I know today’s electronics is not long for this world. Not only due to innovations and new technologies are coming out at a faster rate, but even a high end TV like my plasma may not have the higher grade components. To me, it was worth it to me to try to get the plasma working again as it’s not that old. Fortunately it was a simple fix. I still think the Panasonic plasma puts out a stunning picture with a good Blu Ray. But I know I’ll love the 4K OLED when I make the jump.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That was one of the reasons I ended up going with the budget TCL brand instead of a $3000 OLED. If the TV is only going to last 5 years or so, I can’t afford to be replacing a $3000 machine that often. But I can live with replacing a $600 TV every five years if I have to. I sincerely hope I don’t, of course, but losing a $3000 set after five years would be devastating.

 

[Matt Hough]

That was one of the reasons I ended up going with the budget TCL brand instead of a $3000 OLED. If the TV is only going to last 5 years or so, I can’t afford to be replacing a $3000 machine that often. But I can live with replacing a $600 TV every five years if I have to. I sincerely hope I don’t, of course, but losing a $3000 set after five years would be devastating.

When I indulged in my OLED in 2016, I told myself I would not go cheap for one time in my life, but if this thing dies before I'm actually ready for a new TV, my next ones from here on out will be budget TVs.