I am getting my Sony 36XBR450 serviced, what do I need to know? (1 Viewer)

[WillY]

I am getting my TV serviced because it has developed an orange spot in the upper left hand corner after two years of great service. I bought the extended warranty for the peace of mind (I know, I know, waste of money usually) so I made a call and scheduled a visit.

My question is, what should I have fixed while the guy is out here? My TV has uneven brightness when it is a completely dark screen, is that fixable? Also, when I turn the TV on, there are noticeable flashes in the screen, is this normal? I don't remember this happening when I first bought the set. Any other flaws with this set that I should have looked at? Anything I should check for?

I tried a search last night, but I couldn't find any threads dealing with problems with the Sony XBR450.

Thanks for the help.

 

[John-Miles]

Who is servicing it for you?

 

[DarrinH]

I have those flashes too.
Mine is an KV36xbr400.
I would only let an offical sony dealer tech work on it if I were you.
Mine was hit by lightning and it fried the main board in my set.
I took it to the dealer repair shop and got great results.

 

[Jack Briggs]

The uneven-brightness issue is fairly common to the WEGAs (I have it). Not sure what can be done about it, though.

What caused the "orange spot," do you think? Sounds like it was affected by a stray magnetic field. Have you tried unplugging the unit or repositioning it? (Simply pointing the XBR in another direction could have an effect.)

 

[WillY]

I think it may be a magnetic field, but there hadn't been a problem with where the TV is located until now.

The repair shop supposedly is authorized by Sony, I made sure to ask the Circuit City extended warranty people. I did some research, and replacing the coil might help with the uneven brightness, and a lot of people seem to get their D board or whatever replaced as well. I have read people have mixed results with having their entire tube replaced, so let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[WillY]

Oh, thanks for the insights, guys...