jessman

Sorry to post this here, but I have posted in the home theater board before and it took 5 days to get a replay before


I have an Insignia 42 inch LCD flat panel HD tv. Everything works perfect except I went to turn it on last month and you can only see the video if you put your face RIGHT on top on the screen! if you back away it is basically a black screen with audio.

I was wondering if anyone here knew what was wrong and how much to fix? Or how much I can expect to sell it for for parts or something.

I paid $1000 and it is barely a year old!

Cathy95820

Whats wrong with it? You have to sit on top of it in order to see.

Say, if you paid THAT much and it's barely a year old, how about a warranty. Have you researched to see if other owners have similar problems with that particular unit?

Sorry, I don't know much but couldn't resist the obvious answer to your question about what was wrong with it.

Best of luck finding a solution or the answers you seek in a timely manner. Keep the faith!

sobeit

best check to see if the warranty is good, it is going to get expensive to fix that tv. As far as selling it for parts, you need to check with the local electonics repair shops. Today is the throwaway society, so do not expect much...

Are you able to get into the settings? If so, are you able to see the settings clearly? If not, then it could be the backlight. Again, you best talk with the local shops for local prices for parts and labor.

wrench97

Sounds like the back light or inverter board is bad it should still be under warranty.

yustr

Did you use a credit card to buy it? If so, many automatically extend the manufacturer's warranty. I would also place a call to the manufacturer. First to the technical support number then to customer support. Chances are good they know what's wrong and may offer to fix it even if its out of warranty. No company wants bad publicity on a forum with almost half million members.

Done_Fishin

definitely a "backlight" related problem and could be any one of a number of reasons for the fault

as said above .. contact the supplier under warranty and if not satisfied with their answer then scream like mad at the manufacturer since sets should not go faulty that quickly.

If you live in the UK you can shout that the set is not "fit for use" seem to remember there are laws now about goods being sold being fit for the use that they were sold for .. haven't lived in the UK for several years now so my understanding may be a bit rusty .. if you live outside the UK then check the consumer legislation ..

one of the reasons I haven't bought a modern LCD/TFT set is that I see so many faulty units these days .. reliability is nowhere near what it used to be with CRT's .. a CRT will probably keep you going for at least 10 years before being repaired and 20 years before becoming uneconomical to repair.
LCD sets might be uneconomical to repair just a few years after manufacture, I have seen many fail shortly after the guarantee ran out and no way to fix them.

jessman

yeah I used a credit card to purchase it. and I bought it in december of 07, and it went out at the end of March, so it was out of the one year warranty by like 2-3 months :(

Done_Fishin

You can check with the manufacturer but unfortunately you are now 6 months outside of warranty .. but you never know ..

In case you get nowhere with this . .. possibilities are

Connectors worked loose
CCFL TUBES (Backlight)
POWER SUPPLY (possible faulty capacitors or Integrated circuit controller)
INVERTER (as per power supply but perhaps a fuse has blown)

If you are not trained or experienced in electronics repairs, take it to someone who is.

Electrical appliances have lethal voltages inside.

Even after powering off the device they may still hold voltages that can cause serious injury should you touch the wrong parts.

If the shock doesn't kill you the resulting reflex reaction can project the body into something else that will!

jessman

well maybe I'll just keep trying to sell it on craigslist for like $175

dai

lcd's usually have a 3 yr warranty on them

Cathy95820

Good thing yustr is ALWAYS keeping his head on straight. Darn right, the best way to ruin business reputation is word of mouth and looks like you have a hecka good start here!

ssj4Gogeta

@jessman: did you call the manufacturers? you're losing $825 by selling it. the manufacturers may replace it, you never know. if they don't, at least ask them how much it's going to cost to get it repaired. If it's significantly less than $825, then go for it.