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My TV is broken!

by Bob Sassone, posted Dec 16th 2006 11:02AM

Toshiba logoMy TV set is dying.

I noticed it Thursday morning when I turned it on and Martha Stewart had two heads. She was also all blue/green and white and red. At first I thought it was some sort of Christmas-themed show, but this wasn't a "good thing," and when I changed the channel I saw that Rachael Ray looked the same, and so did the anchors on CNN.

I have a 52 inch Toshiba, and checking the instruction manual (which I had to dig out of storage - who the hell has trouble with their TVs this day and age?) I found out that the problem was the "Touch Focus." That sounds a lot like the title of a softcore porn movie, but it actually has to do with how the red/green/blue lines up in the spectrum. Following the instructions, I tried to fix it manually, but the Toshiba customer service rep on the phone says that's because it's too much out of line and I have to have a repairman come to the house. Either that or just get a new set, which is probably what we'll do.

It doesn't really matter in the short term, because I have another TV in the house that I can use. It's just a pain for right now. All the characters on the shows have four eyes and four eyebrows. The other night, it looked like Zach Braff was wearing a blue headband the entire episode of Scrubs. Paul Shaffer looked like he had a bubble helmet on. Even the text on the screen is screwed up: reddish and blue and doubled up and sweeping across the bottom of the screen. Kind of cool actually, but I'll be happy when I get a new set.

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Rodney

After Sony's copy-protected CD rootkit fiasco, I vowed never to buy a Sony product again.

Even before that, my opinion was that Sony = overpriced. Other manufacturers make products just as good or better than Sony's.

December 18 2006 at 3:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

I have a 46" Tosh and had a similar problem within the first 4 months or so of owning it. I had some links to a discussion of the problem at hometheaterspot.com but the links no longer point to the thread. In my case, since my set was still under warranty, a Tosh repair guy came by and fixed it.

If you get no further, respond to the thread and I'll see what I can dig up again.

December 17 2006 at 9:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
birminghamdawg

We have a 42 inch HD toshiba, and it started getting a wiggly picture over the summer.
It would get better after being on, but now it is at the repair shop that Toshiba told us to take it to. They have had it since November 10.
At this rate, they are never going to fix it! I even called Toshiba customer service for help!

Never get Toshiba!

December 17 2006 at 5:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
erroneous_nick

I agree with jeffsmith that Sony products are usually near bullet-proof, just don't find yourself having to deal with their customer service. That needs a lot of work.

The best TV and VCR I've ever had are Mitsubishi brand. I finally gave away the VCR and it's still humming along. I still have the 50" TV and, besides the obvious fact that it's not HDTV, it's rock solid, but I'd still like to go HDTV.

I believe that once Sony's LCD TV's come in 60+ inch sizes I'll get one of them. After comparing the pictures on various LCD screens side-by-side at BestBuy I found Sony's picture literally blew away the others. Oh, and the prices need to come down by about, say, 80%! One can dream, can't one?

December 16 2006 at 7:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dwacon_com

I highly recomment the new flat screen TVs by Hewlett-Packard. They RAWK !!!

--
dwacon
http://www.dwacon.com

December 16 2006 at 12:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kt

wear 3d glasses, duh.

December 16 2006 at 12:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob Mc

I wish my Toshiba HDTV would die, so I could get me one of them newfangled digital TVs.

December 16 2006 at 12:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

Always buy Sony...every piece of electronic equipment I have is Sony and not once have I had it break down. Bought a 61 inch Sony TV in 2000 and its had lots of use and not one problem. Become a Sony man.

December 16 2006 at 12:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David

"Martha Stewart had two heads. She was also all blue/green and white and red."

So what's new there? Did you see her horns too?

December 16 2006 at 11:34 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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