im buying a marantz vp12s4

[bryanl31]

hello people
Im new to this whole thing so dont know much.
silly question- do i really need a warranty for my projector-
as in do projectors get messed easily.

i met this guy thats sells brand new marantzs vp12s4- really really cheap
i tested it and it looks fine.
only problem- it doesnt hav a warranty and dont think i can get one-

so, is it worth it?

[Burke Strickland]

Bryan,

Welcome to the HT Guide Forum! You've come to the right place to ask questions about HT. We hope you will enjoy participating here...

As for your pending projector purchase, of course we all hope that our new equipment will operate perfectly out of the box and will never have a problem needing repair. For most HT equipment that is true. But with even the best engineered gear manufactured under the most stringent quality control procedures, a few units will slip through that cause their owners grief due to manufacturing defects or malfunctions.

The warranty is the manufacturer’s way of extending their quality control process to your home theater, so that if a problem happens to occur with the unit you buy, they will take care of it as part of their "contract" with you as buyer, and that service is included in the purchase price.

If you buy the product for a lower price without the warranty, you are gambling that the unit will never need service, that you will never be interested in upgrades offered to registered owners and that if it does need service that the repairs will cost less than the difference between what you would pay without warranty and what you would pay for an authorized unit under warranty.

I'd be very leery of any deal on "brand new" equipment that comes without a warranty. The goods and the channel they are being sold through are obviously not authorized by Marantz, and they may even be "hot" (stolen). If they are stolen goods, then even if you innocently bought without knowledge of their origin, if the authorities investigate and track the stolen goods to you, at a minimum, the police could confiscate your equipment even though you have a receipt for purchase.

If they are just "grey market" (not stolen, but not acquired via authorized channels) then you may not be able to get the unit repaired even out of warranty. The "dealer" who sells at very low costs may not be around if and when you need help, and an authorized dealer may not be willing to touch it. In addition, some parts may not be available to a non-authorized service center even if you are willing to pay for the service that would have been covered under the warranty.

Also the projector would not be in line for any upgrades to that model. Being in warranty, my Sony projector has already received a free software upgrade that took care of a scaling issue. Manufacturers typically only offer this kind of service to registered owners of authorized equipment.

So even though the price from this guy may seem attractive up front, it is almost always better to pay a bit more to go with an authorized dealer and get the manufacturer's warranty and after-the-sale support.

It still pays to shop around; some authorized dealer out there wants to make a sale. Timing can play a role, too, in getting a relatively low price. Annual "clearance" sales are a good time to get great prices -- and the factory warranty.

Good luck,

Burke

[mvoorberg]

I did a quick Google on this PJ and the reviewed price had it up around $16K. Ouch. That's up out of my budget, but even if the guy is selling them at around 30% of that (which means it is 'hot') you can still get a really really sweet projector that is fully covered by a MFR warranty for that kind of $. For someone who is new to front projectors it would have you drooling for a very long time.

Would you buy a Rolls Royce knowing you couldn't have it properly serviced?

Good luck,
Mark

[George Bellefontaine]

Bryan that was all GOOD advice from Burke. I have owned several projectors and in the case of two of them, I sure was glad I had a 3 year warranty.
BTW, if you do go ahead and buy that Marantz, you are buying a real honey of a PJ.
But you should bear in mind that repairs on these things are sometimes more than the cost of the projector.