Is This A Sign Of The Times ?

[George Bellefontaine]

Sony is changing the warranty on their video projectors from 3 years to two.I own a Sony VPL400 lcd projector and it was certainly great having the 3 year warranty. Some of my problems with the projector came in the 3rd year so I would have been S--out of luck with a 2 year warranty. However, this only applies to projectors that come under their Business and Professional Display division, but two of todays hottest lcd projectors, the Sony 10HT and the 11HT come under this division.
Sony says it is changing the warranty so they can be more competitive pricewise.I think it's just another sign of "tough" times.

Sony may regret this move,though. Their biggest lcd competitor right now is Sanyo, the PLV 60 model in particular,and their warranty remains at 3 years. If I was going to buy a new lcd, guess who I'd be buying from. And to add insult to injury, I'm told the Sanyo outperforms the newer Sonys.




My Homepage!

[Burke Strickland]

Same here-- my problems with the Sony VPL-W400Q came in the third year. They fixed the problems (primarily, it would no longer accept remote commands, and it had developed some magneta discoloration streaks) and brought the unit up to the "final" factory spec for "new" units at no charge. Sounds like Sony is "learning" from their experience -- by cutting the warranty to two years, they know they will avoid fixing their products' problems at no additional cost to the buyers.

Actually a number of other highly regarded vendors have two years for their warranty: Velodyne and Pioneer Elite come to mind. That doesn't mean I like it, that just means they are doing it. And it does beat "90 days P&L, one year parts-only" that Sony slaps on a lot of its consumer electronics.

But since the three year warranty was one of the major reasons for going with the Sony in the first place, (especially for what was then considered a fairly "experimental" projector technology) I'd take a long hard look at competitors' models that still have a three year warranty too, if I were in the market for a replacement right now.

Burke

[Lex]

I tell ya what that's a sign of, Hypothetical numbers, but:

a Service maintenance report across their 3 year warranted projectors indicated 75% of problems occured within the 3rd year, and this was occuring on 40% of projectors. Therefore, we cut the warranty at 2 years, shave 50 cents off the price, and pocket a half a million in service costs, lol.

Lex

[JonMarsh]

You're a cynic, Lex, but since I sell into industrial and consumer companies, and deal with issues re reliability, qualifications, and component lifetime, I know you're right.

Regards,

Jon




Earth First!
_______________________________
We'll screw up the other planets later....

[Lex]

It's a fine line between cynic and realist Jon.

Just throwing that out there, I have no idea as to the number of failures or anything, obviously. Ahh well, 2 year is better than 1 year anyway. But that's easy enough, just leave your projector on a lot during the second year, that way if it's going to fail, it fails in 2 years, not 3.

Lex

[Burke Strickland]

... easy enough, just leave your projector on a lot during the second year, that way if it's going to fail, it fails in 2 years, not 3.

The fly in that ointment is the high cost of bulb replacement, which, of course, is NOT covered under warranty no matter when it fails. (With the Sony LCD units we are talking several hundred dollars per bulb.) Unless you are actually viewing something, you DON'T want the projector running... the bulb cost is eventually a "sure thing" while any potential repair cost is a "crap shoot".

Burke

[Burke Strickland]

DUPLICATE POST

OK, Lex, how do we delete duplicates? (You can e-mail me with that one.) :>)

Burke

[Lex]

Well, I wasn't sure on the bulb thing, true enough

Just log in at the top, then you should see the delete option...

Lex

[George Bellefontaine]

The lamps for the Sony 400 run around $500 to $600 Canadian, depending on who you buy it from.That's the reason I only use my projector for movies.
But as for 3rd year repairs, one of the most expensive repair jobs happens to be the Scan Converter Board, which seems to fail on a lot of projectors in the 3rd year.If I recall correctly from some posts at the Big Picture site, this repair jobby comes in somewhere at $2500 US. So far mine hasn't failed, but if it does, I will have to give serious consideration to junking it.That $2500 US comes in somewhere around $4000 Canadian.I could buy an LT150 dlp projector brand new for less than that.
On the bright side of things, my son is a tech working for a broadcast and large display dealership, and their main line is Sony.So the labour part won't cost me anything, just the parts.




My Homepage!

[Burke Strickland]

this repair jobby comes in somewhere at $2500 US.

In other words, since that is about what a used one in good condition brings these days, at that point, the W400Q has become another "disposable appliance". If something costs as much to fix as it is "worth", then the repair isn't "worth it" and the item goes on the junk pile. Of course, in your case where there is no labor cost, this particular repair is a whole different story -- that point of "no return" would not have been reached yet.

Burke

[Burke Strickland]

Consider this duplicate post "deleted". :>)

[George Bellefontaine]

Exactly,Burke.But even if the part is too expensive,like you say, it ain't worth fixing if it costs more than the projector is worth.Front projection is really catching on,especially digital projection, and the prices on these babies are getting lower and lower, and the quality better and better all the time.A fella would really have to consider repair costs seriously, and act accordingly.




My Homepage!