Open Box 141FD? - Page 3

With the PDP powered off, shine a light on it and stand parallel to the front of the display. Look across the front surface of the panel and if there is any damage or inconsistency with the AR coating you will see it.
To "spot clean" my PRO-150FD I use a damp q-tip & distilled-H2O. Rub the display gently w/the q-tip then rub gently until dry w/the manfacturer's supplied cleaning cloth.

So I would think the 141 and 151 uses similar glass and coating and would apply?

Oh great... so the BBY sales rep using that bottle of cleaner probably did more damage than good. Got the smudges off...but what else did he take with it or leave behind? I would have thought at least water would be required to totally remove some smudges...especially if someone left a tough residue behind. This of course makes me nervous as I have a 6 year old.

I'll probably take a flashlight next time I'm in to evaluate the 141 and 151. I hope the store and unearth a remote but again am surprised that there is no other way to program a universal remote to access all menus.

I have a chance to pick up a floor model with about 400-500 hours (trying to have it verified, but with some hesitation) on it for about $600 less than what Best Buy was selling them for at the discounted price. They have used the Monster Cleaner on the bezel and screen, but it looked ok to me when I saw it (had them turn it off and looked at it on an angle). Does this sound like a good deal or should I get a new one in the box for a couple hundred more than the price of a 65" V10? I'm torn so I was just looking for some suggestions. Thanks

The flashlight is a good idea. Get them to turn off the lights in the room and see if you notice any scratches or other irregularities in the panel coating.

The flashlight should also tell you whether whatever cleaner they used actually harmed the coating. If it appears smooth and without obvious rough spots or any "oil slick" looking areas that can't be removed by a damp corner on a microfiber cloth, it should be fine.

A damp q-tip is also a great way to get rid of the dust that always accumulates on the top edge of the bottom piece of the bezel.

I think that's a great deal assuming they will verify the hours and you've done your due diligence to check for imperfections, damage, IR, etc. Good luck getting them to hook up to their LAN. I'm not having any luck on my end. The sales staff and supervisors all agree that it would be a good idea to check the mileage and check under the hood before driving off the lot they do the deer in headlights dance when I ask them to satisfy my request.

That's because they have no idea how to do it and are afraid of showing their ignorance.

Seems like there are two or three of you in the same boat here. Might be a good idea to band together and get a service remote and check that way.

Any idea how I can upload a static image to a 151 on the sales floor to check for possible IR? No rep one seems to have a test DVD laying around they could pop in for me to check for IR. Also, any idea how to read the hours off the unit? No remote and they don't seem to know how to get in connected to a LAN. Amazing... you'd think the Geeksquad could be summoned in situations like this to satisfy my requests. I'm thinking I'll just have to go on a little faith and some luck that everything will work out alright. The price is too good to pass up for what appears to be a clean (but with many hours) unit. $1,500 off the final published sales price. Thanks.

The best buy I talked to a few days ago now doesn't even have the floor model 141 that I had located by phone Monday (have to travel 100 miles so was waiting for weekend... no Magnolia near by). Did a 250 mile radius search and any of the open box units were already claimed for other purchasers. So I looked for audio / video retailers in the city and first one I call has a 600M new in stock in the box. Price was $300 more than what I could get from HT installer (who would drop ship) but that was 4 months ago when Pioneer still had stock. So I think this saga is ending.

Now to get a set of wall mount speakers.....

Good news on my 141 burn in dilemma. I went to BB and had them do a hard target search for every 101, 141, 151, and 111 in a 50 mile radius- (sounds like the fugitive movie). ALL they could find were 2 141's, besides the new 101's. One was showing as new and the other open box. So I called the store with the new in box one first. They told me it was put on the floor on Friday and the price was insane. So I told her to hold it for me as I was on my way to pick it up. I get there and look around for a min and don't see it. So I asked her about it and told her I was there to purchase it. She goes in back and can't find it. Another employee said they delivered it yesterday. So I was SOL. I asked to speak with her manager b/c I drove an hour to get there from the other store. I told the manager my story. She gave me a 20 dollar gift card for driving there and ordered the open box one from the last store that had it. Then she exchanged my old one for the one she ordered and are going to deliver it and take my old one. Thank you BB. I went to the other store to inspect the open one and they already wrapped it up. I talked to the sales guy and he told me they were sending me a 4 month old 151. The other 141 they had was on display for over a year. He told me I got a better deal. Hopefully everything goes smooth- fingers crossed.

They are clearing out fast- I had 5 stores with 141's open box a week or two ago. Now there is 1 left. Now or never I guess. I would keep on checking up though, you never know when someone will return one.

I have the GGF1589 and it works fine with my 151.

Other than scaring BB employees, what else do you do with the remote? Good luck noahbel securing the 141. I'm curious to see what happens. You too as well, Bantam11 on your 151. If you need the remote, give me a call I'll give you a deal on my spare-

If I can get the service remote in my hands within the next few days I could use this to check everything out before purchase. Of course in those few days the 151 could walk so I'm in a pickle. I'm not getting much help from BB and if I check it out myself by getting that remote I may run out of time.

If I do get this service remote, would it suffice as my standard remote control if I purchased the unit? Or would I need both.

They are an ISF certified dealer and he said that he probably couldn't get the hours for me. I told him that if he called one of his ISF techs that they would be able to get that info from the TV. He asked why I wanted to know and I told him that if I'm spending that much on a TV it's for my own peace of mind. He said he would call his tech and call me back, so the wait continues....

If you go and purchase the 151, they will hold it there as long as want until you pick it up. That way you can get the service remote and check the hours. If you decide you don't want it just bring the receipt back and they will give you a refund. Either way the tv is on hold. For the price you are getting I wouldn't worry about the hours as long as the screen is mint, no ir/burn in and the bezel isn't too scuffed.

After the discussion of just taking back my broken 141 with no exchange (floor model), my salesperson told me that he could have someone check it, but it would take a couple days.

Are you going to exchange it for the display model? I feel bad that your other set had a cracked screen. That sucks-

I am thinking about exchanging, but waiting to hear if anyone can tell me if them using the Monster Cable cleaner on it has caused and issues with the PQ or what it may have done long term. I posted that in the 141 thread and hopefully someone gets back to me. I can get another new 141 for the same price as the one that I have broken, but the panel that is on display only has 600 hours on it and I can save $850. Still tryinig to decide if it's worth it with them using the cleaner or am I just making a bigger deal about the cleaner than I should.

There have been a few people who claimed the stuff ruined the coating. Others have said they used it, or saw it used, with no problem.

So there's no real consensus as to actual effects, although I would think any damage to the coating should be fairly obvious, even without turning the display on.

What is the return period if you went with the display? 600 hours is not a lot of hours at all. If your heart is set on a brand new one, get the new one. $850 off the display is a good deal as well. Are there any issues with the screen on the display or does the whole monitor look brand new?

From what I saw the other day, it looked good. Just a few smears on the bezel which would come off with a dry cloth. The screen looked good with no apparent scratches and I had them turn the TV off to also look for IR/Burn In and saw nothing. I am going to take a flashlight over tomorrow to get a better look. Also, when I talked to the guy earlier he told me that it would be a couple days to get a tech over there to look at the hours. An hour later he calls me and says he has he info and "printed it out" so that I could see. I made sure I said to him to call me when they were coming over so I could see for myself. So tomorrow when I go I am going to have him show me since he was able to do it so quickly just to make sure it isn't something else. If he can't do it while I'm there than I am going to wonder. He even said to me how many times the TV was turned on. As far as the return period goes, they have a seven day money back, 30 day in store credit return policy. Not sure how well that works since I just traded a 42" that I had for 8 months for a 50" upgrade. They gave me almost what I paid for the 42".

To your point, the salesperson at Best Buy sold me a Monster combo package and talked up the blue monster cleaner and rag inside. I made him aware that the manual states no cleaners should be used as they might denegrate the screen coating. I could tell by his lack of response and general demeanor that he didn't believe me. I will print this part of the manual out and send it out to them.

I guess they can do whatever they want and use cleaners on their floor models if they wish but doubt Pioneer would appreciate that. Most importantly they shouldn't send a customer home with either a new or used KURO with false and potentially harmful maintenance information.

So when I tried to negotiate a lower sale price for the 151FD yesterday based on them not being able to come up with the hours used or providing a simple screen test to check for IR, the store manager told me my request was over the top. He said in his 12 years of employ at BB never has he run into a customer wanting this information. He challenged that hours used was even available on TV's. I said I assumed it was held on ROM or something but that it was documented to retrieve in at least a couple of ways. He looked at me in disbelief. By the way, this gentleman owns a 141FD himself.

I told him surely customers want to know as much as they can about a used product before buying right? That if he were to go to a car dealer and consider buying a used car he would want to know the odometer mileage and check under the hood. He said regardless of what I might come up with, the price will stay the same.... no lower.

So regardless whether the unit I purchased had 700 hours or 7,000 hours, the price wasn't going to change. They were definately willing to walk away from me (after several visits), and said if I don't take it someone else will for $300 more. I think I did get a very aggressive deal and was told it was well below their cost (which may be) but I do know of another fellow AVS member that paid $500 less for the same floor model. Supply and demand I guess. They don't want to bend over backwards just yet to move their stock...maybe by month's end if there are any left.

Here's the good thing. Best Buy has a no questions asked 30 day return policy. And since I paid the $69 for inhome delivery (with 1 component hook up), they will come back out within the 30 and pickup if I am unhappy with my purchase for any reason. Now I will do all my investigation (hours used, IR, scratches, anything else to check?) and if I find the PQ or unit is less than par for a unit with the amount of hours on it of suffered any damage from misuse, I can get my money back. That said, I did pay a low price for it and I will take that into consideration when evaluating. As long as the PQ can be tweaked to give me what all other 151FD owners enjoy (even though mine has aged a bit more), I'm ecstatic with my purchase. We'll see.

Good luck in your own pursuit. PM me if I can assist in any way from my own experience.

Hope things get better for you! Stay tuned I am sure there will be something good for you when you are ready!

It's rough out there, I have been laid off for about a year now. Good luck.

Glad to see you finally picked up the 151 Bantam11. I am curious about how many hours are on mine as well. I am getting it delivered next Wednesday and don't have to stress about this 141 with the bad ir/burn in anymore. Also, you should be getting back about $100 in reward zone credit , so you can pick up a blu ray player to compliment your new tv.

I wasn't infomed about that credit. I will inquire. Thanks.