[morgan_chiu]

Panasonic PT-37PD4P only provides a year of manufacturer's Carry-In warranty vs the In-Home warranty of the 42" and bigger displays. I am looking to somehow get In-Home warranty during that period.


As an alternative, I looked into the extended warranties and found 2 types. The first type becomes effective as soon as your purchase is made but follows the terms of the manufacturer's warranty, meaning if the manufacturer only offers Carry-In service, then the extended warraty would provide only that. So this type of ext. warranty will not do.


The second type becomes effective when the manufacturer's warranty runs out. It may offer either Carry-In or In-Home service, depending on the warranty provider. Well, this type of ext. warranty will not do either.


Next, I plan to look into the VISA Gold Card product protection and the Panasonic Customer Care Plans to see if either one would fit the bill.


If anyone has advance knowledge on this topic, please feel free to share his/her opinions. TIA.

 

[BruZZi]

morgan_chiu,

All Consumer Packages have In-Home Warranty.


PT-37PD4-P

PT-42PD3-P

PT-42PHD4-P

PT-50PD3-P

PT-50PHD4-P

 

[steuert]

I don't think it depends on the plasma's size, but whether it is a consumer or "commercial" model. Most of the online stores sell the commercial model; sets sold through B&M stores are the consumer model with in-home service, but usually cost hundreds of dollars more than the online versions.


AFAIK, all supplementary and extended warranties conform to the terms of the original mfrs warranty; i.e., no in-home service for the commercial sets.


One way to get a little protection is to buy from Dell or other vendors who offer a 30-day exchange for defective products. If the unit goes bad in the first 30 days, they will send a replacement and pay all shipping costs.

 

[Techniwizard]

Rockville is only a couple hours from NJ in the unlikely event you ever need warranty service. The 37 is not nearly as much of a PIA to carry as a 50 and you'll probably save a little bit of $$$$$

 

[dswallow]

I've been trying to remember if I've ever had a problem with a piece of equipment I bought that occurred within the warranty period. I couldn't think of any. I suspect in the 22 years I've been buying electronics and appliances, I've never had any sort of failure that didn't occur out of the box (thus letting me just swap it out with a new one from where I bought it) or out of the warranty period entirely (which usually meant if I couldn't fix it myself, I'd buy a new one). I vaguely recall taking something in to a Circuit City repair center once 10 or so years ago, so maybe I did have a VCR that stopped working right during a warranty period... back when VCR's could be rather expensive... though I'd bet the problem was mechanical, not electrical.


But as in-home service entails a higher expense for the company providing it, I wouldn't be surprised that they'd be willing to perform in-home warranty service for some additional fee. I'd doubt there was a way to prepay something to get it for the entire warranty period, though. The inclusion of in-home service is something I only usually see when the equipment is inconvenient to move/carry in.


In-home service can also end up being just "someone comes to you to pick it up and comes back to you to return the fixed unit" as opposed to "fixing it on site". For something as complex as a plasma screen, I'd probably prefer it be done at a factory where there could be a higher level of trained technician available, too, as well as proper facilities for protecting the unit as it was being taken apart.

 

[morgan_chiu]

I'm glad to hear that all consumer models carry in-home service warranty. I plan to purchase the Panny 37" from Onecall.com and their web site states:

Manufacturer's Warranty: 1 Year Parts / 1 Year Labor -Carry In Service


which got me kinda worried about the "what if" situation. After all, this will be my biggest purchase outside of my cars and the diamond ring (don't have a house yet). And it probably is the most delicate piece of them all.


I would pay extra for a loaner plasma if such a program is available