[bash]

Well, I missed the deadline for Saturday delivery, so I bought myself a little more time to decide on an STB.


After some of you guys brought up some "issues" with the Hughes receivers, I'm thinking I might just go with the Panny and send it off for the updates. I just wanted to be sure that they are still honoring the repairs at no cost.


Thanks!

 

[Kipp Jones]

This is good to know that they do this locally here. Can you walk up or do you need to send in the equipment?

 

[Mark Mac]

There should be a service number somewhere on the unit. I would call that number, let us know what you find out.

 

[bash]

Mark,


I was hoping to find out prior to purchasing one. Anyone else bought one lately?

 

[Ron Jones]

The following is a repeat of a previous post I had on the process for having your Panasonic STB updated. I would note that when I got by TUDHS20 back from Elgin a couple of weeks ago they had not added any additional memory. They only did upgrades for the fan and for the dropout kit.


______________


I also very recently purchased a TUDHS20 from Abt Electronics (for $469 with free shipping) and the unit just arrived this week. It had a manufacturing date of Jan. 2002. After a quick checkout by connecting it place of a RTC DTC100 in my system I called Panasonic at 847-468-5566 then shipped the unit back to their digital products service center for the latest upgrades. The Panasonic rep that I spoke to said the turn around time for the updates is currently 5 to 7 working days. You do not need a return authorization in advance, just ship the unit along with a note with you name and address and indicating you want the upgrades plus a copy of your purchase invoice. Panasonic will do the upgrade free if you send them the unit within the first 90 days after purchase. My unit came with the version 7.2 firmware but this very quickly upgraded itself via an automatic download from Directv before I shipped the unit to Panasonic. It is my understanding that following updates are available from Panasonic:

- Audio/Video dropout kit (TXANV17ESER)

- Fan noise kit (TXANV13ESER)

- Fan (TEKH024)

- Memory upgrade for faster menus


It is also my understanding that no factory unit has these upgrades already installed (manufacturing of the TUHDS20 ceased a couple of months ago). I would suggest that even the fan noise is not a problem for you, that it would be worthwhile to have Panasonic install the upgrades since the audio/video dropout kit corrects a known problem with all of the TUHDS20 factory units.


The address for the Panasonic service center for the upgrades is:


Panasonic Factory Center

1705 North Randall Road

Elgin, IL 60123



Ron Jones
www.dtvmax.com

 

[bash]

Thanks Ron, that was most useful. After the upgrades, would you say that you are very happy with the panny now?

 

[luzovich]

I was reading the Panasonic HDTV forum and ran across a post by someone from Panasonic with regard to the TU-HDS20 updates. Here's the post:


"Panasonic has a support structure in place for the TU-HDS20. Technical assistance on the TU-HDS20 HDTV Digital Receiver is supported by our Digital Satellite Support Center @ 1-888-726-2377 or inquiries may be E-mailed directly to [email protected] . Please contact them for assistance. "


I haven't tried the email address or the phone # but I thought I'd post this if anyone wanted to contact them for more info on the updates.

 

[PJO1966]

I had sent mine in for service with a note containing all of the info Ron listed above. When I got it back they had only done the fan fix, despite the grocery list of requested fixes. The fan was never an issue for me since the receiver sits behind glass doors. I have had it back for a while now and have not had the chance to contact them. I'd rather not have to ship it off again...