[SoundFreak]

Hello everyone. I had a 2 part question and am hoping people with some actual experience can help me out. I need to swap my broken tv thanks to circuit city's extended warranty and I have a few ?'s



What can anyone tell me about the above tv, is it worth the money? It's selling for 2599. It was side by side with panny 58" whichs sells for 3299 and the picture was basically identical. I could not find a difference between the to. It seemed like a good choice given the price. I went in the store to get a panny yesterday and walked out confused.


The next question is, circuit city is obviously going through financial problems. I'm a little nervous about spending extra money on a tv (above and beyond my exchange value) and a warranty, then circuit city goes bankrupt and leaves me high and dry if something goes wrong. Reliability is a HUGE must on whatever new tv. I had nothing but bad luck with my samsung DLP. I'm scared of samsung but they can't all be that bad otherwise they wouldn't be near the top, right?


Please help guide a lost and confused soul

 

[johndn]

Great set. I have the little brother (50a450) and I don't think you'll be disappointed.


If you can sift and winnow between the fanboys and understand that this forum is for complaints and problems with a particular electronic (after all, we wouldn't learn very much if all we did was pat each other on the back and agree w/ each other), I think you'll put Sammy in their proper perspective. I think it's a great set. I just wouldn't get another extended warranty through CC (get an aftermarket one if you must).


You may want to do a search for the 58a550 and merge this thread with that one. There is no reason to have a separate thread on this topic. And welcome to the forum.

 

[SoundFreak]

How would I do a merge?


Also, where would I find an aftermarket warranty?

 

[johndn]

Mack is one of the big two. Cheap, and reliable.


If you can't merge, you can flag it and ask on of the mods to merge it for you.

 

[SoundFreak]

is squaretrade any good?

 

[googleme7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by johndn /forum/post/15540682

Mack is one of the big two. Cheap, and reliable.


If you can't merge, you can flag it and ask on of the mods to merge it for you.

More like Cheap and thus UNRELIABLE...


If you think Circuit City is going to be tough getting repair, wait till you deal with these guys.


Great advice you just gave there

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1106862

 

[StinDaWg]

You can find the 58" Panny online for $2500.

 

[RYAXIN]

The 58A550 is a great set, you can't go wrong. Great value at a great price.


If you can find a comparible set from Panasonic with equal value and price......just as good.

 

[johndn]



Quote:
Originally Posted by googleme7 /forum/post/15542445


More like Cheap and thus UNRELIABLE...


If you think Circuit City is going to be tough getting repair, wait till you deal with these guys.


Great advice you just gave there

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1106862

Hah. Did you even bother to read the thread you referenced? The matter was resolved in short order once proper parties were involved.


The matter is simple: the two big extended warranty companies are Mack and Squaretrade. Any company has both detractors as well as fanboys. Panny, Sammy, Denon, Mack, Squaretrade...it matters not. One can always find an issue with a company. The question is, as a whole, is it a solid company that furnishes a good product and backs it? Perhaps your next post will be a little more informative, and thus helpful.

 

[discopaul]

Don't worry. The Sammies are among the most reliable plasmas you can buy.

 

[StinDaWg]



Quote:
Originally Posted by discopaul /forum/post/15543208


Don't worry. The Sammies are among the most reliable plasmas you can buy.

They are?

 

[omeletpants]

Pick the one that looks best to you. Without the name plate I believe that most would choose the Samsung as having the superior picture with better colors and less SDE. Reliability is equal.

 

[discopaul]



Quote:
Originally Posted by StinDaWg /forum/post/15543329


They are?

Yes, they are!

 

[nolanski]

That seems high to me...I got my 650 for a bit less in JUNE!

 

[googleme7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by johndn /forum/post/15543204


Hah. Did you even bother to read the thread you referenced? The matter was resolved in short order once proper parties were involved.


The matter is simple: the two big extended warranty companies are Mack and Squaretrade. Any company has both detractors as well as fanboys. Panny, Sammy, Denon, Mack, Squaretrade...it matters not. One can always find an issue with a company. The question is, as a whole, is it a solid company that furnishes a good product and backs it? Perhaps your next post will be a little more informative, and thus helpful.

Yes, once the guy waited 3 months for repair, made I don't know, 15 or 20 phone calls, went all Christmas and Thanksgiving without a TV, and then posted a complaint on an internet forum, the "proper party" was able to get someone to come out and look at his tv (I'm sure it will be fixed by this time tommorrow).


Or, maybe this was all in the Mack Camera Extended Warranty fine print:


If for any reason you need your tv to be repaired,


1) Please call 1-800-WE-DONT-CARE.


2) After your FIRST call, a repairman WILL NOT be dispatched. Instead, we will pretend you never called and with any luck, your TV will start working again (did you try unplugging the set for 3 or 4 days?)


3) If your TV still isn't working after 2 weeks, please call 1-800-WE-DONT-CARE and file another claim.


4) We'll send a repairman all the way to your home to tell you that he doesn't have the part needed to fix your tv. He will call us and we will tell him to pretend to order the part. We will then have a cup of hot cocoa and laugh at you.


5) After 2 weeks, if you haven't given up on us and just bought a new tv by now, go online to www.avsforum.net (you must register). Tell everyone how bad our service is. With any luck, the "proper party" will notice your post out of the other hundred posts and let us know by email what is going on.

 

[mackcamera]



Quote:
Originally Posted by googleme7 /forum/post/15549185


Yes, once the guy waited 3 months for repair, made I don't know, 15 or 20 phone calls, went all Christmas and Thanksgiving without a TV, and then posted a complaint on an internet forum, the "proper party" was able to get someone to come out and look at his tv (I'm sure it will be fixed by this time tommorrow).


Or, maybe this was all in the Mack Camera Extended Warranty fine print:


If for any reason you need your tv to be repaired,


1) Please call 1-800-WE-DONT-CARE.


2) After your FIRST call, a repairman WILL NOT be dispatched. Instead, we will pretend you never called and with any luck, your TV will start working again (did you try unplugging the set for 3 or 4 days?)


3) If your TV still isn't working after 2 weeks, please call 1-800-WE-DONT-CARE and file another claim.


4) We'll send a repairman all the way to your home to tell you that he doesn't have the part needed to fix your tv. He will call us and we will tell him to pretend to order the part. We will then have a cup of hot cocoa and laugh at you.


5) After 2 weeks, if you haven't given up on us and just bought a new tv by now, go online to www.avsforum.net (you must register). Tell everyone how bad our service is. With any luck, the "proper party" will notice your post out of the other hundred posts and let us know by email what is going on.

Thats not our phone number. But im just curious have you ever used our warranty service or are you relying on 1 situation that happened. WE repair over 12,000 cameras a month and work on over 250 TVs all over the United States at any given moment. The thing with our tv service is we contract the work out to the local authorized service center. We cant always control what happens with the center because there not always the easiest people to deal with.


For other references on our services you can go here
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1075413

Here
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1088544

here
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...027267&page=15