tenthofjune

Back in 1990, I purchased a Panasonic TX24-A1 24″ TV (along with an NV-F70 Video recorder). The TV served me well for 15 years until the sound started going on the right channel. Feeling that I’d had a good innings out of the TV, and sensing a long awaited excuse to upgrade to a widescreen model, I purchased a Panasonic TX32-PD50 in April from Sound and Vision in Farnworth, Bolton.

Now, only two months down the line, the TV has developed a fault. While watching the TV, the screen went blank and the unit went into standby mode. Switching the TV back on again, produces the click of the power relay, but the screen does not power up. A few seconds later it goes back to standby mode. This behaviour, I am told is called protection mode, the TV knows something is amiss, so shuts down.

This happened last Tuesday, so on the Wednesday I called Sound and Vision. After filling in an online fault form, I was still waiting for a response on Friday morning. Another call to Sound and Vision, and I was told I was due to be called by a service company called Circuit Tech. I received a call late on Friday afternoon, saying the earliest
appointment was Tuesday (today).

A technician called today, but was unable to fix the fault ‘on-site’. Given the size and weight of the TV, it now has to be collected by another crew, the earliest this can be done is Friday. That will be 10 days without a TV. I can only guess how long after that I will finally get the set back.

Both Sound and Vision and Circuit Tech are so far doing OK (if a little slowly). What annoys me, is that I’ve always trusted Panasonic. On top of the original TV and Video 15 years ago, I’ve had two Panasonic camcorders, and recommended Panasonic to friends and family. Unfortunately, it seems that Panasonic has joined other manufacturers in building to a cost, rather than sticking to a quality product.

However, it has not been all that bad. I have not particularly missed the TV. We decided to watch a DVD the other night (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so we watched it on the Mac. The Sky+ box is happily recording away, but I’m not sure how full the hard drive is. I may need to get the portable out of the loft and check it.

The iPod’s been getting some stick in the evenings, and I’ve managed to get out to work quicker in the mornings, not having BBC Breakfast as a distraction. I’ve even been able to get some reading done (currently the Davinci Code).

So once the TV finally comes back, I’ll probably have found something better to do.