Plasma Warranty

[CCSchoch]

I have paid for but haven't yet received my Panasonic 65VT25. I got a really good deal on it, $3279 and that included the bundle pack. Since I saved so much $ ($400) by not buying at BB, I went ahead and got the 5 year service warranty....now am re-thinking my decision. I told myself over and over, I am not getting the warranty, since they very rarely are needed. I know the rule of thumb, if it's going to break, it most likely will break in the time frame of the MFg warranty. But this was such a big purchase, I thought I might want to protect my investment.

The sales guy was telling me that Plasmas are more susceptible to power spikes, is this true?

I haven't yet picked the TV up and haven't signed for it, so can cancel the warranty still when I pick it up. What are people thoughts here on this?


Thanks

[MrFattBill]

I generally buy them on items over $1500 as long as they are less than 1/3rd of the items price. It also depends on who the service is through as well.

Bill

[Wings80]

Originally Posted by CCSchoch

The sales guy was telling me that Plasmas are more susceptible to power spikes, is this true?

Well I don't know but all my gear is plugged into surge protectors. Well worth the costs for one.

But I have never bought a warranty.

My plasmas are 2 and 3 years old.

[CCSchoch]

Going to use a surge protector.

Cost of TV was 3200 and 5 year plan was $360...so just over 10% of the TV cost. That was main reason I got it, wasn't that much considerig the value of the TV.

[My_Two_Cents]

Your arguments to yourself are correct. As a whole, extended warranties on today's flat panel displays ARE a waste of money. Overall, they have a failure rate of 2-3%, and the vast majority of those failures occur within the manufacturer's warranty period. If you want to play the odds, you'd save your money and not purchase one.

That being said, if you are one who will continually worry about your big $$ purchase, it may be worth it for your own piece-of-mind to simply get the warranty. If you decide to do that, DON'T buy one from the big box stores. There are several online warranty companies (CPS, Mack) that offer much lower prices for the same coverage.

[CCSchoch]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Your arguments to yourself are correct. As a whole, extended warranties on today's flat panel displays ARE a waste of money. Overall, they have a failure rate of 2-3%, and the vast majority of those failures occur within the manufacturer's warranty period. If you want to play the odds, you'd save your money and not purchase one.

That being said, if you are one who will continually worry about your big $$ purchase, it may be worth it for your own piece-of-mind to simply get the warranty. If you decide to do that, DON'T buy one from the big box stores. There are several online warranty companies (CPS, Mack) that offer much lower prices for the same coverage.

I never heard of those warranty companies. Did some googling, is CPS ConsumerPriorityService (CPSCentral.com)? Are they reputable if something would go wrong w/ the TV? How do repairs work, are there service centers they go through that i'd call direct? (I am in the cincinnati area).

Thanks for the info!!!!

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by CCSchoch

I never heard of those warranty companies. Did some googling, is CPS ConsumerPriorityService (CPSCentral.com)? Are they reputable if something would go wrong w/ the TV? How do repairs work, are there service centers they go through that i'd call direct? (I am in the cincinnati area).

Thanks for the info!!!!

I don't know specifically how they work (as I never buy warranties), but both CPS and Mack are highly regarded over at AVSForum for those who want an extended warranty. From what I've read in the past, they hook you up with a local service provider if any work needs to be done. Really no different than what you'd get from Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc., but for a lot less.

[Sling]

I recommend - http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/ema...FRhzgwodxnX_jw

Extended warranty is advisable to be bought along with the electronic products. Because this comes helpful when the electronic products breaks down.

[DavePS3]

Extended warranties are how many places make their money back (and then some) after selling goods at a bigger discount. Plasmas are NOT more sensitive to spikes than any other piece of electronics but a line conditioner/surge protector is better insurance than a flaky extended warranty that changes rules along the way IMO.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by junepinto

Extended warranty is advisable to be bought along with the electronic products. Because this comes helpful when the electronic products breaks down.

Why are "guests" allowed to post, particularly when they post drivel like this?

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Why are "guests" allowed to post, particularly when they post drivel like this?

Ya, I've never seen that before...

I would get my money back on the extended warranty if I were you.

[basserx]

Originally Posted by junepinto

Extended warranty is advisable to be bought along with the electronic products. Because this comes helpful when the electronic products breaks down.

Maybe this one works at BB

I realize this is an older thread but it may help answer someone else's question.

As a rule of thumb,most electronics will fail within 90 days but there are always exceptions to the rule.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by basserx

Maybe this one works at BB

I realize this is an older thread but it may help answer someone else's question.

As a rule of thumb: if they are going to fail, most electronics will fail within 90 days but there are always exceptions to the rule.

I know what you meant, but I clarified for others who I'm sure wouldn't.

[kris achar]

Originally Posted by DavePS3

Extended warranties are how many places make their money back (and then some) after selling goods at a bigger discount. Plasmas are NOT more sensitive to spikes than any other piece of electronics but a 'line conditioner/surge protector' is better insurance than a flaky extended warranty that changes rules along the way IMO.

Well Said !
One could save all the money on buying the extended warranty,Instead buy few vital accessories as stated above !

And i have installed the voltage line corrector & line filter cum spike buster to our 50 inches Panasonic plasma tv.

Here is a visual of our panasonic plasma tv...



Love,
kris.

[basserx]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

I know what you meant, but I clarified for others who I'm sure wouldn't.

Thanks Rishoe. i must have had a brain fart when i wrote that.

[crxvtec]

I bought a samsung TV and so did my roomate. We both got extended warranties from frys electronics. Both our tv's needed to be repaired outside the manufactures warranty ( 2 and a half years) and mine needed to be completely replaced 8 months later for a different problem that could not be fixed.. We both would have been screwed without it. I have a polaroid plasma( IMO pretty good PQ) that I bought at circuit city in 05 and bought a 5 year warranty that I never had to use and the TV still works like the day I bought it. I figured the polaroid would of had issues before the samsungs. The samsungs were LCD.

[maygit]

It's difficult to say, but personally for the price of the warranty i would keep it just for piece of mind cuz i've had a lot of problems with electronics (read below paragraphs). If you're going to be paranoid about the tv breaking after the manufacturers warranty, then take the load off your shoulders and hang on to it.

I'm not much of a warranty buyer myself, but i paid $400 for one on my Sony SXRD since it included a bulb replacement which was about a $150 value so really the warranty was only $250 on a $2100 tv. A little over 10% like yours as well. Despite being a very high rated model and a high rated company, it turned out to have a 100% failure rate. Being 4 years old and too expensive to fix, i got $1636 back on a gift card to Best Buy for replacement.

My parents have a Samsung hps4253 plasma that turned out to have a huge problem with the voltage meter in the tv allowing too much electricity into the set which resulted in blue snow/noise during dark scenes. That required a panel replacement since correcting the voltage meter and then replacing the board didn't solve the issue. This all happened around 2.5 years of age and my parents had a 3 year warranty through sears which covered all the repair costs.

My brother had a 30" Samsung HD CRT that ran into an annoying problem where the picture kept bowing/compressing/distorting in from the corners to the center of the screen for half a second or so every time the camera angle switched on the program he was watching. This began around year 2 and he dealt with the issue for another 2-3 years before he replaced it with the 50" ST30.

The only sets in our house we havent had a problem with yet is our 40" A650 samsung lcd (3yrs old), 26" samsung C450(<1yr old), and 32" samsung c450(<1yr old).

Other electronics issues i've had within the last year without warranty coverage:
-iPod touch 16gb needed LCD replacement and standby button fixed. Self fixed for <$30. Most would junk and buy $300 32gb as replacement(almost did myself) 3 yrs old.
-Onkyo 606 HDMI board failed, so i can't pass 1080p through it anymore and the sound cuts in and out. Thankfully, being a handyman i can fix this for under $20 when i get the time, but most would replace the receiver which was $550 and 2.5 yrs old.
-XBox 360 Elite RROD around 2 years of age. Bought new shiny slim model which now buzzes LOUDLY sometimes when playing.
-Computer desktop crashed...well the hard drive did anyway at about 4 years of age. Replaced w/ toshiba bluray laptop. Parting out old PC.
-Xbox 360 harmony remote's LCD screen only displays backlight so is inoperable and was about 3yrs old. Can't find a fix for it. Pending replacement.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Your arguments to yourself are correct. As a whole, extended warranties on today's flat panel displays ARE a waste of money. Overall, they have a failure rate of 2-3%, and the vast majority of those failures occur within the manufacturer's warranty period. If you want to play the odds, you'd save your money and not purchase one.

That being said, if you are one who will continually worry about your big $$ purchase, it may be worth it for your own piece-of-mind to simply get the warranty. If you decide to do that, DON'T buy one from the big box stores. There are several online warranty companies (CPS, Mack) that offer much lower prices for the same coverage.

failure rates are much higher than that on todays television sets, but it depends on if you mean the TV crapping out or if you mean the TV glitching out as far as the picture, sound or an input getting fried....

the only protection agreements that I would get are from Sears or Costco as they have very good protection policies.....Best Buy and the other...not so much....

just my .02 since I have purchased a protection agreement on all my TV's which I purchased from Sears....

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by The Don

failure rates are much higher than that on todays television sets, but it depends on if you mean the TV crapping out or if you mean the TV glitching out as far as the picture, sound or an input getting fried....

the only protection agreements that I would get are from Sears or Costco as they have very good protection policies.....Best Buy and the other...not so much....

just my .02 since I have purchased a protection agreement on all my TV's which I purchased from Sears....

Please cite your sources. The 2-3% figures have been well documented for several years.