R34 Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Anyone else with a Panasonic PT-AE700 experiencing blue patches on their screen display. I put my unit in to be checked and the Optical Block has failed. After 3400 hours I replaced the original globe to cure the problem but it didn't. I requested that Panasonic assist in the repair but they've basically told me to F#ck off! Panasonic believe it's acceptable to throw away a $3000 projector after a little over 2 years but the department of Fair Trading does not agree. We'll see Class action anyone?
Maton Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 unfortunately just like all technology its not worth 3 grand no more. good luck with sticking it to them though
aaron Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Don't worry about the class action - just take them to VCAT. Costs about 30-40 bucks, and the best bit... lawyers are not allowed. It's just you and Pana's representative, and you both get to present your case to the standing member in plain English.
R34 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Posted April 3, 2007 What's VCAT Is that Fair Trading Department's hearing?
ajm1503559545 Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 VCAT is the Victoria Civil Administrative Tribunal aka the small claims tribunal. Worthwhile in your case I would suggest. What have you got to lose?
gavstar1 Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Hi - I know how you feel. My wife and I purchased a Panasonic AE-500 HD projector back in Aug 04 - we recently noticed the blueish tinge on the left side of the screen. Lamp flickering has also been a feature since day 1. I looked at my original reciept to find the sales person hadn't processed the extended warranty (I remember being advised it had a 5 yr warranty at the time). Took it in to a panasonic repair centre to be told it would need a new lamp ($400+) plus a new optical block ($1800). All this for a projector that was barely 2.5 yrs old....We also had the original factory lamp pop at 1120hrs after running it mostly on economy mode, costing us over $600 to replace it at the time (6 months after having the system installed!) I am now looking at having to replace the projector, just waiting for the current lamp to pop...picture is reasonable to watch but will progressively get worse I am told. All in all, I am now wary about purchasing this brand of projector.... Hoping that some full HD projectors will start to arrive later this year for a reasonable price and built to last longer than 3 years.
R34 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Posted April 3, 2007 Yep I will never buy a product from Panasonic again that's for sure. Can't bear to watch the PJ anymore so went out and bought a 50" Hitachi plasma with 5 year warranty
Guest EZYHD Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Do a Panasonic seach in this forum to see the problems many others have had with this PJ and lack of service.
Jan45 Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 We had a rear projection Panasonic TV - large screen. At 3 years old one day the picture just went all wavy. Took it to repair place and after 2 months waiting, they said Panasonic would not sell them the entire board, but only parts of it. So to have the part replaced which they thought it was, would cost $900, but no guarantee this would fix the problem as might be another part of the board. We'll never buy another Panasonic product. Jan
JoshH Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Panasonic Sucks Dont beat around the bush.. tell us what you really think
aztec Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 All vendors are the same. I have a 20 year old Panasonic VCR that still works the same as it was when brand new. Similarly aged Panasonic CRT still going strong. I bought a Pioneer DVD player when DVD players were still relatively new for $1100, all it could do was play standard DVDs, when about 12 months later I wanted it to play VCDs or SVCDs I rang Pioneer and they told me I'd have to buy another one. I have never bought Pioneer since. The problem is new, or newish, technology.
JoshH Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 The problem is new, or newish, technology I agree with you generally - but high end stuff is usually better with regards to upgrades and service. Emphasis on 'usually'
aztec Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I agree with you generally - but high end stuff is usually better with regards to upgrades and service. Emphasis on 'usually' I agree, so how do you determine what is high-end? Does high-end equate to commercial quality?
quijibo Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 All vendors are the same. I have a 20 year old Panasonic VCR that still works the same as it was when brand new. Similarly aged Panasonic CRT still going strong.I bought a Pioneer DVD player when DVD players were still relatively new for $1100, all it could do was play standard DVDs, when about 12 months later I wanted it to play VCDs or SVCDs I rang Pioneer and they told me I'd have to buy another one. I have never bought Pioneer since. The problem is new, or newish, technology. Thats not the best analogy. Thats your fault for not doing your research. You bought a DVD player, not a DVD/VCD player and you reckon its Pioneers fault?
JoshH Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I agree, so how do you determine what is high-end? Does high-end equate to commercial quality? Research before purchase or engage a professional to reccomend on your behalf.
aztec Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Thats not the best analogy. Thats your fault for not doing your research. You bought a DVD player, not a DVD/VCD player and you reckon its Pioneers fault? My point was that with the latest technology you run risks. I was pissed off with the way I was treated by Pioneer support staff, not the product.
KernelPanic Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 But in your case, the product continued to do what you paid for it to do. In this case, these devices do not. Seems to be common with all digital projectors, that they are pretty much a throwaway item once the warranty has finished. My only advice is to buy it on a gold credit card which will provide extra warranty - or pay for the extra warranty from the shop.. for the maximum allowable, as it seems likely these things will break. Or buy a crt.
aztec Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Or buy a crt. And I'll sell you a still-working Pioneer DVD player to go with it
quijibo Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I bought a cheap projector because I knew in a few years it would be a throw-away device. If it still works I will sell it, but I wont be too disappointed if in 3 years it no longer works. My wife still doesn't understand this and when I keep telling her that it will be good for a couple of years she says it better last longer, but I am not expecting it to. Top quality projectors are still $10k and above, so its not surprising that a reasonable quality one for $2k-3k will not last as long. I figured that in 3 years time the $2k projectors will be vastly superior to my current one and similar to the $10k current models and I will buy another one then. Of course I know this because so many people have been screwed over as their 3 year old projectors no longer work.
moby disc Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I totally agree with deflepper. The cheap $1500 projectors of today are probably quite similar to the $6000 projector of five years ago. While I am not totally happy with the Toshiba I bought, the price was right and it gives a good picture. I will keep it for around five years and then probably get a 1080P projector for about $1500. Sounds like Panasonic really sucks though. My wife works for a big foreign bank and one of her customers is a top Panasonice exec in Australia. Do you want me to see if she can find out anything?
Curious Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Sounds like Panasonic really sucks though. My wife works for a big foreign bank and one of her customers is a top Panasonice exec in Australia. Do you want me to see if she can find out anything? Anticipating a flood of replies here from 'Panasonic hating' Forum members...
Tarnsie Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 Anticipating a flood of replies here from 'Panasonic hating' Forum members... \ That company sucks ass. First globe lasted 750 hrs. then 500 and finally the 3rd blew on 300hrs. Panasonic projectors are a pile of ****. (it was well ventilated and powered down correctly... always). Panasonic told me where to go when i claimed im not even getting 10% of the stated globe time. On a side note, just got my HC5000 and its brilliant.
Durazing Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 3 Bulbs under 750 hours blow on you? You are either cursed, incompetent or have an aweful power supply to your dwelling. Be interesting to see how long the HC5000 lasts...
JoshH Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 \That company sucks ass. First globe lasted 750 hrs. then 500 and finally the 3rd blew on 300hrs. Panasonic projectors are a pile of ****. (it was well ventilated and powered down correctly... always). Panasonic told me where to go when i claimed im not even getting 10% of the stated globe time. On a side note, just got my HC5000 and its brilliant. Thats some serious bad luck there with globes..
The_Preacher1973 Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 3 Bulbs under 750 hours blow on you? You are either cursed, incompetent or have an aweful power supply to your dwelling. Be interesting to see how long the HC5000 lasts... Or maybe there's a problem with bulb life in Pansonic projectors?
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