[Footsore]

My 8 year old tatung old square box tv has been playing up for months. The screen goes brighter and a white line appears down the middle of the screen and the two sides converge in a few inches. At other times it goes all wavey lines over the picture. I must admit when you go into the sky epg the white line effect happens alot. The screen also goes blank at times - often when starting up in the mornings - or late at night after being on for a while. It's almost as though some solder was melting if they use such a thing anymore. Its really annoying as i wish it would either stop or just knack up completely so i can get a new one. Anyone know what it is - is the tube going? cos its been on its deathbed for several months now.

Cheers

[Jim Rae]

It's dying I'm afraid - not bad after eight years.

Go to Asda or Tesco and get yourself a nice new TV for less than £200 for a big 4:3 model.

And throw the old one in the skip!

[Orbitalzone]

Tatung TV's (like most others) suffer from dry joints after several years..... it does sound like a dry joint problem.... once the TV warms up, the soldered joints expand and that's when the problems can start.

If left unrepaired it'll probably burn the joint out and stop altogether....

A tv engineer would likely charge £45 for a repair (more, if parts required)

Still 8 years isn't bad......

[Footsore]

Thanks Orbits, I'm glad someone else knows about this problem. Thats the problem knowadays - is anything worth repairing. The Scottish blood in me says repair it but the gadget part of me says get a new tv. I hope it blows up so i don't have to make the decision. I'm all for the old fashioned tv's and don't see much benefit in the new widescreen ones yet, and the gadget shop prog the other night seemed to say similar on waiting for plasma and lcd to get better and cheaper because they are basically crap at the moment - another case of salesmen telling you often enough and you will agree. However got a problem with Asda etc. They used to do a 3 year guarantee on their cheapo tv's but i think its down to 1 year now and the wife who does a few hours in there says there are lots of their tv's coming back and they seem to be german? - which is definately a case of nosprungdirtcheap Oh well will hold out to see if my joints or the tv's give out first.

Thanks again.

[Jim Rae]

Asda's TVs are branded as "Scheider" and "Pacific" and are German sourced, but not necessarily made in Germany.

It's a pity the three year guarantee is gone - it was worth having.

Take your Tatung TV to the local cleansing depot, throw it in the skip and say: "You've served me well - but now it's time to move on..."

You'll feel much better for it - and think of a nice new shiny silver job in your front room.

In time for the tennis too...

[Orbitalzone]

Although I can't be sure, I seriously doubt Schnieder TV's are German made as they're a budget brand and Germany isn't a place where cheap TV's come from....

They're most likely rebadged from Turkey, Poland or China

Like many brand names, you can't tell who or where they come from.

Matsui was a name drempt up by Dixons to sound Japanese... Dixons got in trouble when they used to advertise 'Matsui, Japanese technology' the advertising standards said that as they weren't Japanese, they couldn't be advertised as such. (Matsui name appears on products from wherever is the cheapest factory at a given time)

[Jim Rae]

That's what I meant - sourced from a German company but not necessarily made there.

My Schneider DVD player has no indication - on the outside at least - of where it was made.

It is exceptionally well built though, compared to other budget models I've seen.

So you may be right about Turkey etc being the manufacturing centres.

[Footsore]

Quote:

Tatung TV's (like most others) suffer from dry joints after several years..... it does sound like a dry joint problem.... once the TV warms up, the soldered joints expand and that's when the problems can start. A tv engineer would likely charge £45 for a repair (more, if parts required)

Bang on Orbitallzone . The tv picture finally packed in this morning. Now i picked a likely lad out of the yellow pages who comes to your house with no call out charge. Got him on his mobile - he was passing and called in. 30 mins later and a soldering iron he had fixed the problem just like you said. He only charged me £25 which i think was a blxxdy good deal considering the speed he came and got the job done. So good that i gave him a fiver for a drink........there who said us Scots were mean . So will solder on - sorry soldier on until it finally packs in and by that time hopefully the widescreen tv's will be down to a more realistic price and for that matter the plasmo too.
Thanks Orbitalizone as i would still rather pay 25 nicker than 250.

cheers ............wait for it

[BexTech]

I think it was best to have it repaired, and wait for HDTV to be available at a reasonable cost.

No point in getting a new TV, only to have to change it again in a couple of years!

[dslrocks]

Quote:

You'll feel much better for it - and think of a nice new shiny silver job in your front room.

Hmm ... is it just only me who thinks silver TVs, videos and hi-fi gear looks a bit tacky?

There's a difference between brushed steel and a plastic case you know

Also, does anyone know where I can get any black televisions or videos? This silver stuff looks really naff to be honest and i'm looking to change my video soon!

---

Last edited by dslrocks : 24-07-2004 at 20:23.

[BexTech]

I prefer black too, but the only things now I have black is the W/S TV & Sky Digibox! Everything else is as you say tacky silver/grey!

[kev]

My parents 15 year old Matsui set strarted to do the same, if you need to eek a bit more life out of the old dog try turning the contrast and brightness down a touch - we managed to squeeze another 4 weeks of use out of it before we could replace it.

[Orbitalzone]

I think black or dark grey tv's will come back soon... I've noticed more and more silver TV and DVD players now have more black strips on them, it might be a sign that silver has stopped being the in thing... maybe we'll go back to wood effect!

Oh and Footsore... did I mention my consultation / advise fee ?



Glad you got it fixed.

[rifleman19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orbitalzone

Although I can't be sure, I seriously doubt Schnieder TV's are German made as they're a budget brand and Germany isn't a place where cheap TV's come from....

They're most likely rebadged from Turkey, Poland or China

Like many brand names, you can't tell who or where they come from.

Matsui was a name drempt up by Dixons to sound Japanese... Dixons got in trouble when they used to advertise 'Matsui, Japanese technology' the advertising standards said that as they weren't Japanese, they couldn't be advertised as such. (Matsui name appears on products from wherever is the cheapest factory at a given time)

That is very true, When Dixons started selling own brand products they were called Triumph, But these did'nt sell so they gave them a Japanese souding name.

[kev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rifleman19

That is very true, When Dixons started selling own brand products they were called Triumph, But these did'nt sell so they gave them a Japanese souding name.

The red cirlce that was part of the orignal logo certainly help make that impression on me. Only the "made in West Germany" sticker on the back managed to dispel that impretion.

[dslrocks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rifleman19

That is very true, When Dixons started selling own brand products they were called Triumph, But these did'nt sell so they gave them a Japanese souding name.

Didn't Dixons used to sell their own brand goods under the Saishio (sp?) brand for a while?

Or were they a company in their own right?

[meltcity]

I always think it's a shame to throw out an old set when the picture quality is still bright and clear. I chucked out my beloved 14" Sony a few months ago, which for some reason had become permanently stuck in stand-by mode (the picture quality was still excellent). It occurred to me afterwards that it may have been a simple fault to repair, and even if it wasn't I could have written it off and still got a new one. Oh well, I suppose I'll never know now.

It's a bad time to replace a TV of any size, since most CRTs still don't have digital tuners, most plasmas under £3000 can't even resolve PAL resolution let alone HD, and LCDs, while getting cheaper and better, still can't match CRT picture quality (the new models are supposed to be a lot better though).

[Orbitalzone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dslrocks

Didn't Dixons used to sell their own brand goods under the Saishio (sp?) brand for a while?

Or were they a company in their own right?

I think Saisho was Currys own brand name and Matsui was Dixons.... probably the same products with different badge so people didn't know they were part of the same company.

[BexTech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orbitalzone

I think Saisho was Currys own brand name and Matsui was Dixons.... probably the same products with different badge so people didn't know they were part of the same company.

The other way around!

[Jim Rae]

Then there was Rumbelows who sold me two very good "Osaki" portable sets, at least one of which was a Philips rebadge job...