I just bought a new Hitachi RPTV

[grampi]

Finally getting sick and tired of the constant on and off again problem with our 36" Panasonic TV, this gave us the excuse we needed to actually go buy a big screen RPTV. We bought a Hitachi 51" (model 51F500) TV from Sears. They had it on clearance for $1189. Taking the advice from many in this forum, I was looking at strictly Hitachis, Toshibas, and Mtisubishis. We looked at several places, but no other store would match Sears' price for the same or comparable TV. I couldn't believe the picture quality of this TV as I viewed it in the store. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Tuesday to see how it looks in our living room. It wouldn't fit in our van and Sears couldn't deliver it until then. I'd just like to know if any of you have this TV or know anyone who has and if so, what are your likes and dislikes.

[Slosh]

...didn't you know Hitachi (as well as JVC) is part of the same parent company as Panasonic? That would be Matsushita and they're aptly named in my experience, unfortunately

Well, good luck. Hmmm. . . extended warranty. . .

[ryjam282]

I have had a Hitachi TV for about 2 years now...57" Widescreen (57UWX20B). I have had nothing but praise for this TV. It is wonderful and DVD's with the Component outs, simply AMAZING. You got a good one, the Hitachi is good.

[brulaha]

I bought a Hitachi about 1 1/2 years ago. It was 43" widescreen. I'm starting to have problems with it. Bought it from a local/regional dealer call HH Gregg. Up till recently, it performed well. Now I am worried...

[ryjam282]

What is happening with it? I got mine from Circuit City, I did get the warranty also just in case but what is happening to yours?

[grampi]

...didn't you know Hitachi (as well as JVC) is part of the same parent company as Panasonic? That would be Matsushita and they're aptly named in my experience, unfortunately

Well, good luck. Hmmm. . . extended warranty. . .

Trying to keep up with which company is afilliated with which is nearly impossible these days. I based my brand choice on many discussions with many folks in this forum who have said that Toshiba, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi are the 3 most reliable brands of RPTV's. I'm sure you can find people who have had problems with any make TV, but most people say these 3 brands are the most reliable. In the past few years I've had more trouble with Sony and and Panasonic products than any other brands. Hitachi may be part of the same parent company, but I know they still make their own TV's.

BTW, I did purchase an extended warranty. 3 years.

[grampi]

There's something about these extended warranties I don't undersatnd. I got a 3 year warranty which begins on the date of purchase. The TV comes with a 1 year factory warranty. Wouldn't it make more sense for the extended warranty to begin on the date the factory warranty expires? This is basically a waste of a year of the extended warranty. Also, thes EW's are so stinkin' expensive. I paid $300 for mine, and a 5 year warranty woould've been $500. That's half as much as an EW warranty I had on a car. Why are they so expensive?

[topspeed]

There's something about these extended warranties I don't undersatnd. I got a 3 year warranty which begins on the date of purchase. The TV comes with a 1 year factory warranty. Wouldn't it make more sense for the extended warranty to begin on the date the factory warranty expires? This is basically a waste of a year of the extended warranty. Also, thes EW's are so stinkin' expensive. I paid $300 for mine, and a 5 year warranty woould've been $500. That's half as much as an EW warranty I had on a car. Why are they so expensive?

They are profit centers, nothing more. Why do you think salespeople put the full-court press on you to buy them?

Back in the stone age when I was taking Business Law classes at 'SC, I had a wonderful teacher named Professor Hlamka. We had a session one day on manufacturer warranties. Not just electronics mind you, I'm talking about everything. Well it seems that every product sold in the US is must work for a certain amount of time, regardless of what the warranty says. There are estimated life spans for just about everything found in a book that you get from the government (no, I don't remember what it is called). If it doesn't live up to its billing, the manufacturer is on the hook. The example she used is that her Benz's tranny conked out a year after the MB warranty did, but the chart stated the tranny should last longer. She pointed this out to MB, got nowhere, and then sued. The shouldn't have messed with a Law Prof at 'SC because lo and behold, she got her new tranny. The moral to the story was to never buy extended warranties.

Now, I have no idea if you can still do this. After all, this was in the late '80's and that's a loooong time for corporate attorneys to shoot holes in the thing. Perhaps there's an attorney on this board that can enlighten us?

[woodman]

...didn't you know Hitachi (as well as JVC) is part of the same parent company as Panasonic? That would be Matsushita and they're aptly named in my experience, unfortunately

Well, good luck. Hmmm. . . extended warranty. . .

Hold on there, Slosh ... you're peeing up a rope with this one! FYI, Hitachi has no business relationship with Matsu****a at all, other than the fact that they DO buy things from one another (as nearly every major company does - especially Japanese companies). But as far as being "part of Matsu****a" ... no, I'm afraid not.

[Slosh]

Hold on there, Slosh ... you're peeing up a rope with this one! FYI, Hitachi has no business relationship with Matsu****a at all, other than the fact that they DO buy things from one another (as nearly every major company does - especially Japanese companies). But as far as being "part of Matsu****a" ... no, I'm afraid not.

Yeah, I knew that sounded wrong. I can't remember exactly where or what Hitachi product I recently read about, but the article said it was a Matsushita design. Perhaps it was based on a Panasonic model or was merely a rebadged product and the article was poorly worded. I know besides electronics Hitachi also makes a lot of heavy-industry equipment.

In any case I should mention I have a mid 90s Hitachi hi fi VCR that has never given me any trouble but have had four Panasonic products that all failed less than a year out of warranty. I wouldn't even buy Panasonic brand batteries at this point.

[brulaha]

What is happening with it? I got mine from Circuit City, I did get the warranty also just in case but what is happening to yours?

There is a big black box that show up while viewing...i.e. no picture in the center of the screen. There is a 2" frame around the edges where the picture is fine. If I change the channel it goes back to normal, but it can have problems again as quickly as 1 minute later.

I'm not condeming the brand all together, but it's certainly frustrating. I hope it can be fixed.

[grampi]

They are profit centers, nothing more. Why do you think salespeople put the full-court press on you to buy them?

Back in the stone age when I was taking Business Law classes at 'SC, I had a wonderful teacher named Professor Hlamka. We had a session one day on manufacturer warranties. Not just electronics mind you, I'm talking about everything. Well it seems that every product sold in the US is must work for a certain amount of time, regardless of what the warranty says. There are estimated life spans for just about everything found in a book that you get from the government (no, I don't remember what it is called). If it doesn't live up to its billing, the manufacturer is on the hook. The example she used is that her Benz's tranny conked out a year after the MB warranty did, but the chart stated the tranny should last longer. She pointed this out to MB, got nowhere, and then sued. The shouldn't have messed with a Law Prof at 'SC because lo and behold, she got her new tranny. The moral to the story was to never buy extended warranties.

Now, I have no idea if you can still do this. After all, this was in the late '80's and that's a loooong time for corporate attorneys to shoot holes in the thing. Perhaps there's an attorney on this board that can enlighten us?

I've never been much of an extended warranty person in the past, but from what I've seen lately in terms of electronics reliability, I've been pretty much scared into an EW. I've had more elctronic equipment go south on me in the last 5 or 6 years than I can shake a stick at. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in the reliability (or more appropriately, the lack of reliability) that some of these elctronic companies are putting out these days. It just seems like they don't give a crap about the quality of their products anymore. I don't want to have this TV crap out on me in 1 1/2 or 2 years, leaving me stuck with a huge repair bill. Believe me, I don't like having to purchase an EW just to feel good about my purchase, but what else is a person supposed to do? It's a gamble either way.

[cam]

I've never been much of an extended warranty person in the past, but from what I've seen lately in terms of electronics reliability, I've been pretty much scared into an EW. I've had more elctronic equipment go south on me in the last 5 or 6 years than I can shake a stick at. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in the reliability (or more appropriately, the lack of reliability) that some of these elctronic companies are putting out these days. It just seems like they don't give a crap about the quality of their products anymore. I don't want to have this TV crap out on me in 1 1/2 or 2 years, leaving me stuck with a huge repair bill. Believe me, I don't like having to purchase an EW just to feel good about my purchase, but what else is a person supposed to do? It's a gamble either way.

I don't know about every electronic store in Canada or USA but Audio-Video in Canada has an exdended warranty that if you buy and never use, you then get to use it at full amount paid on in store credit after it expires. Now to me, that would be an extended warranty purchased to save your bacon if something bad happens, if nothing bad happens then you get to use that $200 - $400 on future purchases. I'm buying one!

[grampi]

I don't know about every electronic store in Canada or USA but Audio-Video in Canada has an exdended warranty that if you buy and never use, you then get to use it at full amount paid on in store credit after it expires. Now to me, that would be an extended warranty purchased to save your bacon if something bad happens, if nothing bad happens then you get to use that $200 - $400 on future purchases. I'm buying one!

That's exactly how ALL EW's should be.

[Eric Z]

There is a big black box that show up while viewing...i.e. no picture in the center of the screen. There is a 2" frame around the edges where the picture is fine. If I change the channel it goes back to normal, but it can have problems again as quickly as 1 minute later.

I'm not condeming the brand all together, but it's certainly frustrating. I hope it can be fixed.

I'm not sure if this will fix it or not, but something similar happened to me and my TV. Check to see if the Closed Captioning feature is turned on. If it is, and there isn't a closed captioning feed, instead of words, you see a black box. I turned mine on by mistake one time with the remote and after a few minutes of viewing a black box filled up part of the screen. Hopefully it's a quick fix like that. If not, contact the retailer where you bought it and they might have some tips. Or you can also contact Hitachi customer service directly- they're pretty helpful!

Good luck!
Eric

[grampi]

It may be an aspect ratio thing too. I experienced a similar issue tonight with mine and I was able to get rid of it by changing ratios.

[brulaha]

I'm not sure if this will fix it or not, but something similar happened to me and my TV. Check to see if the Closed Captioning feature is turned on. If it is, and there isn't a closed captioning feed, instead of words, you see a black box. I turned mine on by mistake one time with the remote and after a few minutes of viewing a black box filled up part of the screen. Hopefully it's a quick fix like that. If not, contact the retailer where you bought it and they might have some tips. Or you can also contact Hitachi customer service directly- they're pretty helpful!

Good luck!
Eric

HMMMMM...I did just recently play with that setting and low and behold it was set to on. I haven't had a chance to see if the problem has abated, but what you're saying makes sense. I'll let you know how things go. Thanks!!!

[Rob1956]

it sounds like you have the "text" option in closed caption turned on. Most stations don't send anything in text...therefore you get the empty black box.

[brulaha]

I'm not sure if this will fix it or not, but something similar happened to me and my TV. Check to see if the Closed Captioning feature is turned on. If it is, and there isn't a closed captioning feed, instead of words, you see a black box. I turned mine on by mistake one time with the remote and after a few minutes of viewing a black box filled up part of the screen. Hopefully it's a quick fix like that. If not, contact the retailer where you bought it and they might have some tips. Or you can also contact Hitachi customer service directly- they're pretty helpful!

Good luck!
Eric

Thank you Eric & Rob, you seemed to have solved my problem. I was really upset that the set was having problems. Seems to be pilot error. I guess I'm happy to have a little egg on my face in lieu of a $100.00 repair bill...lol


THANKS GUYS!!!

[grovenstein]

Having been in the business I can honestly say extended warranties on electronics is the biggest ripoff going on today. Here is a simple math excersize to demonstrate.

Hitachi 51" TV: $1200
3 year extended warranty: $300
VERY conservative probability of failure: 5%

They are taking $300 bucks and paying you $60 ($1200*.05) in expected claims.

If any of you would like to buy this type of insurance let me know; I'll open up shop and rape you......

[replay11]

so grampi...... how is the tv...... interested in the viewing modes (watching 4:3 on 16:9) how is the zoom mode...distortion?

[grampi]

Having been in the business I can honestly say extended warranties on electronics is the biggest ripoff going on today. Here is a simple math excersize to demonstrate.

Hitachi 51" TV: $1200
3 year extended warranty: $300
VERY conservative probability of failure: 5%

They are taking $300 bucks and paying you $60 ($1200*.05) in expected claims.

If any of you would like to buy this type of insurance let me know; I'll open up shop and rape you......

Your statement becomes less true by the day. Today in the electronics industry, "cheap" seems to be the buzz word and reliability has gone down the crapper because of it. Just within the last 4 years I've had a 36" TV, a HT receiver, and several VCR's bite the bullet, all of which were purchased brand new, and all of which were name brand components. 20 or 30 years ago it wasn't uncommon to buy a TV and have it last 20 years. In fact I still have a TV that's 20 years old and it still works just fine and it's never been repaired. My mother has a VCR that's over 20 years old and it's never even been cleaned and it still works just fine. Try that with one of today's models.Today, you're lucky to get 5 years out of a TV and a year out of a VCR. I agree, extended warranties were a rip off when companies were still building reliable equipment. Today they're almost a must because of poor reliability and a lack of manufacturer's warranties. Hell, I've seen TV's with as little as 90 days on the factory warranties. That tells me THEY don't even have enough confidence in the build quality of THEIR OWN PRODUCT to warrant it. Though initially I thought it was a lot of money, I now say $300 is an exceptable amount for an EW when a TV repair shop is going to charge you $100 just to walk through your front door if you have a problem, and if you can even get them to come to your home anymore. If your set does require repair, it's highly unlikely the cost of that repair will be less than what you paid for the EW. EW's a rip off? Not these days.

[kpzbee]

I'll have to agree with Grampi on this one. It's pretty pathetic but it's the truth. I was a professional auto technician for 20 years & I always had people ask about EWs. I never liked them but if you ran into a/c or driveability problems, that $1000 you paid for the EW, really comes in handy. Heck, now a days it's hard to find a REAL tech, most are just parts hangers..... When I go to buy a RPTV later this year, I'll be buying a EW.

[woodman]

Having been in the business I can honestly say extended warranties on electronics is the biggest ripoff going on today. Here is a simple math excersize to demonstrate.

Hitachi 51" TV: $1200
3 year extended warranty: $300
VERY conservative probability of failure: 5%

They are taking $300 bucks and paying you $60 ($1200*.05) in expected claims.

If any of you would like to buy this type of insurance let me know; I'll open up shop and rape you......

... so, you were "in the business"? For how long? Doing what? From where I sit, it sure as hell wasn't in any part of the business where you'd learn the "facts of life" regarding product reliability and serviceability. Your POV is so far removed from reality that it's a bit of a joke to anyone that actually knows the truth about the subject (like yours truly). Your comments show a total lack of understanding of TV servicing - are misguided - and are flat-out wrong!

Your statement becomes less true by the day. Today in the electronics industry, "cheap" seems to be the buzz word and reliability has gone down the crapper because of it.

... 20 or 30 years ago it wasn't uncommon to buy a TV and have it last 20 years. In fact I still have a TV that's 20 years old and it still works just fine and it's never been repaired. ... I agree, extended warranties were a rip off when companies were still building reliable equipment. Today they're almost a must because of poor reliability and a lack of manufacturer's warranties. Hell, I've seen TV's with as little as 90 days on the factory warranties. That tells me THEY don't even have enough confidence in the build quality of THEIR OWN PRODUCT to warrant it.

EW's a rip off? Not these days.

Right as rain, grampi. You have a much better grasp of the situation than grovenstein here who thinks he's smarter than the average bear - thinks he knows better than to get "ripped off" by a virtually worthless expenditure like an Extended Warranty. In truth, he hasn't a clue ... really!

I'll have to agree with Grampi on this one. It's pretty pathetic but it's the truth. I was a professional auto technician for 20 years & I always had people ask about EWs. I never liked them but if you ran into a/c or driveability problems, that $1000 you paid for the EW, really comes in handy. Heck, now a days it's hard to find a REAL tech, most are just parts hangers..... When I go to buy a RPTV later this year, I'll be buying a EW.

Smart fella, kpzbee. Your perception that competent TV technicians are extremely hard to come by is a dead-on bullseye! Having spent 50+ years in TV servicing, I shudder at the very thought of buying an HDTV set of any size, shape, or description, without all of the warranty protection available! It must be considered as the only way to bring the price of the set into line with what it should be ... IF it was built with reliability as a major consideration, and IF the mfg. would back it up with a meaningful warranty - rather than the measly, and IMO obscene 90 days that so many mfgs. have resorted to.