My New TV is DEAD ALIVE!!! (UPDATE)

SOLVED: After a stretch of days of squinting (even with my new glasses) at the 19" flat panel across the room, my 60" TV is once again functional. Though I wasn't happy with the fact that the Mitsubishi WD-60738--which I otherwise love--had its lamp burn out after two months, I'm now satisfied.  If this should happen to you, just be sure to have a receipt of purchase, your model number and your serial number. The lamp ordering page at www.mitsuparts.com is very easy to use. After I filled out the online form, I DID have to scan my receipt, and email it to the parts department. I then had the presence of mind to call them, and make sure that what I sent was adequate. It was. Two days later, the new lamp arrived.

Surprisingly, the lamp comes in a pre-loaded cartridge. Essentially, if you can operate a screw driver, you can do this yourself. Three screws, and a slide-out cartridge. It couldn't be easier. The TV once again is beautiful!


ORIGINAL POST (04/14/11): On this here blog thingy, I chronicled the transformation of my home theater system (TV, stereo and Harmony remote new; cable box, Blu-ray & CD player old). The whole endeavor wasn't outrageously expensive, since I got the stereo at Ultimate Electronics' going out of business sale, the remote on eBay and the TV from one of TigerDirect.com's "open box deals."

An open box deal is a little bit "buyer beware," since the unit has been lightly used, possibly refurbished, possibly "scratch and dent," and possibly missing parts. In my case, there was a tiny scrape on the back of the cabinet, and no manual. So, no big whoop. And the television itself--a Mitsubishi 60738 HDTV DLP--has been the crown jewel of my setup, with a gorgeous, huge picture.

It has not been without its irritations: channel changing takes too long, the cable box menus make the screen go blank for 2-3 seconds between clicks, and worse, the cable box sometimes loses all communication with the television, and must be unplugged or rebooted. Some of that may be the cable company's fault, and there will be no way to be sure until Cox Cable releases a new cable box.

But over the last six weeks, after I ironed out all the kinks, I've been pretty happy with the TV. But today, The Other Half called me at work, semi-whiny, semi-accusey. The TV won't come on, and it has a RED light lit. Hmmmm. I thought (and later confirmed) that the red light meant the lamp was burned out. This is an ordinary occurrence with a DLP TV, a trade-off for the relatively low price. But it usually happens after years, not weeks. Actually, it has been two months to the day.

This is irritating, but it isn't the end of the world, of course. What is more irritating is what I found when I tried to rectify the situation. I perused the TigerDirect website, and found that my TV is covered under the original manufacturer's warranty. Cool. So, I went to Mitsubishi's web site. There, I found out that their parts department is "closed for inventory." They expect to be open this Monday. So, I can't set anything in motion until then. Grumble.

So, as of now, this is just a blog journal about my frustration. I am not angry at TigerDirect, and I'm not angry with Mitsubishi. How this goes after I call them on Monday may change that. I will do an update to this post for anyone who might find it, to used as consumer advice.

The only bright spot is, if I get the runaround and get irritated enough, I can buy my own new lamp on eBay for $75ish. Which is cheaper than profound irritation.

UPDATE I (04/15/11): After calling three local "authorized" repair shops, with no success, I decided to give Mitsubishi's customer service center a try. The operator was friendly, and I wasn't transferred around or anything. But there was a curious delay that was awkward, and a distinctly un-American accent for a Mitsubishi-USA center. No matter, the guy was helpful, and he eventually told me that I was covered, and that Mitsubishi would send me a new lamp in two to three business days! Hazzah!

But not so fast. After he said "may I please to put you on hold for one to two minutes?", he came back on the line and said that their parts department was closed for inventory. I had already told him this. Alas, I will have to start over on Monday. I'm starting to get irritated with Mitsubishi.

UPDATE II (04/19/11): Okay, so I went to work on Monday morning, and I forgot my paperwork. Aarrgh. So, I had to take 40 minutes off, and run home to get it. I logged in to Mitsubishi's parts page upon my return to work, and very quickly completed the order for my lamp. Then I was told, "you aren't done yet!" I had to prove that I had purchased the TV. Hrrmmphhh. Well, I did bring my packing slip with my serial number, so I scanned that and emailed it to Mitsubishi.

Then--while working, you understand, I'm a multi-tasker--I phoned the parts department. After four busy signal tries, I got through. After 10 minutes on hold, I got a live person, and five minutes after that, I had a confirmation that my proof of purchase was adequate.

Upon my return home, I found an email confirmation that the lamp has shipped, and that I should receive it by Wednesday afternoon, April 20. Woohoo! On track. Don't let me down, Mitsubishi!

My Friends, John McCain Irritates Me!

Photo from McCain email

I'm on various mailing lists, due to this blog and other internet petition signings, and the like. Strangely, I get stuff from both Democrats and Republicans (and not just a few religious mailers, if you can believe it). And yesterday, I got the latest email from John McCain's campaign.

Now, I know that the Karl Rove way of doing things is to embrace your negatives, and attack your opponent's positives. It's amazing that this stuff works, but the American populace is incredibly easy to hoodwink. Just check out the "bittergate" flap Barack Obama has had to deal with. Ridiculous, really.

But back to McCain. One of the most irritating things about him as a speaker (in addition to his incessant blinking when talking) is his use of the phrase "my friends." He uses it more than The Book of Mormon uses "and it came to pass." Occasionally, he changes it up a little, saying, "my dear friends." But it's like your step-dad who sniffs every few seconds, the aunt who clears her throat five times a minute or the friend who tells stories punctuated by "uhhhs" every four words. . .once you clue into it, all you can do is cringe (and count) with each instance of the irritating thing.

So, the email I received from McCain, in true Rovian fashion, embraces this weakness. It starts with those very words. . .

[McCain Campaign email]

Lower Gas Prices?

My Friends,

This week, I laid out an economic plan aimed at providing immediate and long-term relief for all American families. One of the key components of this plan is a suspension of the federal gas tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day of this year. . . .

Yes, he seriously said "long term relief" and then followed in the next sentence with a short-term plan. Like Bill Maher said, it's like Grandpa giving us $5.