   this is ridiculous
  I just took my tv apart and fixed it.  It had been going in and out lately and would require a firm smack on the side to get it to work.  This progressively got worse, so I looked up the dangers of taking apart the tv (a high voltage-retaining capacitor that quote "probably won't kill you" and the possibility of shrapnel from a picture tube implosion).  I took it apart and examined the circuit board inside until I found something that was somehow skewed half out of its socket. (I've done minor electrical work (soldering) in the past by looking up how to on the internet)  I pushed it back in, put it all back together, and saved myself about $200 in tv repair.I just thought I'd share that this internet thing is f%#*ing ridiculous and is affording people like myself way too much information that would otherwise require extensive schooling.*DISCLAIMER*  DO NOT TAKE APART YOUR TV IT IS DANGEROUS   
Quote:Original post by FunkymunkyI just took my tv apart and fixed it.  It had been going in and out lately and would require a firm smack on the side to get it to work.  This progressively got worse, so I looked up the dangers of taking apart the tv (a high voltage-retaining capacitor that quote "probably won't kill you" and the possibility of shrapnel from a picture tube implosion).  I took it apart and examined the circuit board inside until I found something that was somehow skewed half out of its socket. (I've done minor electrical work (soldering) in the past by looking up how to on the internet)  I pushed it back in, put it all back together, and saved myself about $200 in tv repair.I just thought I'd share that this internet thing is f%#*ing ridiculous and is affording people like myself way too much information that would otherwise require extensive schooling.*DISCLAIMER*  DO NOT TAKE APART YOUR TV IT IS DANGEROUSLOl I had a teacher in like 10th grade tell the class this. She was a real nut job, and not just for this. I was going to tell her that like, yeah, maybe half the time you gotta solder something back, but who here has ever touched a soldering iron, and if you mess something up, you're not paying $200, you are getting a new tv. And then the other 1/2 of the time, you dont know what is going on, and you feel like an idiot.Wow i hated her.   ;  Yeah, that's f'ing ridiculous that it would probably cost you 200 dollars to send it in and have it repaired. I think a lot of repair companies are equally corrupt.   ;Quote:Original post by KevinatorYeah, that's f'ing ridiculous that it would probably cost you 200 dollars to send it in and have it repaired. I think a lot of repair companies are equally corrupt.Well, it is true that for a pro the fix might only take 2 minutes, but in an industry that could go a week without work, they have to make up that loss somehow.And like someone else said, how many people know how to do such repairs in a SAFE manner? Being able to pop open just about any TV, and quickly look up all the specs for it and being able to figure out just what is actually wrong with it takes a lot of training, something about 98% of the population doesn't have.It is like buying a car. A modern car, someone told me is worth about $100 in scrap metal, if even that. The 'cost' to actually build a car is very small, if you ignore things like the cost of the factories to make all the parts, the design of the parts, and the design and building of the parts used to build the things that make the parts,...But do you want to go out and spend the time building your own car?   ;  You need to ask yourself what you're paying for. Usually it can be defined in terms of Time and Experience. Virtually any product's worth can and should be measured in those two ways. Moreover, you should be comparing YOUR money with YOUR time and experience.Fixing your TV instead of paying $200 may sound favorable, sure. (Good for you that it worked out that way, incidentally.) If it takes a month to repair, though, that money suddenly doesn't seem like a big deal. Same deal if your soldering work is shoddy and needs to be redone every week.   