DEAD AE 100`s Head count plz

[Walter mitty]

Can we have a head count of deada pannys plz? I`m put off this machine now so many gone wrong can`t be a good pj can it?..If this is good whats bad to look for in a PJ?

The people who own this projector must be sweating that common problems people are having is not a bathtub fault. If so, then this pj could end up being more expensive than anticipated.

When you splash out on a TV, you can now reasonable expect 10 years life out of it. If this pj is flakey, then the chances of it breaking just outside the warranty period must be very high. £500 per year dont seem so good value, some how.

The problems seem to be bulb related. What if the minute difference between bulbs are enough to break the pj. Two years down the line you replace the bulb, and hey presto, your pj breaks.

I think potential buyers should wait until Panasonic give a satisfactory reason for the high number of failures on this unit.

El

[Splice]

well........ 3 dead pannies...... but still gagging for another, just want a good non flickering,no dead pixel example. to much to ask.....?

all the best....Splice

the non explosive version would be nice as well.

[JSW]

I wouldn't worry too much.

Surely all we are seeing is a few dodgy ones looking like a lot of dodgy ones due to them being condensed in this forum.

Look around other forums and you rarely see any probs there.

If it does turn out to be a design flaw then surely Panasonic would issue a fix and this would be carried out under warranty.

Maybe even a product recall if it does become very widespread but believe me for that to happen it would need to be very very widespread.

The other problem with a recall would be that manufactueres dont like admitting problems as they see it as them having failed.

Take the Sony NS900 dvd player, look how quietly that was sorted. Units where happily fixed under warranty but owners where not made aware by Sony about this.
The player was removed from all Sony web sites and only re appeared after the revised version was being shipped.

If you havn't allready done so anyone with dodgy units should email panny direct and CC it to avforums.
That way panny will see that your informing everyone about it and they will want to act to keep there reputation intact.

You could demo a Sanyo PLV30. Ok its 4:3 but it does have a wide screen mode. Non anamorphic dvd's look crap, but dont own many (the ones i do, i have when i wasnt really interested in home cinema. Dont buy non anamorphic ones now.


Best thing to do is demo some at your local dealer. Failing that, look at the hardware reviews on the HCC website.

Thats what i did, then got a demo of the one i wanted.

Lets not get into a slanging match with AE100 owners.

My own view when i was buying my first PJ was between the AE100 and the Sanyo. The AE100 does have a true wide screen panel, but due to the percentage of returns due to faulty parts, i went for the Sanyo. Lamp life wasnt that important (2000 Sanyo, 5000? Panny). If you have home cinema as a hobby, why moan about the cost of up keep? The Panny looks like a old fashion fan heater, the Sanyo looked like a PJ.

The Sanyo was more expensive (£2000)
The Panny was £1500 or maybe cheaper.



PLEASE remember this is my own view and this is not meant as a slanging match to AE100 owners.

[Bert Coules]

What's a bathtub failure?

Bert
http://www.bertcoules.co.uk

[jonny m]

Geoffc10
what signal do you use to display the image via your plv-30?

I have its eiki clone and im finding the svid is very similar to composite, when using either im getting slight vertical lines every 10 pixels or so, shows up in blue sky scenes, dark scenes etc, do you get this?

hopefully soon i will get to try component progressive and interlaced, have also tried via the pc and the image is fantastic although im not sure i want the hassle of the htpc

still trying to get the optimal image

j

[azzo]

Can we have another survey of actual DEAD panasonics please? The last survey was with problems - including dead pixels, colour discrepences etc. Now if people are happy with these minor problems (of course there is no reason why they should be) then we can get a more accurate judjement of failures. I have one of these and am VERY worried that it will break on me, especially now I am customizing my room especially. Does anyone now if surge breakers/power smoothers help?

[Timh]

I was the first and its still firing on all cylinders 233 hours and counting. My fingers are starting to ache, been crossed for about 8 weeks now.
It seems if you have a good one, your in luck.
Whats the maximum hours anyone has reached before thier PJ has died?

[azzo]

So we need a list of Hours Used before failure and Reason of Failure. We can then work out an average and see when ours will die!!!!! Just to worry you all a bit more. I had a panasonic camcorder which developed a bad pixel after 2 years use!! Now I know they use CCD and not LCDs, but they must be very similar technology. We could all have that to look forward too!

[Bert Coules]

Mine went at about 150 hours, most of which were clocked by the previous owner. I switched on, there was momentary life and then a muted bang - the rest was, as they say, silence.

I didn't notice any warning signs. It's been suggested that it was a mistake switching it on and off with the rear mains switch and that it would have been better to have left it in standby when not in use, but I don't know if that's true.

The lamp was at the low setting and the unit was on a stand with uninterrupted airflow.

Bert
http://www.bertcoules.co.uk

17 hours, the night before it broke I thought the picture was a little 'washed out' ie dull. I even commented about this to my friends on the phone. Next morning turned on the unit and all the lights were flashing on the front and the lamp flashing on and off.

Now if you turn it on it flickers every second for about 4-5 minutes and then the picture goes off and the lamp flashes. For those few minutes it is on the picture is produces is very dull.

Lamp was in low mode.
Unit was ceiling mounted with no obstructions to air flow.
Was only switched on and off with remote control.

Regards

Der Pobman

Jonny M

I was using S-Video until a couple of days ago when i changed to a component lead, cant say I've seen a drastic improvement over S-Video, but i wanted to connect my Humax digital box to the pj.
Only thing I've noticed when using both is that the pj wasn't auto detecting the source. strange....

Was the AE100 supposed to auto switch? (I understand Geoffc10 is talking about the PLV30)

For instance if I turned off my JVC VCR and switch on my DVD player should the PJ have automatically gone from S-Vdeo to the component inputs?

Of course this is all a little academic now ... but I would still like to know.

Regards

Der Pobman

[peterweg]

>Was the AE100 supposed to auto switch
Alas, No.
>Mine went at about 150 hours, most of which were clocked by the previous owner
Thats a possibly because -
>switching it on and off with the rear mains switch
Will, of course, seriously damage it. A very large amount of heat is extracted after shutdown and thermal shock is what breaks electronic parts i.e. switching it on and off.
>Bathtub curve
High rate of initial failure cause by manufacturing faults followed by a long stable life and then an increased failure rate as it gets old.
Pray for a faulty unit to break early, under warrenty