[loonatic]

Well...after firstly being sold a used HS10, as-new, with over 94 hours on the clock and waiting over 5 weeks for a replacement it has just died after only 14 hours use

I was just watching a film when a red pixel appeared right in the mddle of the screen &*!$ I thought...then it went only to come back a few moments later.

I turned it off...waiting a while and switched back on. The red pixel was still there along with a great big red blob which appeared just below the red pixel slightly to the right of it.

I got a piece of paper and held it up in front on the PJ and could see this red blob clearly...it appeared as a sort of horse shoe shape and was very clearly defined.

I was then playing with the focus/zoom to try and see the red blob better when a green pixel appeared in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Then...just when I thought it could not get any worse it powered itself off...well the screen went blank but the fans kept spinning. When they stopped I tried to start her up again only to be shown a stripey white screen. The remote would not control anything.

So back it goes

The question is now what should I expect the shop to do abot it ? should I be given a new unit on the spot or will they want to send it back for repair ? like I said I've only had it two weeks and it's only got 14 hours on the clock - although that can't be checked now.

If they do offer a new unit should I take it or would I be better off with a different unit such as the AE300 or the Sony VPL-VW12.

Cheers, Lee

Sorry to hear about your woes with the HS10.

With the usage you describe, personally, I'd expect an exchange from the dealer without any arguements TBH without even resorting to consumer rights etc. I would say a straight swap was justified wihtout any whining from anyone about it.

If it's any consolation I have my HS10 on an X10 module that powers it off totally when not in use and I've had none of the issues with the lamp bug. I also know a dealer pretty well that's moved a lot of HS10's and he says that there has been a few failures, particularly on the early ones but nothing too extraordinary.

HTH

K.

[theritz]

Hi loonatic,

Jeez, talk about bad luck....... I'd agree with lynchpin, you should get a straight swap for a new unit. Opting for an AE300 or 12HT is a matter for yourself - by indications here and particularly over on avsforum (which has a bigger population of owners) the AE300 seems to have a strong reliability record so far, and although the resolution is lower than the HS10, the smoothscreen technology seems to work in its favour by comparison (review on Projectorcentral.com), The AE300 cannot be driven 1:1 pixel matched form pc, so if HCPC is on the cards it would not be a preferred choice. The 12HT seems like a class act, and I haven't seen reports of any of the issues which seem to affect the HS10. It has the same resolution panels, but has MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology, which puts it further up the food chain from the HS10. MLA increases the fill-factor on the LCD panels and reduces the pixel structure (screendoor) substantially. I don't know if the HS10 has this technology (I'm sure Kramer will chime in here) but my viewing of the HS10 displayed a near structureless 7.5' image from 3' away, and no visible structure at normal viewing distance. If the 12HT can improve on that, then it must deserve serious consideration, particularly as UK prices seem to have dropped significantly.

As ever, you should see these in action before committing - only your own eyes will tell you what you like best.

I hope you get sorted out quickly - come back and tell us how you get on.


All the best,

Sean G.

[loonatic]

Well I took it back to the shop this morning and the best they could do was to send it back to Sony for a credit...once this is through I can then have a replacement unit. They did not have any in stock anyways but I now have to wait 3-4 weeks, or more.

I think I will stick with the HS10 as I do use it via a DVI HTPC and the picture quality was excellent and I was hoping for some more improvements once I started playing with the settings/calibrating it. But as it was out-of-the-box it was good...very good.

So...who wants to lend me their HS10 for a few weeks

Cheers, Lee