buy graded or brand new?

[wolf636]

hi guys, looking at buying a ae200 or ae300 from robert whyte ltd which is a graded machine, not to sure to buy cheaper and risk it or buy brand new for extra dosh, had abit of a search on the forum but have come up with no real yes or no.the brand new one i might go with discount electrical as you get a free screen,havent got a screen yet, iam a newbie in to home cinema.

 

[Grimley]

Brand new - if you can't afford it try 2nd hand (classified section in this very forum.
Graded = grief IMO.

 

[chic]

i was going to buy a graded a300 from robert whyte but i decided against it as i felt with a grade machine you are buying a unit that is realy second hand and has been returned to panasonic for some reason and i didnt want to take the chance of geting a unit with dead pixels. So i opted for a a300 from discount electrical as the do a dpc. My unit arrived tuesday & son far its perfect

 

[William123]

If you can afford it then buy brand new or second hand if you consider being adept at putting it through it's paces.....as said in a previous post...Graded....NO.......

 

[cyberheater]

I bought a graded AE100 from robert whyte ltd and had no issues at all. It only had 5 hours on the bulb and significantly cheaper. Well worth a look.

 

[clancol]

i bought a hs10 from rwhyte- graded had no problems from it at all. From my experence working in a HC store, most returns tend to come in 4 flavors
1-knowledge- I bought it and i dont have a clue how to use it.

2-Asthetic- bought it and wife thinks it looks awful on the roof.

3-Second thought- quite a lot of people buy on whymes, and return when they realise thast they are pushing there credit limit.

4-A problem with the machine.

item-1-2-3-4 all tend to come back with the user stating some intermiting problem. item's then returned to sony, who fix if needed,and then supplie to there graded dealer.r whyte.

So yes i took a risk buying a graded, but a calculated risk.
And one that i might add comes with a full year Garantee, a much lower overdraft and in my case a projecter that had less that 2 hours on the clock.

I haven't yet heard a bad word about r whyte, Apart from one of there guys that tends to have a short memory, and i'm sure if you have a problem they will exchange as soon as they can.

hope that evens it out a bit for you.

P.s. Im not the only one.

 

[benji_m]

Graded quality varies hugely from manufacturer to manufacturer, and even then a great degree from one manufacturer. some are almost pristine - some are absolutely shocking

You need to find out what 'Graded' Means - is it nearly new slight mod/repair and really quite ok or has it spent 11 months being hammered and abused by a customer, gone faulty and been repaired.

There are some genuine bargains to be had, but also some real junk out there - I know we go to great lengths to check any graded stuff we get in - I even own some myself!

 

[pat22]

Hi,

I took the risk, 500£ cheaper for a Sony HS20.
I ordered last Wednesday from Robert Whyte, should receive it within the next 12 days.

I was worried about dead pixels and also heard of different level of graded equipement. So I asked the questions to them.

The reply was straight foward: ' The products are grade A. If you are not delighted with the graded product
you can return within 7 days for a full refund. '

I will run the projector full time for 7 days

Will let you know how it goes!

Cheers
Patrice

 

[wolf636]

thanks for the replies it has given me some food for thought, dont you just hate having to decide...

 

[Cool-hand]

Originally posted by pat22
The reply was straight foward: ' The products are grade A. If you are not delighted with the graded product
you can return within 7 days for a full refund.

That's very good service indeed, if they honour it. Has anyone on here had to return something to them yet? How did you get on, was it hassle free?

CH

 

[nja]

I have just taken the plunge and ordered a "graded" VPLHS10 from RobertWhyte. At £999 with a 7 day no quibble return plus a 12 month guarantee it has got to be worth a punt (I hope !).
A quick search showed "discount" prices of £1,800-£2,200 for this machine !

 

[AndyFov]

The last HS10 sold on the classifieds changed hands for £975 2nd hand if memory serves... You can't really go wrong at £999.

Andy

 

[Kramer]

Originally posted by nja
it has got to be worth a punt

Punt? Shouldn't that be €uro?

Good, old punts (IR£)......those were the days........

Best of luck anyway

 

[rkb]

Hey Coolhand

I posted the graded link to the HS10/20 last week. Back in Nov03 I bought a graded HS10 from Robert Whyte- had a convergence problem and was exchanged within 7days for another graded item. After a few days the 2nd one had the "lamp problem" and would not start. I opted for a refund at that point. At the time the HS10 was £1450 or so. £999 looks a great price but I hope to get in to see Whytes soon to demo a HS20- to see if it is worth the differnce over the HS10 ( my room get ambient light ).

Service from Whytes was very good, as was back-up from Sony who confirmed 7day exchange and full years warranty- even on graded goods.

Hope this helps

Cheers

rkb

 

[Cool-hand]

Seems more than resonable then. Fair play. But whats with the convergence prob?

CH

 

[rkb]

Coolhand...

convergence problem showed up on focus settings- I could see a red/green halo on the top left corner of the screen- overlapping on the "crosses" used to aid focus. Was visible from 5-6 feet away, but not from viewing distance of around 12 feet.

As it was my first projector and having limited spare time to test it
within 7 days, I erred on the side of caution and returned it . Last thing I wanted was to spend £1450 and then work thru my collection of films only to find some showed up the convergence error.

1st graded pj had around 50hrs on the clock, 2nd one had nearly 150 when i got it. Both were in mint condition cosmetically.

Overall PQ was superb in a dark room, but as i get some ambient light, I found that it would not be practical to use the pj in the daytime (weekends) or on summer evenings- hence I'm waiting to try out the improved lumens/contrast of the HS20 instead.

I'll happily go back to Robert Whyte for a graded HS20, however if I had to deal by mail order instead of a personal visit i might hesitate- it's just to much hassle to mail back if it turns out to be a faulty item

Regards

rkb

 

[pat22]

Look's like I will have a busy 7 days.

It's my first projector and I would like to be prepare prior to reception of my graded HS20.

I would greatly appreciate your help on building a check list:

- Look for dead pixels
- verify the lamp hours
- convergence problem (not sure what is the most appropriate way to check that?)


What else should I check?


Thank you
Patrice

 

[rkb]

Hi Pat
I'm no expert on PJs- but happy to share my experiences.
Search for some posts by Kramer on the HS10 or HS20- he's your man!

Like said, maybe I erred on the side of caution when returning the first PJ with the convergence issue- maybe I would never have seen a problem when viewing a film from 10-12 feet away.

As far as I can gather, one of the most common reported faults with the HS10 is the "lamp light" issue where the PJ refused to start up- haven't noticed any posts on similar problem with HS20,

Cheers

rkb