Strange HS10 Problem

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DavidW

Guest
Hi,

Eighteen months ago, I spent months on these pages, researching the Sony HS10 and eventually buying one. I was also one of the few who didn’t get the lamp problem that seemed to plague everybody. Tonight I guess is payback time. I turned the projector on and found the weird pattern you can see in the attached picture. I know it’s not a dust blob (I’ve had those and got rid of them). This is in focus, and all those right angles make me suspect that this is something more terminal. I suspect it’s something at the level of the pixels and perhaps some kind of failure in one of the LCD panels? Am I right? Can anybody give me an idea?

Also, since my projector is 18 months old, how are Sony for repairs?

Thanks in advance (and thanks retrospectively for all the past advice---this projector has been the best thing I’ve ever bought).

David.
 

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oooh! that looks nasty.
Never seen anything like that before.

If you've used the 'can of compressed air' technique to remove dust blobs, it could be that liquid from the can made it onto one of the LCD panels.

I doubt Sony would repair it at their expense though. The HS10 is now 2 generations old... hope you can get it sorted though.
 
Thanks Jules. I feared somebody would say that. (Where is the 'depressed as hell because my projector has broke smiley' when I need one?)

Yes, it looks nasty and I'm not in a financial position to pay to get it fixed. I did think that there was some kind of onus on the manufacturer to fix things if you haven't had a 'reasonable' amount of use from a product. I thought the reason why all these extended warrenties aren't supposed to be worth anything is that we already have those rights by law. I can see it's going to be one of those weeks on the phone...

I did used compressed air but that was over a year ago and my only problem with dust (I bought an air filter which solved that). The projector has been fine since and there's been nothing to imply something was about to go wrong. :confused:
 
Many thanks Comer. Yes, that's it. Prism block failure? Damn! Not user servicable... :suicide:
 
same problem with mine - still useable though, but have you had it repaired? if so, how much and who from? can it be done by myself? only 400 hrs of use so far - annoying! Sony products should be reliable and not have so many stock faults. :( :(
 
my 21 months old HS10 started showing this today.... Anyone got it repaired? how was it?
 
Not a good development :thumbsdow

If this is common I think there's a good case.....of merchantible quality/fit for purpose & all that. Sony should repair these FOC.

I've sold mine now. Well, still have it but it's promised to someone. Better not pack up before he takes it......or after for that matter...he's a relation :eek:
 
Hi,

I bought an HS10 about two years ago. It had about 500 hours use and I suffered the same problem. I got it taken apart and there was an imperceptible imperfection on the red LCD panel. Aparently, the prism block costs £1100 and the Sony approved installers will charge £300. Might as well buy a new projector (naturally not a Sony). To cap it all, removing the red LCD panel has upset the alignment with the blue and green so I now get a blurred picture.

Dave
 
I should imagine that you would be successful in a Sale Of Goods Act case on this. Given the amounts involved, it might be worth starting by writing politely to Sony's MD. If that fails seek legal counsel.
 
I agree with above posts. Don't just shrug shoulders and accept this. It's obviously not a "one off", and for such an expensive problem to occur after such a relatively short period makes the unit of "unmerchantable quality".

Write to Sony, print out the pic and the one or two other pics of the same problem on different machines. Include them with the letter. Also, refer to this forum.

Good luck.

...PJ
 
Hi all,

I originally posted my problem back in January, but have been wary to post every stage of my dealings since then because, to be honest, I've had no idea where I stood. It now looks like the problem is resolved so I thought I'd post my experiences of the last four months.

Like a few people have suggested, the first port of call should be the retailer when something goes wrong outside warranty. I paid £2000 for the projector to a company that supposedly cares about 'customer satisfaction'. When I contacted my retailer four months outside the 12 months (the pj had 700 hours on it), they then contacted Sony, only to then report that Sony considered that it would have to be a 'paid' repair. The retailer explained that there was nothing they would do about it and that I should pay because 'everybody else pays'. I pointed out that the Sale of Goods Act demanded that they take responsibility for something that didn't provide 'reasonable use', and I had my local Trading Standards office contact them to make the same point. The company continued to maintain it wasn't their responsibility. Of course, the contract is made with the retailer, not the manufacturer, which means that it is their responsibility and that warranties do not invalidate our statutory rights. It was actually unfair to ask Sony to sort out a problem for which, in law, the retailer should take responsibly.

I was on the point of threatening to take the retailer to the small claims court, when I decided (as a last measure) to write to the MD of Sony UK. It was then suggested that I get a quote, which I did. Sony told me that the prism block repair would cost over £1200. It has been a long slog but I've now had further confirmation that Sony are now willing to replace my old HS10 with a HS50, though I have to pay the £300 difference. I think this is extremely generous of Sony, given that the onus should have been on the retailer to sort this matter out. It's easy to insult these large companies when things go wrong, but in this instance, I've been nothing but impressed by the way that Sony have handled the matter. :clap:

It has been a long few months but I've learnt a few things:

1. Never to again buy from certain small specialty stores advertising on the web. I hear that places like John Lewis are a little more expensive but at least they acknowledge their responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act by providing long warranties.
2. Though we should not have to do so, it makes life easier if we buy an extended warranty and/or insurance on a projector. I'll have been missing a projector for 5 or 6 months, trying to get it repaired/replaced. I love films too much to put up with this again. I believe in my rights, but in this respect, the law really is an ass. I've had 'Oldboy' on the shelf since January and I've been torturing myself every night tempted to watch it on the small TV.
3. When dealing with these big companies, go to the top. Write a strongly worded letter, perhaps explaining about how much you've spent on their products over the years, and ask if they can be fair with you to help resolve the problem.
4. The whole business of the Sale of Goods Act is toothless. Too many companies ignore it, and continue to mouth the lie that faults 'aren't our responsibility' and that 'everybody else pays'. 'Reasonable use' means nothing to them when they can cite 'wear and tear'. Yet how are you to prove that some resin cracking or solder coming free is a 'manufacturing defect' and not 'wear and tear'?

Sorry for the length of this post. I just hope some of this will be of help to others who have similar problems as I spent countless hours searching the web for this kind of information.

David.
 
Davidw let us know in here what you think of your new hs50 over the hs10 as i own a hs10 would liek to know what you think when will you be getting it ???
 
DavidW said:
Will do, though with the shortages I'm told it might be 1 to 2 months... :boring:
:rotfl:

I bet you don't know whether to laugh or cry!

...PJ :)
 
Believe me, I've a big smile. It looked like the pj was dead, I couldn't afford to fix it, and couldn't afford a new one. Best case: I'm watching movies in a month, and I'll have 6 months of films to catch up, hopefully most of which will have become cheap. :thumbsup: The only thing now is to spend the next few weeks reading up the HS50 and finding out about this HDMI connector. I'm wondering if it might be worth my upgrading my player to something like the Panasonic DVD-S97. Nice thoughts to be having after the months of worry.
 
Mine went to Sony, by law it had 2 years of warranty and the retailer confirmed it. Will post how things go... (I expect no news for 2 months minimum...)
 
Ah, I read somewhere that only the UK opted out of the mandatory 2 year warranty that covers all goods bought in the rest of Europe. Typical that we opted out of about the only useful European law. Perhaps all HS10 owners should move to Portugal before the fault develops. :D
 
well i dont even know if i will bother with the hs50 now its took so long to come out and herd it might be another 8 weeks thats end of june, i bet at the begining or next year the hs60 will be out i just dont know what to do the projector has been out 6 months now some people had these units november last year i would not be suprised if sony are finishing of the new hs60 for next year ???????? or at the end of this year ???
 
Well, it's been a long time since my HS10 failed on the 15th January, but the old pj has now gone and a brand new HS50 turned up on my doorstep today. God bless Sony. It looks wonderful. However, due to my anticipating the worst (an 8 week wait) I decided to decorate the only room I have projecting i, which means the HS50 will not be turned on until I can get the room finished. This will be a piece of decorating that will make Jackson Pollock look like he was careful keeping inside the lines... Does anybody know if it's possible to nail up wallpaper? :hiya:
 
Well my HS10 Returned on saturday and it was fully operational. Sony did it's job! (under warranty).
 
Hello all,

I've not posted here for many many months as I have been enjoying my problem free HS10, but now it has the same problem as DavidW and I'am heartbroken. Mine was one of the early HS10's all those years ago but had no lamp problems etc its been completely reliable until today.

Its only reading 510 Hrs on the original lamp.

It could'nt have happened at a worse time of year!

Here’s a pic...

pic11kc.jpg
[/IMG]

Close up...

pic20rx.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

After reading through this post I don’t have much hope of getting Sony to fix as it’s a good few years old.

Does anyone have any suggestions...

Thanks
Klippie.
 
Hi Klippie,

A cold shiver went up my spine when I saw those pictures. Bad memories. All I can say is that if you don't get any help from your supplier, then write to the MD of Sony politely explaining your disgust at such a poor quality product. I don't know if it helped, but I listed every Sony product I have in the house and threatened to buy nothing but Panasonic in the future. I think this clearly a manufacturing problem, so don't take any rubbish about it being out of warranty. I'm sure that even a couple of years would be considered unreasonable use out of something worth so much. In the end, I had to pay about £200 to have my HS10 exchanged for the HS50. I would guess they'd expect you to contribute towards a similar exchange.

Best of luck, :hiya:

David.

Klippie said:
Hello all,

I've not posted here for many many months as I have been enjoying my problem free HS10, but now it has the same problem as DavidW and I'am heartbroken. Mine was one of the early HS10's all those years ago but had no lamp problems etc its been completely reliable until today.

Its only reading 510 Hrs on the original lamp.

It could'nt have happened at a worse time of year!

Here’s a pic...

pic11kc.jpg
[/IMG]

Close up...

pic20rx.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

After reading through this post I don’t have much hope of getting Sony to fix as it’s a good few years old.

Does anyone have any suggestions...

Thanks
Klippie.
 
That really sucks! It's a fault that I've seen on other forums. I've still got my HS10 and still very happy! Like you I'm still on the original lamp with only about 800 hours on the clock. Not a single problem with false starts either, so I'm hoping I don't see the prob develop on my PJ. When the warranty ran out after the first year I took out an extra insurance policy with Domestic and General on my HS10 that needs renewing again soon - I dunno if it would cover this fault tho.
 

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