Best Buy TV service question?

Question

We just recently purchased a Sony Bravia 52" TV. Best Buy offers a service where they come out and "synchronize" your TV to get the most out of it and extend the life of the TV (kind of like a tune-up for the TV). It sounds like a great service, but it's $399 and I am just unsure if it's necessary to get since it is a brand new TV. Anyone have thoughts on this? Are you familiar with this specific service from Best Buy?

Answer 1

I'd skip it...My grandparents found they didn't like the "optimized" picture in a low-lit room (too bright and intense) anyway so I had to un-calibrate it to their liking.

Here's a website with info about BestBuy's service and how you can use THX Optimizer to do it yourself...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/techno...

I know when I got my LCD TV I used the movie "The Incredibles" which is THX Certified and has a calibration tool (THX Optimizer) under one of the menus.  It displays various screens and says things like "adjust brightness until you see all 4 blocks" to help you calibrate it...you probably have a DVD with this already - look for the THX Certified logo on the back.

Of the DVDs within reach of me now, Cars, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, and Finding Nemo are all THX Certafied...shouldn't be hard to find a DVD with the calibration menu in it.

Answer 2

Best Buy, like other discount electronic retailers, makes very little (if any) profit on the sale of TVs.  To make up for this they come up with much more profitable add-ons such as your synchronization, service plans, extended warranties, overpriced cables, etc.

Don't bother with it.

Answer 3

Snake Oil.

I would recommend that you have your TV calibrated but not by Best Buy, as the persons doing the work would be questionable at best.

Calibration does nothing to "extend" the life of a TV, it just makes picture better. I would recommend that you make the adjustments to your set and only get pro help if you need it. I would also recommend getting a video calibration DVD and book,  several different companies and authors are available

Answer 4

It is called "calibration" and can definitely improve the picture on your set.  I have heard that it is essentially the same service as provided by ISF, and all reports that I have seen say that it really works.  However, you can get almost the same result by getting a calibration DVD, either "Digital Video Essentials" or "Avia Guide to Home Theater".  If you have a blu-ray player, you can get a high-def version of Digital Video Essentials.

If you have a blu-ray player:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Video-Esse...

Answer 5

I don't know what they're referring to by calling it "synchronizing".  There is something called "ISF Calibration"  that can be done to peak your TV's performance but you may not even notice a difference from it.  I would suggest buying a dvd called AVIA for tuning home theaters.  It's basically a series of graphs and color bars that you adjust your TV's settings to match, such as contrast, brightness, hue, and so on.  It's really easy to use and it makes a noticeable difference in picture quality from the factory settings.

Answer 6

no  man i don't think is necessary is a new tv so it doesn't need it....

although i don't really understand what you mean by saying "SYNCHRONIZE"..when i got mine they never offer to do such thing..

or maybe you got a home theater system and they need to synchronize the speakers for a full HD sound experience....if that's the case you can do that your self...just read the home theater manual to guide you trough the steps

good luck!!!

Answer 7

Best Buy sells a lot of nothing.

I despise those guys they are such crooks.

They are trying to sell you something that you can do from reading your manual.

That 399.00 is pure profit for B B and a nice bonus for the salesperson, NO benefit to you.

I say NO don't waste your $$

Answer 8

I have done calibrations (basic not isf certified) and agree save your money and just buy a calibration disc (kudos to the members who listed a few).  If you have a bluray player buy the DVE HD version, if not you can buy those listed or Sound and Vision Home Theater Tune Up disc (which I have found to be the easiest to use to set up the Tint, Hue, Color, Sharpness, Brightness and Contrast.

Most TV's come from the store with the Contrast and Brightness maxed out or called "Torch mode"  by making these simple adjustments you can calibrate the TV to your rooms settings and brightness in the room to help get you the best picture.  These discs can be bought either on line or if you have a Fry's Electronic store in your state.  Some stores like Best Buy sell calibration discs but that's a hit or miss I have found out.

The disc guides you step by step and shows you how to adjust to the proper setting.  the disc cost between 15.00-30.00 and is a great investment to help calibrate all your TV's.

I wouldn't let Best Buy do anything to any of my gear even if it was offered for free, they are poorly trained, not up to date with current technologies and if they do s***w something up, trying to get your money back through their insurance company is like pulling teeth (from a few clients that I know who needed help with what BB screwed up).

For 400.00 you can also do a search for isf.com and find a local calibrator who is trained (this is all they do is calibrate your TV) and they do more than just adjust the basic user functions, They will actually take apart the TV to adjust alignment, attach special tape to control light leakage, use computers to get the greyscale setting correct and the proper light level to 6500k for proper brightness, along with variaty of other functions.  Please do a search on the computer to findout all a isf trained calibrator will do and No, Best Buy is not an isf calibrator, they attend a four hour course and then are sent out to tweak peoples TV's normally with very poor results.