Help! Is my HDTV dead or fixable?

Question

I have a 3 1/2 year old Akai PT4299HD rear-projection CRT TV. I turned it on today after being away for 4 days and the convergence was all out of whack and the "auto-focus" feature wouldn't work properly. I then noticed a slight burning odor then the picture just went black and the sound cut off too. The set is still getting power and LED power indicator shows it can be turned on and off. Do I just need a new bulb? Would the repair cost even be worth it? If it's only $100-200 bucks or so, I think I would pay to get it fixed since now it not the best time for me to have to make a major purchase if I can help it. Thanks!

Answer 1

the burning smell was probably one of the convergence bias resistors opening up. Sounds like you need the convergence ic's replaced and a few minor parts in that circuit. typical repair cost ~300

Answer 2

For the cost of repair you can probably get a relatively nice generic LCD flatscreen, which is what I'm going to do when my 65" Mitsubishi HD dies.

Answer 3

Sounds like a power supply problem - given the burning smell.  It might be more of a pain than anything else, but see if  you can have someone give a free estimate on it - perhaps you could call in your area to see about the cost of just having the power supply replaced.