Why fixing modern consumer gear is not cost effective.

[TLS Guy]

I have just fixed a Panasonic BDP 220T BD player.

I have had one of these downstairs for a number of years now.

I bought another in 2013 for our place at Eagan.

A few months ago the player stopped reading CDs, but would read DVD and BD discs.

So I carefully cleaned the laser, and no improvement.

So I bought a new one, but did not discard the old. My eldest grandson has wanted a BD player for a while.

So I bought a service manual for $12 on line. One of the things that modern gear does, that vintage gear does not, is tell you what the matter is with it, if you are lucky. So after going into service mode and getting the fault codes it confirmed what I suspected, that the drive was no good.

So I ordered a new drive, that was back ordered about six weeks. Cost $133.00. So now I'm at $144.00.

The old drive was horrid to get out. You have to be very careful as there were lots of fragile plastic clip type connectors that could easily be broken. Lining everything up and getting the new one installed was also a work of art.

After installing there were codes and passwords to enter to initialize the new drive. For some reason I had to repeat this a few times to get the process to complete.

Once done everything tested fine.

This player is no longer made, but there are new ones to be had for $499.00.

However the replacement BDP 230T is $177.00. For some reason though some seem to think the BDP 220T is better.

So as against a new BDP 220T I did well, but compared to the BDP 220T I only got $30 for my labor.

So if this repair was done by a shop it would have been more expensive that a BDP 230T.

Anyhow I'm going to the Twin Cities on Saturday, so my grandson will get his BD player and there will be one less unit in the recycling center, although the old drive is headed there.

I think this is a pretty common scenario for modern consumer gear and why repair shops are getting as rare as hen's teeth.

 

[Seth=L]

This is the player in question?

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMP-BDT220-Integrated-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B00752R4PK

Please don't do that to yourself again. An equally featured player available in the market today would have cost far less.

I routinely I have to inform people that want to repair their 5 year old televisions that unless they know exactly what's wrong with it, they can find the parts, and those parts is far less than the cost of a new television of comparable size and features, that they NOT repair the television.

 

[TheWarrior]

Ohhhhhhhh..... Pohhhhhhh!

 

[TLS Guy]

This is the player in question?

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMP-BDT220-Integrated-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B00752R4PK

Please don't do that to yourself again. An equally featured player available in the market today would have cost far less.

I routinely I have to inform people that want to repair their 5 year old televisions that unless they know exactly what's wrong with it, they can find the parts, and those parts is far less than the cost of a new television of comparable size and features, that they NOT repair the television.

I think I'm a little ahead on this one, but not if I include my labor. Those Panasonic units a pretty good. They have good ergonomics and easy set up. Samsungs and LG I don't think are comparable and anyway would be about the same as the BDP 230T.

I tried Sony first but they do not have a nearly good enough range for here, and their ergonomics are bad. These Panasonic machines have good Wi-Fi functionality if you need it. However with Chrome casting that is a mute point.

I think you would be hard presses to find a BD player as good as the one I fixed for under $150.

Anyhow it was one way to waste an afternoon!

 

[Seth=L]

I think I'm a little ahead on this one, but not if I include my labor. Those Panasonic units a pretty good. They have good ergonomics and easy set up. Samsungs and LG I don't think are comparable and anyway would be about the same as the BDP 230T.

I tried Sony first but they do not have a nearly good enough range for here, and their ergonomics are bad. These Panasonic machines have good Wi-Fi functionality if you need it. However with Chrome casting that is a mute point.

I think you would be hard presses to find a BD player as good as the one I fixed for under $150.

Anyhow it was one way to waste an afternoon!

Could have picked up a used one eBay and salvaged your parts from it.

I checked, you don't want to know the going rate.

 

[TLS Guy]

Could have picked up a used one eBay and salvaged your parts from it.

I checked, you don't want to know the going rate.

I don't like using used parts on anything unless I have to.

I see the BDP 230P has much less features and seems to be a problem unit. I now think I did OK.

There are no BDP 220Ts on eBay right now.

 

[3db]

TLS.. Hats off to you for ressurecting the player but I have a sneaking suspicion that you like to tinker and try and beat the odds. The thing is that everything made in consumer electronics is designed to be thrown out unlike that of our parents generation. If I were in your place, I wouldn't have thought twice of sending it for recycle.. My old Sony S-BDP360 is heading their soon as I have to reload a bluray multiple times before it reads it properly. Funny thing, it still does CDs well. Maybe I'll keep it around as a dedicated CD player as it offers analog outputs.

 

[highfigh]

Many of the service techs went through a TV and Radio Repair program at local tech schools or were trained when they were in the military, but that whole generation is retiring, moving on to other work or are no longer with us. The manufacturers don't want to supply parts for repair, they want to sell finished goods- far less support is needed and they don't need to train techs, supply service manuals in any form (although it's far easier now, with online access or in DVD form) or have dealer tech support at the same level they once did. Now that everything is disposable, landfills and e-cyclers are the only ones who are gaining from this.

When I started working for a stereo store that serviced a lot of equipment, we charged a $9 estimate fee to cover the time needed to diagnose the problem. Some people complained about that and argued about why they should be required to pay it when they had declined the repair. Sometimes, the customer would buy something else and if it was something decent, we'd give them something for their equipment on a trade. We had a pretty extensive used section, so we would repair the better items and sell as used. I would bet that a lot of the equipment that was 20 years old at that time is still working and I'll bet that most of the sub-$200 equipment made now will last much more than ten years.

I keep hearing that we should "go green", but I don't see it happening although I do see that the local land fills are growing. Sure, more trash is recycled, but with far more people buying far more equipment, it's not a sensible way to do things. Economically, it makes perfect sense.

FWIW, I'll be re-capping a 1940 Farnsworth floor standing radio soon, replacing the bias supply caps in my Conrad Johnson power amp, filter caps/bias resistor in my 1958 Fender Bassman and getting an EICO tube tester running so I can go through all of the tubes I have.

 

[Alex2507]

You have to be very careful as there were lots of fragile plastic clip type connectors that could easily be broken.

I accidentally loaded 2 discs into a Panny BDP 500 and had to do a partial disassembly to get them out. There were little plastic pieces and clips flying around everywhere. I should have worn safety goggles. Then when I got it all back together and it worked, I noticed a clear plastic shroud about the size of my palm laying around. I've been meaning to put it back in for a few years now.

So as against a new BDP 220T I did well, but compared to the BDP 230T I only got $30 for my labor.

Fixed

N/C

 

[slipperybidness]

I have just fixed a Panasonic BDP 220T BD player.

I have had one of these downstairs for a number of years now.

I bought another in 2013 for our place at Eagan.

A few months ago the player stopped reading CDs, but would read DVD and BD discs.

So I carefully cleaned the laser, and no improvement.

So I bought a new one, but did not discard the old. My eldest grandson has wanted a BD player for a while.

So I bought a service manual for $12 on line. One of the things that modern gear does, that vintage gear does not, is tell you what the matter is with it, if you are lucky. So after going into service mode and getting the fault codes it confirmed what I suspected, that the drive was no good.

So I ordered a new drive, that was back ordered about six weeks. Cost $133.00. So now I'm at $144.00.

The old drive was horrid to get out. You have to be very careful as there were lots of fragile plastic clip type connectors that could easily be broken. Lining everything up and getting the new one installed was also a work of art.

After installing there were codes and passwords to enter to initialize the new drive. For some reason I had to repeat this a few times to get the process to complete.

Once done everything tested fine.

This player is no longer made, but there are new ones to be had for $499.00.

However the replacement BDP 230T is $177.00. For some reason though some seem to think the BDP 220T is better.

So as against a new BDP 220T I did well, but compared to the BDP 220T I only got $30 for my labor.

So if this repair was done by a shop it would have been more expensive that a BDP 230T.

Anyhow I'm going to the Twin Cities on Saturday, so my grandson will get his BD player and there will be one less unit in the recycling center, although the old drive is headed there.

I think this is a pretty common scenario for modern consumer gear and why repair shops are getting as rare as hen's teeth.

Just to rub some salt in the wound.....I bought that 220 player off Amazon in 2013 for $80, delivered to my door! That was a great deal at the time and I couldn't pass it up.

 

[TLS Guy]

Just to rub some salt in the wound.....I bought that 220 player off Amazon in 2013 for $80, delivered to my door! That was a great deal at the time and I couldn't pass it up.

I think that is about what I paid for the first two. Prices seem to have risen. I don't think anybody made money at $80. I suspect a loss from over production. All three of mine were bought from Amazon.

 

[sterling shoote]

Of course, sometimes you just do what you've got to do. I have a Sony PCM-7010F DAT Recorder which would not sync to time code address. This unit which cost me about $7500 new in 1993 with options is obsolete and can be found on eBay for about $300 today; but, who knows what condition. Nevertheless, I shipped my unit off to Sony Pro in Los Angles to have it repaired at a cost of about $900. Why, simply because I enjoy the recorder. I use it almost daily to digitize LP's, as well as record material off the internet which I cannot easily download. Yeah, it makes no sense, just an emotional thing.

 

[fmw]

I think that is about what I paid for the first two. Prices seem to have risen. I don't think anybody made money at $80. I suspect a loss from over production. All three of mine were bought from Amazon.

As a regular Amazon seller I can that I suspect nobody makes money there other than Amazon. I use Amazon to clear out unwanted inventory. Others must do the same because it isn't profitable.