Plasma Blackout

I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay. It came from a
company called Auction Drop and they have a 99.6 % rating so their
stuff normally works. The description said everything worked fine,
however, when I received it yesterday I had some problems with the
video.

When I turn on the television the screen lights up as if it is coming
on, except no picture is shown. When I press the menu or volume up
button nothing is shown on the screen. I have Component, Composite,
and HDMI signals running thru the inputs in the back. When I press
the input button to sort thru inputs and find an input with a signal,
the audio works. If I unplug the video cable from that source the
audio cuts out about 1 second later. It is probably blinking "No
Signal" or something on the screen but again, nothing shows up.

I've called Auction Drop, who I purchased it from, and they think it
must have happened during shipping since everything worked fine when
it was shipped out.

What really confuses me is the fact that the screen is lit up but not
showing ANY picture. Not even a menu. Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks

I would return it , if possible. If you cannot even get an on-screen menu
(and you have fresh batteries in the remote and can power the set on and
off from the remote) then, there is definately a problem. Of course, they
may
charge you the restocking fee. But, that might be better than trying to fix
the
tv or getting stuck with a defective tv.
Given that they only give you a few days to get the RMA number, ( 5 days I
believe)
I wouldn't wait too long about getting back in touch with them to set up the
return.
james


wrote in message
oups.com...
I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay. It came from a
company called Auction Drop and they have a 99.6 % rating so their
stuff normally works. The description said everything worked fine,
however, when I received it yesterday I had some problems with the
video.

When I turn on the television the screen lights up as if it is coming
on, except no picture is shown. When I press the menu or volume up
button nothing is shown on the screen. I have Component, Composite,
and HDMI signals running thru the inputs in the back. When I press
the input button to sort thru inputs and find an input with a signal,
the audio works. If I unplug the video cable from that source the
audio cuts out about 1 second later. It is probably blinking "No
Signal" or something on the screen but again, nothing shows up.

I've called Auction Drop, who I purchased it from, and they think it
must have happened during shipping since everything worked fine when
it was shipped out.

What really confuses me is the fact that the screen is lit up but not
showing ANY picture. Not even a menu. Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks

On 20 Feb 2007 10:47:17 -0800, wrote:

I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay.

First mistake.

It came from a company called Auction Drop and they
have a 99.6 % rating so their stuff normally works.

OK, you bought a used plasma TV from a 3rd party, through an eBay
drop-off store.

If someone asked me to come up with the most risky procurement channel
for a plasma TV, only Guido & Vinny's back alley operation would rate
lower.

The description said everything worked fine,
however, [...]

Need I say the words?

A_C

Agent_C wrote:
On 20 Feb 2007 10:47:17 -0800, wrote:

I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay.

First mistake.

It came from a company called Auction Drop and they
have a 99.6 % rating so their stuff normally works.

OK, you bought a used plasma TV from a 3rd party, through an eBay
drop-off store.

If someone asked me to come up with the most risky procurement channel
for a plasma TV, only Guido & Vinny's back alley operation would rate
lower.

The description said everything worked fine,
however, [...]

Need I say the words?

A_C

Not necessarily. I bought a Costco returned, made in April 2006 Plasma
50" Panasonic that was going for $2500 at the time at Costco for $511 on
Ebay from Auction Drop.

The description said "looks soft up close". There was absolutely nothing
wrong with the plasma display. Unfortunately UPS broke the front glass
and smashed two corners in shipping so I had to let them take it back
and took the insurance.

Recently I bought a 50" Pioneer Elite Pro-1000HD 50" for $260 that had a
bad power supply. Pioneer had lost a class action suite and settled for
fixing all power supplies free labor and parts till the end of 2007.
They came to my place and fixed the unit at no cost the day after I
called and gave them the serial number. It is a very nice plasma.

Bob Miller

On Feb 20, 2:59 pm, Bob Miller wrote:
Agent_C wrote:
On 20 Feb 2007 10:47:17 -0800, wrote:

I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay.

First mistake.

It came from a company called Auction Drop and they
have a 99.6 % rating so their stuff normally works.

OK, you bought a used plasma TV from a 3rd party, through an eBay
drop-off store.

If someone asked me to come up with the most risky procurement channel
for a plasma TV, only Guido & Vinny's back alley operation would rate
lower.

The description said everything worked fine,
however, [...]

Need I say the words?

A_C

Not necessarily. I bought a Costco returned, made in April 2006 Plasma
50" Panasonic that was going for $2500 at the time at Costco for $511 on
Ebay from Auction Drop.

The description said "looks soft up close". There was absolutely nothing
wrong with the plasma display. Unfortunately UPS broke the front glass
and smashed two corners in shipping so I had to let them take it back
and took the insurance.

Recently I bought a 50" Pioneer Elite Pro-1000HD 50" for $260 that had a
bad power supply. Pioneer had lost a class action suite and settled for
fixing all power supplies free labor and parts till the end of 2007.
They came to my place and fixed the unit at no cost the day after I
called and gave them the serial number. It is a very nice plasma.

Bob Miller- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sounds like you made out nice on that Pioneer, but for those of us
that don't have the time to sus out such deals, the fact that Wal-Mart
is selling 42 inch plasma HDTV's for $900 should discourage most sane
people from buying on ebay. Maybe it's just me, but I would never buy
anything that cost more than $50 on ebay.

-beaumon

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:59:23 GMT, Bob Miller wrote:

Not necessarily. I bought a Costco returned, made in April 2006 Plasma
50" Panasonic that was going for $2500 at the time at Costco for $511 on
Ebay from Auction Drop.

The description said "looks soft up close". There was absolutely nothing
wrong with the plasma display. Unfortunately UPS broke the front glass
and smashed two corners in shipping so I had to let them take it back
and took the insurance.

Could this have had anything to do with Auction Drop not packing it
properly? I find this a common problem with drop-off's, they're just
concerned with getting stuff out the door.

Recently I bought a 50" Pioneer Elite Pro-1000HD 50" for $260 that had a
bad power supply. Pioneer had lost a class action suite and settled for
fixing all power supplies free labor and parts till the end of 2007.
They came to my place and fixed the unit at no cost the day after I
called and gave them the serial number. It is a very nice plasma.

For this type of buying eBay is ideal; but it's not a fair comparison
to the OP's situation.

That being said, you've got me looking *very* closely at the Pioneer
Elite listings right now. :-|

A_C

Agent_C wrote:
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:59:23 GMT, Bob Miller wrote:

Not necessarily. I bought a Costco returned, made in April 2006 Plasma
50" Panasonic that was going for $2500 at the time at Costco for $511 on
Ebay from Auction Drop.

The description said "looks soft up close". There was absolutely nothing
wrong with the plasma display. Unfortunately UPS broke the front glass
and smashed two corners in shipping so I had to let them take it back
and took the insurance.

Could this have had anything to do with Auction Drop not packing it
properly? I find this a common problem with drop-off's, they're just
concerned with getting stuff out the door.

Auction Drop will not ship if they don't have the original packaging
they require local pickup. I had a UPS store pick it up, pack and ship
it. Made $1000 on the insurance since I insured for what it was worth to
me.
Recently I bought a 50" Pioneer Elite Pro-1000HD 50" for $260 that had a
bad power supply. Pioneer had lost a class action suite and settled for
fixing all power supplies free labor and parts till the end of 2007.
They came to my place and fixed the unit at no cost the day after I
called and gave them the serial number. It is a very nice plasma.

For this type of buying eBay is ideal; but it's not a fair comparison
to the OP's situation.

That being said, you've got me looking *very* closely at the Pioneer
Elite listings right now. :-|

I insured the Pioneer for $4000 so I was a bit disappointed when it
arrived OK. :-)

Bob Miller

A_C

wrote:
I purchased a used Maxent 42" Plasma off of eBay. It came from a
company called Auction Drop and they have a 99.6 % rating so their
stuff normally works. The description said everything worked fine,
however, when I received it yesterday I had some problems with the
video.

When I turn on the television the screen lights up as if it is coming
on, except no picture is shown. When I press the menu or volume up
button nothing is shown on the screen. I have Component, Composite,
and HDMI signals running thru the inputs in the back. When I press
the input button to sort thru inputs and find an input with a signal,
the audio works. If I unplug the video cable from that source the
audio cuts out about 1 second later. It is probably blinking "No
Signal" or something on the screen but again, nothing shows up.

I've called Auction Drop, who I purchased it from, and they think it
must have happened during shipping since everything worked fine when
it was shipped out.

What really confuses me is the fact that the screen is lit up but not
showing ANY picture. Not even a menu. Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks

Did you take the shipping insurance?

Did you take the shipping insurance?

Thats kinda up in the air. The item description on eBay clearly
states that insurance is included in the shipping and handling.
However, I contacted Customer Support and they have told me it was not
included. I explained that it was in the description so they have now
told me to get a quote on how much it will cost and they will see if
they want to pay for it or just allow me to return it...

But the good news is I opened up everything on the plasma and found
something that was not plugged in correctly on a circuit board along
with some other things. After 6 hours of work I was able to correct
the problem and now I have a perfectly functioning 42" plasma at a
very affordable price.

wrote in message
oups.com...
But the good news is I opened up everything on the plasma and found
something that was not plugged in correctly on a circuit board along
with some other things. After 6 hours of work I was able to correct
the problem and now I have a perfectly functioning 42" plasma at a
very affordable price.



Great!! You are lucky that you were able to find and fix the problem.
Hope you get lots of enjoyment out of your new tv.
james