Olevia 42" HDTV died...

[gabester]

I picked this sucker - a 242FHD-T11 up in the summer of 2008 for $800... Olevia went belly up a few months later if memory serves.

The last few months it has been displaying signs of trouble:

First, it stopped turning on with the remote; or rather the remote had to be within about 3 feet of the IR sensor.

Then, it had to be turned on and "warmed up" for maybe a minute, then power cycled, to get sound. At this point I'd been using the power button. As the last couple months progressed it had to be cycled more and more.

Occasionally it would "turn on" by powering off the normal blue "off" LED but the screen would never turn on. Turning it off from the power button on the front usually straightened things out - this happened maybe a dozen times in the last 6 months.

Finally, it did this yesterday, but it never turned off. Pulling the plug, letting it sit overnight, reconnecting it, no luck.

Bad power supply, I'm sure, or at least control board/button.

Just for giggles I googled, and there are repair kits:

https://www.amazon.com/Repair-Olevia-242...B0088JRN3M

I'm not super handy with a soldering iron, but after watching some videos about desoldering the SM 16GB RAM chip from your iPhone and replacing it with a 128GB, I figure I can start somewhere. Seems a shame to just toss it.

I definitely think I can pull it off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBrYlgpRY0U

But with the long weekend coming up, it might be a couple weeks until I get around, depending on whether or not I go out of town.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....had 2 Olevia's in my family circle....32"......the screen on one became a bit messed up and had to be tossed [ burn in ]....the other also stopped working....they were cheap and good TVs while they lasted but yes, believe they went belly up.......

[Onamuji]

I have the 36-inch.

It's been great up until recently. It's been turning itself off every once in awhile. Needs the power cord unplugged for about a minute to come back to life. Could be bad caps.

Been thinking that if I crack it open I'll take the opportunity to drill a hole for the hidden USB service port while I'm at it so that I can add a LED accent-light.

Please keep us informed of the results if you do the surgery. Especially if you're successful. I could use the push.

[gabester]

Don't get me wrong, I think that 10 years may be pretty good for an HDTV; I remember refusing to get into the game earlier because any suitably sized sub-$1k sets were only 720p and this one the first one to really get into that range. It had some awesome features... and I'm excited by the idea that $20 and a couple hours of my time may resuscitate this set. Yes, I could probably get like a Sceptre or no-name replacement that's lighter and better for $2-300 nowadays, but if it can still be made to work, why just create more e-waste? (I am tempted, if I repair it, to sell it for $100 and upgrade anyway.)

I just wish those deals I find on displays indicated the display size AND the weight. I'm definitely interested in jumping up to a 4K but I also would like to not get something heavier than this beast.

[ArtP]

gabester wrote: Yes, I could probably get like a Sceptre or no-name replacement that's lighter and better for $2-300 nowadays, but if it can still be made to work,

I just picked this up a few weeks ago. Sony 48" refurb from Microcenter.

I'd been waiting FOR YEARS for a 40" or so TV at around the $200-250 price point, and was looking for a LG but it never came back around. I remember hearing that Sony had decent refurbs, it was onlu $30 more than my budget AND a smart TV (that I still haven't really used yet - lol)

Still a week or so to decide if I should by the $40 extended warranty- hmmm.

(If no Microcenter in your area Walmart has the same TV but I hate shopping at Walmart)

Couldn't pass it up...

[Microman]

Waited in line at Micro Center Tustin for an Olevia TV, Still Works

[Acer]

We have an Olevia 32." Still working fine, though we are not heavy users.