Strengths: OK product - HOWEVER, The experience of a product goes beyond the physical aspects of it.
Weakness: Panasonic's Warranty for these LCD projectors. Very poor support and information on the web and on phone.
The experience of a product goes beyond the physical aspects of it - and I am referring to product support - both post sale and pre-sale. One of the most important things one should consider and review is the product's warranty BEFORE purchasing it. I received an e-mail from a major reputable retailer that claims that up to 1% of pixels (which would be over 200 pixels for the AE500) not working IS NOT considered defective. This sounded incredibly unfair to buyers. If playing Russian (Pixel) Roulette with $2000 is part of the deal, then it should highlighted as such :-)
I subsequently spent a fair amount of time at the Panasonic.com and on the web trying to view details on Panasonic's Warranty for these LCD projectors. However, I was unable to find ANY info. beyond the one-liner (One year warranty..)
After that, I waited 16 mins (yes) to be connected to someone at Panasonic's toll-free line and all this person could say (in a most non-friendly, brusque manner) is that one can only view the warranty documentation AFTER purchasing the product. If this is the kind of support you get now, good luck to all of you later when you need real support from the manufacturer.
If some of you are countering that there is very little risk of any bad pixels, then that adds to the position that the billion dollar manufacturer should assume that negligible risk (explicitly) rather than the individual customer.
Support manufacturers with strong (and clearly written) warranties and avoid manufacturers who are trying to make us paying beta-testers for new products/technologies.
64% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?
Panasonic PT-AE500U Projector
Strengths: OK product - HOWEVER, The experience of a product goes beyond the physical aspects of it.
Weakness: Panasonic's Warranty for these LCD projectors. Very poor support and information on the web and on phone.
The experience of a product goes beyond the physical aspects of it - and I am referring to product support - both post sale and pre-sale. One of the most important things one should consider and review is the product's warranty BEFORE purchasing it. I received an e-mail from a major reputable retailer that claims that up to 1% of pixels (which would be over 200 pixels for the AE500) not working IS NOT considered defective. This sounded incredibly unfair to buyers. If playing Russian (Pixel) Roulette with $2000 is part of the deal, then it should highlighted as such :-)
I subsequently spent a fair amount of time at the Panasonic.com and on the web trying to view details on Panasonic's Warranty for these LCD projectors. However, I was unable to find ANY info. beyond the one-liner (One year warranty..)
After that, I waited 16 mins (yes) to be connected to someone at Panasonic's toll-free line and all this person could say (in a most non-friendly, brusque manner) is that one can only view the warranty documentation AFTER purchasing the product. If this is the kind of support you get now, good luck to all of you later when you need real support from the manufacturer.
If some of you are countering that there is very little risk of any bad pixels, then that adds to the position that the billion dollar manufacturer should assume that negligible risk (explicitly) rather than the individual customer.
Support manufacturers with strong (and clearly written) warranties and avoid manufacturers who are trying to make us paying beta-testers for new products/technologies.
64% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?