Extended warranty on plasma- worth it?

I just picked up a new 42" Hitachi plaz and I also got the 2yr extended warranty from Circuit City ($460). This is my first plasma and Im just not sure that its worth the money for the warranty. If they came out to professionally calibrate it I could understand, but they dont do that. What do you guys think? Thanks for the help.

As far as I know, that doesn't even cover burn-in.

Purchases on AMEX automatically increase the product's warranty by 1 year.

Your hitachi should come with 1, and if you buy with AMEX, you'll have 2.

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

As far as I know, that doesn't even cover burn-in.

You're right it doesnt cover burn-in and it is a one year warranty. I already bought it so Amex is not really an option.

I bought an extended warranty for my Panasonic 50" plasma. It covers everything except burn in. And it's a replacement not repair warranty, so if the TV breaks, I get a new one, not mine repaired or someone else's refurbished junker. I paid $299 for 5 years coverage.

Originally Posted by James330I

Purchases on AMEX automatically increase the product's warranty by 1 year.

Your hitachi should come with 1, and if you buy with AMEX, you'll have 2.

I believe he used CC's no-interest for 33 or 36 months deal... That's what I did.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

I bought an extended warranty for my Panasonic 50" plasma. It covers everything except burn in. And it's a replacement not repair warranty, so if the TV breaks, I get a new one, not mine repaired or someone else's refurbished junker. I paid $299 for 5 years coverage.

Where did you get this? I didn't really like CC's offer, and I couldn't find any info an extended warranty from Panasonic.

Costco. Return it when it breaks.

[QUOTE=hayabusa55]I believe he used CC's no-interest for 33 or 36 months deal... That's what I did.

Correct. It is a repair/replace plan. Basically, if they cant fix it they give you a new, comprable model.

Like I said I already got the TV so amex/costco are really not options. I was just wondering if these tvs (even though its the newest generation) are susceptible to certain defects/problems (aside from burn-in) If so, it makes sense to keep the extended warranty- if not then I'll probably return it...

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Where did you get this? I didn't really like CC's offer, and I couldn't find any info an extended warranty from Panasonic.

It's a policy from a regional appliance store here called American TV. It's underwritten by Federal Warranty Service Corporation, a large provider of extended warranty plans.

Originally Posted by oie77

Like I said I already got the TV so amex/costco are really not options. I was just wondering if these tvs (even though its the newest generation) are susceptible to certain defects/problems (aside from burn-in) If so, it makes sense to keep the extended warranty- if not then I'll probably return it...

$460 for 2 years on a 42" plasma is a rip off.

Especially if it's 2 years "inclusive", i.e., runs concurrent with the factory warranty. That's how nearly all extended plans operate. If that's the case, then you are really only getting 1 extra year for $460.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

It's a policy from a regional appliance store here called American TV. It's underwritten by Federal Warranty Service Corporation, a large provider of extended warranty plans.

Any idea where I could get a comparable plan myself? I bought a 42" Panasonic plasma less than two weeks ago. Just barely over 120 hours on it now. I think I broke it in pretty well, and I'm looking forward to calibrating it with the AVIA dvd. Very happy so far, but a nice extended warranty would put my mind at ease.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

$460 for 2 years on a 42" plasma is a rip off.

Especially if it's 2 years "inclusive", i.e., runs concurrent with the factory warranty. That's how nearly all extended plans operate. If that's the case, then you are really only getting 1 extra year for $460.

I agree, thats why Im thinking of giving it back. However, would it be stupid to have no extended warranty on a tv like this?

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Any idea where I could get a comparable plan myself? I bought a 42" Panasonic plasma less than two weeks ago. Just barely over 120 hours on it now. I think I broke it in pretty well, and I'm looking forward to calibrating it with the AVIA dvd. Very happy so far, but a nice extended warranty would put my mind at ease.

I don't know if you can buy an extended warranty separately from a store other than where you bought the TV originally. It may be possible but I don't know, the extended warranty on this TV is the only extended warranty I've ever bought in my entire life. Usually they are a rip off but since I could get a 5 year policy for only 8.5% of the price of the TV, and since any repairs to a plasma wouldn't be cheap, I opted to take a shot.

I figured if Consumer Reports says that extended warranties are mostly a rip off, but you should still consider one for an expensive plasma or LCD TV, I'd give it a shot.

oie77, if you paid $460 for essentially one year of additional coverage on a ~$2500 TV I would return the warranty and put the $460 in the bank towards a replacement TV if this one pukes after a year.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

oie77, if you paid $460 for essentially one year of additional coverage on a ~$2500 TV I would return the warranty and put the $460 in the bank towards a replacement TV if this one pukes after a year.

Thanks boss I was thinking the same thing and thats the confirmation that i was looking for.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

oie77, if you paid $460 for essentially one year of additional coverage on a ~$2500 TV I would return the warranty and put the $460 in the bank towards a replacement TV if this one pukes after a year.

Well, I'm not exaclty sure how CC operates their claims, but most places will send people out to your house to fix the tv if there is something wrong. The manufactuer's does not do that, except pioneer elite.

But you should've bought the tv from a best buy/magnolia store. The extended service plans there are pretty cheap. If the tv is <2500, the 4 year plan is only 299 and if it is <4999, it is 399.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

I bought an extended warranty for my Panasonic 50" plasma. It covers everything except burn in. And it's a replacement not repair warranty, so if the TV breaks, I get a new one, not mine repaired or someone else's refurbished junker. I paid $299 for 5 years coverage.

What?? No way.......well it could be true. But lets say that the volume button stopped working on your tv, they will REPLACE the TV and not REPAIR it?

Originally Posted by TeKNiC3

What?? No way.......well it could be true. But lets say that the volume button stopped working on your tv, they will REPLACE the TV and not REPAIR it?

That's what it says. That's a big reason why I bought the coverage. There's really no such thing as a trivial repair, even fixing the volume button is a major undertaking. Funny you mention that specific thing, since that exact item sent a Sony I used to own to the graveyard.

Also, Panasonic does in-home service under their regular warranty, at least for 50" panels. Don't know about the smaller ones.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

That's what it says. That's a big reason why I bought the coverage. There's really no such thing as a trivial repair, even fixing the volume button is a major undertaking. Funny you mention that specific thing, since that exact item sent a Sony I used to own to the graveyard.

Also, Panasonic does in-home service under their regular warranty, at least for 50" panels. Don't know about the smaller ones.

First time I have ever heard of a replacement plan on plasma.

Originally Posted by slow323ci

That's what it says. That's a big reason why I bought the coverage. There's really no such thing as a trivial repair, even fixing the volume button is a major undertaking. Funny you mention that specific thing, since that exact item sent a Sony I used to own to the graveyard.

Also, Panasonic does in-home service under their regular warranty, at least for 50" panels. Don't know about the smaller ones.

I have a 42" and it also has a 1-year In-home. Oh, you'll probably be happy to see this. You may have already:




Four Panasonics in the top 5! And most of those have been updated/improved for the 60U/600U series.

Thats funny, Panasonic is better than the Pioneer and they rated the Pioneer Elite lower than the standard Pioneer.

CR is a joke.