I realize that others have had good experience with Dean's. I'm not doubting that. But I can tell you beyond the tiniest shadow of a doubt that they flat-out, bald-faced LIED to me. YMMV, but based on my experience: Avoid them at all costs. Read on to find out why. And like another reviewer, I'd give them zero stars if I could. Or a negative rating.
I am not ignorant of electronics, but I don't have the necessary tools to diagnose TV problems, so when the picture on my 2-y-o Samsung 43" plasma went out, and after some searching around and reading reviews, I settled on Dean's.
I had done considerable research as to the possible causes, with the vast majority of problems pointing to bad capacitors. I checked the caps and found none that were obviously bad. Another possible issue was the tab bond. According to Dean (or whoever it was I spoke with) neither of those was the problem. He didn't check; just dismissed out-of-hand. "Samsung doesn't have bad caps," and "Samsung doesn't have tab bonds," contrary to everything I'd found regarding problems with this brand. Cue extreme skepticism. But I went ahead with leaving it with them to diagnose.
Next day I'm told, "the plasma leaked out."
What? Excuse me? Do I really and truly have STUPID tattooed on my forehead?
Folks, plasma does NOT and CANNOT leak out! EVER. The amount of plasma in the average set is about a thimble-full of xenon and neon, two inert gases that are excited when a current is applied to them. These gases are encapsulated in hundreds thousands of individual cells sandwiched between two glass plates (which is why plasma TVs are so heavy), like tiny light bulbs. You could crack the screen and, as long as current was supplied to the remaining intact portion of the screen, you'd still get a (probably crappy) picture. Because while there is no plasma in the broken part (as well as other issues), there's still plasma in the intact regions.
So in the case of Dean's: SHENANIGANS, HIJINKS AND TOMFOOLERY.
They suggested that I just leave the tv there and they would dispose of it properly. Dispose of, I expect in this case, means repair it for very little cost and resell it, making a nice fat profit from a "broken" set that I paid them $30 to take off my hands, while at the same time selling me a refurbished set for $400.
Nice scam.
I took the set home and will find somewhere else to diagnose it. I'd like to take it to this place: http://www.hephnertv.com/plasma-myths.html but we're not in Kansas, Toto. ;) read more