A Ridiculous Repair Cost From Sony To Fix An Old Projector

The Sony VPL-HS51 was a technology breakthrough. It was the first projector equipped with dynamic iris and reached an optimum contrast ratio of 6000:1 with price under $3000. That was 3 years ago. But it's a suspected faulty designed electronic device that required over $2000 to repair after 3 years of use. There been number of reports from the owners (me included) with a blue smear issue.

A LCD projector is less resistance to heat, the common issues in aging burn-out polarizer. One can get replacement part from manufacturer; usually cost around $120 to replace it yourself. That isn't the case with HS51, the blue smear seemed to be developed inside the costly Prism Block Assembly that cost of the part alone is $1700. I got the bill of as-good-as-trash-it estimation from Sony like others, a ridiculous cost of $2330 to fix the problem. That costs more than a new unit and a newer and better one today. I have a much older projector from Panasonic that's still throwing a wonderful image, the only work that needed work is maintaining; replace the lamp once every 3000 hours. Sony engineer is innovative but the quality control could be better. My suggestion, take responsibility for mistake; offer trade in incentive for loyal customer.