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From: kaplanr@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Roger Kaplan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.electronics
Subject: PO'ed at Sony
Message-ID: <2531@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 28 Jul 88 15:53:59 GMT
Reply-To: kaplanr@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Roger Kaplan)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Lines: 45


Well, I have to yell at somebody, so it might as well be here... Maybe
someone can even offer advice.

  I borrowed a friend's portable Sony CD player, a very old model that
is not made any more (no wonder -- as portable players go, this thing is
a behemoth).  Before the trip starts, the thing stops working: when the
disk is inserted, it spins for about 1/4 turn, stops, and the player
shuts off (thinking there's no disk in it).  Anyway, feeling responsible,
I take it in to one of the two Authorized Sony Repair depots in LA, this
one in Burbank.  They tell me that they will send me an estimate *by mail*
(you can't get a human on the phone; the most you can get is a recording
telling when you can schlep your device in).  I got the estimate yesterday.
Get this: $320!!!  Just for the record: I was making a NY-LA drive, with
about 150 CD's and a broken player, so I stopped in Chicago to buy a
new player.  I got a Sony D4 (which broke, incidentally, but is being
fixed under warranty) which is smaller, lighter, and more feature-laden
than the old one, for $200 (and I saw it for $180 in NYC).  

  This is the breakdown of the estimate:

   motor assy      $30.84  (reasonable, I guess)
   divice, optics (sic -- and this is a computer printout!)  $62.91
   converter unit, dc-dc     $82.12
   labor                 $132

OK, maybe the motor assy is shot; it would explain why the disk isn't
turning.  Maybe the optics device is malfunctioning, but how would they know
until they replaced the motor?  What kills me, though, is the "dc-dc
converter unit".  What are they talking about?  The motor does turn a
bit, and the lcd display comes on and works fine.  

1) Does anyone have any idea if their evaluation of what is wrong,
is accurate?  Or do they have an asylum escapee making the estimates?

2) Is there another way to get the player fixed?  I'm afraid I'm going
to bring it into a shop, and they'll send it to this place!

...I guess you could say my CD player was "totalled"!!

  
-- 
**Roger Kaplan                "The only cultural advantage LA has over NY
kaplanr@devvax.jpl.nasa.gov            is that you can make a right turn
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA   on a red light."  --W. Allen