Dell W4200HD 42" Plasma TV

Great price, poor quality

Posted Oct 10, 2005 - Count me in the camp of severely disappointed Dell customers. I bought a refurb W4200HD, got what I was promised promptly, but it had the infamous buzz described in other posts. Another problem was that on occasion I would turn the TV on and the whole screen would have this green hue on it. Turning the TV off then on again resolved the problem. Anyway, I got myself into this deal with eyes wide open - even a minor search on the Web points shows consistent complaints and problems with the unit's quality. I was tempted by the ridiculously low price for the picture quality and feature set. After all the rebates and discounts, the W4200HD would have cost me $1500 - yes, the HD, not the ED. There were some indications that Dell is slowly working through the issues, and I was hoping against hope that I get lucky. I didn't! However, unlike some other people, my experience with Dell customer service was pretty positive. Five minutes into my initial call I was put in touch with a return specialist who gave me her direct line, and tried to talk me into not returning the TV by offering to extend the return deadline to 21 days (it is 15 on refurbs) and kicking in a $150 discount. I decided to give it a try, but the replacement TV would not have made it on time even with the extended return policy. Today I called and canceled my order, they are picking up this piece of garbage on Monday. Also today I ordered a Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK for $800 more at 1/3 the feature set. This is a bare-bones unit with no tuners or speakers, and a limited input bay. However, its reviews on the Web a glowing and customers rave about it (and its gen7 sibling TH-42PHD7UY). By all accounts this is a top-of-the-line tube. After my experience with the "bug zapper" on my current set, I especially appreciated the observation that "This plasma TV runs virtually silent. I could not hear the unit running at all. Not even from a foot away." Yeah, I am paying $1000 more, but hopefully when it shows up I will hang it right where the Dell was supposed to be an forget about it. Shame on Dell for (a) not addressing known problems for over a year and (b) continuing to send out rejects as refurbished units in the hope of finding consumers who don't know any better and may keep it, either out of ignorance, or because they simply missed the absolutely sneaky return policies. C'mon Dell, 15 days return option on refurbs from the day of invoice? Add the 10 days it took me to get the unit, and you are left with 5 days to get your money back if you get a lemon. At least they are paying for the return shipping... Hopefully this rant will keep others like me from being tempted by the seemingly good price. To anyone considering this set, my adivice is to visit Dell's own discussion forms and read the customer service horror stories.

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