View Full Version : Failure of cheap Coby 15"


jr_tech
03-16-2016, 08:26 PM
Toward the end of 2012 I reported the purchase and brief life testing of very inexpensive Coby hdtv:

On the other hand, the very cheap prices are attractive. About 6 months ago, I purchased a 15" Coby on sale for $69. It gets daily use in the kitchen and sits in a small space next to the microwave (likely not a good location for digital electronics). It is still working perfectly. We joke each time that we turn it on that we may establish a "new indoor record" for longevity of these cheap sets. :)
Longevity aside, you get what you pay for... the little set has VERY POOR viewing angle, which is ok in our application but may be a problem for some. I fabricated a small wedge for the stand, to tip the set back about 10 degrees, which helps considerably when we are working in the kitchen.
jr

PS: my 2007 Sony Bravia (not cheap at the time) is still working fine!

Today it saddens me to report a failure... set would not turn on.

Turns out that one of the original King Kong brand AAA cells had failed...0 volts (the other was fine). Such poor quality control... I guess that I didn't expect much anyway. :D

jr

Jeffhs
05-05-2016, 08:57 PM
Toward the end of 2012 I reported the purchase and brief life testing of very inexpensive Coby hdtv:



Today it saddens me to report a failure... set would not turn on.

Turns out that one of the original King Kong brand AAA cells had failed...0 volts (the other was fine). Such poor quality control... I guess that I didn't expect much anyway. :D

jr


Were you able to get the TV working again by replacing both batteries? I think those are backup batteries, so if they fail the TV won't work. The backup batteries keep the memory chips and others from losing their programming when the TV is off; if the batteries fail, the chips lose their programming (including stored channels, etc.) and can cause all sorts of other problems, including shutting down the set completely. (I will remember this if my own flat screen TV suddenly refuses to turn on or if I start losing my stored channel lists, etc.; same with my Roku streaming video player and my LG Blu-ray player, all of which I think also use at least one battery for system backup.)


BTW, now I'm wondering just how many flat screens are discarded every year just because these backup cells have failed. :scratch2: After the TV has been working well for some years, the owner discovers the set won't power on, so in the trash (or to the recycler) it goes, when the problem may be simply dead backup batteries.

rca2000
05-05-2016, 09:08 PM
I doubt the majority of flat-panel sets will outlast the (in)famous 1990's Zenith CRT"s !!

CoogarXR
05-06-2016, 07:08 AM
I think he's joking about the remote batteries...

dieseljeep
05-06-2016, 09:49 AM
I think he's joking about the remote batteries...

It wasn't the remote batteries that the OP was referring to! It must have a set of cells, that maintain the memory, channel presets etc.
The sets that size have audio quality that is extremely poor. :sigh:

CoogarXR
05-06-2016, 10:27 AM
It wasn't the remote batteries that the OP was referring to! It must have a set of cells, that maintain the memory, channel presets etc.
The sets that size have audio quality that is extremely poor. :sigh:

I'm just saying, I worked on literally thousands of flat screens for over 5 years, and have never seen a battery inside a TV. TVs nowadays use NVRAM that doesn't need backup power to retain data.

jr_tech
05-06-2016, 10:45 AM
I think he's joking about the remote batteries...

Bingo! Coogar nailed it... a little tongue-in-cheek post about a *trivial* failure of the cheapest bottom of the line flat screen set that I have ever seen, after over three years of operation.
After all, it is a well reported "fact" here that these things can't possibly operate past the end of the waranty, or two years, which ever comes first.

jr

CoogarXR
05-06-2016, 10:57 AM
Drat those King Kong batteries! You need some of these batteries that I found in a remote (sorry for the crappy cell-phone pic):

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=190938&stc=1&d=1462550235

Jeffhs
05-06-2016, 11:22 AM
After all, it is a well reported "fact" here that these things can't possibly operate past the end of the waranty, or two years, which ever comes first.

jr

My Insignia 19" FP has been working extremely well for five years. As I said in a previous post, the very first flat screens may have lasted just two years or less, but the technology has improved greatly since then. The only sets that will work for just two years (!), if that long, would be the under $100 no-name (Craig, et al.) sets available at CVS or Rite Aid. Those TVs, as another poster mentioned, are very cheaply made, with bargain-basement capacitors and such, and cannot be expected to last very long. I don't use my flat screen that much, anyway (perhaps three hours a day), unlike sets that are on all the time or are used a lot, so I am expecting mine to last somewhat beyond its current five years (the TV was manufactured in May 2011, according to the sticker on the back which also has the model number and software revision code). When it quits, I will replace it with my 20-year-old 19-inch Zenith Sentry 2 CRT set, so I am not concerned about the FP's eventual failure in the least.

Electronic M
05-06-2016, 11:25 AM
Drat those King Kong batteries! You need some of these batteries that I found in a remote (sorry for the crappy cell-phone pic):

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=190938&stc=1&d=1462550235

If you think that battery is a dick, you should have bought one of the name brands I had in a remote or wireless mouse a couple of years back....The damn things were still putting out plenty of voltage and running the device just fine, but were leaking acid like crazy. I picked the thing up while using it, saw the white liquid coming out of it, opened it up and said some bad words.

I can't wait till super capacitors replace AA and AAA cells in remotes, wireless mice, etc!

dieseljeep
05-07-2016, 07:08 PM
If you think that battery is a dick, you should have bought one of the name brands I had in a remote or wireless mouse a couple of years back....The damn things were still putting out plenty of voltage and running the device just fine, but were leaking acid like crazy. I picked the thing up while using it, saw the white liquid coming out of it, opened it up and said some bad words.

I can't wait till super capacitors replace AA and AAA cells in remotes, wireless mice, etc!

I understand Duracells are the worst offenders, in that respect. :thumbsdn:

Boobtubeman
05-07-2016, 09:14 PM
Damn i fell for this... I was about to open a truetone flatscreen that was given to me with a power up problem and start looking for batteries.....

Easy target... first flatsreen tinker...

SR

rca2000
05-07-2016, 09:54 PM
I thought Truetone--the Western-Auto brand went out of business in the 1980'S?

Maybe this post is just another "red herring" ?

Boobtubeman
05-08-2016, 03:42 AM
LOL oopsie..... make that a PROSCAN!!!!! :D

SR