Gateway 56" Widescreen HD-Ready DLP Rear-Projection TV
Gateway 56" DLP Rear Projection HDTV (Long but worth it)
Initial impression - Very nice picture, medium to good features. The lamp on time is a little annoying but the picture quality in HD is definitely worth the wait. <br /> <br />Now for the bad news. This TV started getting a lamp error 30 days out of the box. It would start to turn on and then stop, flashing 3 times green and then 2 times orange. I didn't have time to report it due to deploying out of the country with the US Army so I was out of luck 10 months later when I did report it. It seems the lamp is a consumable item and only warrantied for 90 days and cost $399.00 to replace!  <br />Gateway has a strict policy and wouldn't budge on giving me a pass on making me pay for the bulb. So, out to the house comes the repair guy, he replaces the bulb, turns the TV on and it doesn't give the error.  <br />The next day...error.  <br />I call Gateway and they say Hmmmm...lets try the ballast this time. So, again, the repair guycomes out. Replaces the ballast, turns on the TV and no error.  <br />Next day, error.  <br />So, I call Gateway and they tell me...get this....BECAUSE THEY DON'T CARRY THE TV IN STOCK, THEY CAN'T REPLACE THE TV, ALL THEY CAN DO IS CONTINUE TO REPLACE THE SAME PARTS THAT DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! INDEFINITELY!!! <br />So, here I sit with a TV that is not repairable, that Gateway can't replace, that cost me $3500.00. I am beginning to wonder why they stopped selling them in the first place. I have a letter in to the Executive Response Team to see what they can do for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. <br /> <br />Like I said, the picture is beautiful, the features are great. Maybe this should be a review of Gateway instead of the product. <br />