Panasonic PT-AX200U 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector

I don't usually write reviews, but I strongly felt this is worth informing as many people as possible. I read all the reviews on the Panasonic PT-AX200U projector and they all looked good, so I bought one. For me, I wanted the best possible resolution and highest lumens without spending thousands of dollars. I bought this in May, 2008 for $1299. At the beginning of this January, I went to turn it on and heard a loud bang and it wouldn't power up. Now you should know that I am incredibly anal retentive when it comes to my electronic equipment. This machine has been cared for like a baby and has only been used for 525 hours (approx. ¼ bulb life) so it is impossible that I caused any problem with the machine.

So I called Panasonic Projector Customer Support. They were unsure what could be wrong, so they had me send it to their outsourced provider, Heartland Diversified, for repair ($130 diagnostic fee, but it goes toward any repair costs). Heartland notified me that the cost of the repair would be $1265 (recall the cost of the new projector, which by the way, can now be bought new for $999). Since this warranty just expired, they said any dispute would have to be with Panasonic directly.

This is where the disaster begins, if it wasn't already disappointing enough that it broke so quickly. Customer Service at Panasonic is a nightmare. You can never get past front line customer support personnel (who do not have decision-making authority)to management and all conversations end with the refrain "We will have to get back to you in 24-72 hours" which never happens, thus requiring yet another call to customer support. Bottom line is I wanted them to stand behind their product regardless of warranty because a projector should not completely break after a year and a half. They say they are escalating the request but then tell me that the request is going to the same original person, John Parks. They will absolutely not let you talk directly to anyone and will not give out email addresses or phone numbers (or last names, but one of the reps slipped, so I got this one). This issue has now been going on for two months and Heartland is threatening to take possession of the projector at the 60 day mark. I have even written to Robert Perry, the EVP of Panasonic Consumer Products, and have gotten no response.

After easily 20 hours of being on the phone with Mike (three times), Jabin, Ben, Tom, Leela, Ranita, and the people at Heartland, I am getting nowhere and feel incredibly frustrated to the point that I will not buy another Panasonic product and cannot recommend a Panasonic product to anyone. Even when I look back at other Panasonic products I have had (stereo, boom box, clock radio, microwave), every single one has had something break quickly. They haven't become unusable but there is always something - a button doesn't work, it doesn't turn off, a door doesn't close, etc.

In summary, I believe this is not just a poor product quality issue, but Panasonic has a major customer service issue to which I can only say "Buyer Beware."

Anyone buying a Panasonic LCD projector with organic LCD panels, such as this one, should be aware that the lifetime of the projector is limited.
The LCD panels will degrade over time due to the heat inside the projector. They can be expected to last 3000-6000 hours before one panel fails, and then the optical block of the projector will need to be changed (although few people do this since it will cost as much as a new projector). If you intend to use the projector for movies only, up to 10 hours per week, you can get up to 10 years of use. If you will use it as a TV - 4 to 8 hours per day - it may fail in as little as 2-3 years. Get as long a warranty as you can on this projector, because you are likely to need it.
The newer models (AE-3000 and AE-4000) use the new Epson inorganic panels which are supposed to have better lifetimes and heat tolerance, although this in unproven and neither Panasonic nor anyone else has published any test data on the subject.

The projector worked fine for about 18 months, 2600 hours and then it started developing a very yellow circular tint in the middle which could not be adjusted away. Well, I thought, after that many hours on it, maybe time for a new bulb. So I ordered a new one, replace it (very easy to do) and unfortunately the problem was still there. Panasonic support said it was either the LCD display or internal filters, could and would not give me a repair estimate and could not even tell me how long the repair would take. Fortunately I was able to return the bulb and now I will most likely buy a new projector as the LCD/filter repair will run at about $600, if I add the replacement bulb, that gets me to $900 and for very little more, I can get a brand new projector. I highly doubt that I will buy a Panasonic again, even though the picture quality has been outstanding while it worked.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R11U53NYDE9WR5 At about 450 hours the projector started to flicker erratically. It looked like the auto iris or light harmonizer was screwing up. I bought this from the Projector People and they told me that if burning in the unit doesn't solve the problem then I need to call Panasonic and they gave me the number. I called Panasonic and they told me to buy a new lamp first and see if that solved the problem. Well, while I was waiting for the new lamp I ran the projector for a whole weekend with the Winamp music visualtization running (quite trippy on a 125" screen in my one bedroom apartment) and I'm not sure when it stopped but the problem is gone. I had been running the projector for months in normal mode not eco mode so I thought it was already burned in. I guess the problem was that I had only been turning on the projector for 4 hour periods at the longest. I am an electrical engineer and I know this equipment needs to burn in I just didn't realize the length of time but come to think of it when Cleveland Browns Stadium first installed their changeable message signs they ran an intensely changing pattern for several weeks straight to burn in the electronics.

Well, I guess I have a back-up lamp now for when this one is used up.

By the way, I am looking at the completely white background of this website and there is not so mach as a blink. The projector is rock solid running on my laptop's 1080P HDMI output.

I've now had this projector close to two years. When I bought it I got a second year warranty. After about 1 year and about 300 hours the brightness started flickering. I was really mad, it was only 300 hours. Here's the problem. If you send it in for warranty and they think it's a problem with the bulb they will charge you for the repair, even if it's under warranty! I had to buy a new bulb, $400, and try it just to prove to them it wasn't the bulb. They claim to have replaced the dynamic iris and returned it to me but said I needed a new bulb. I had only put 300 hours on the bulb!! I put a new bulb in then, about a year ago, and here I am AGAIN one more year later and it's starting to flicker again. I am absolutely stunned. The bulb has 351 hours on it!!!! I don't run it in economy mode and dynamic iris is never on. I would not recommend this model becuse there are problems with the bulbs. Panasonic refers you to another company to handle warranty repairs and there are a pile of conditions you have to agree to before you can send your unit in, at your expense which was $30 plus 20 to wrap.

I will say the picture is very good when it works, I use HD DVD, PS3 for games and Blu Ray, a PC and DirecTV. All look very good but this bulb problem is absolutely insane and I wouldn't buy this or any other Panasonic projector with the way they handle warranty service.