Don't Pay $150 Yet. Check These 5 Things on Your TV First
Most people call a repair shop the same day their TV dies. That's usually a mistake, not because repair shops are bad, but because a surprising number of "dead" TVs aren't actually broken. Before you book anything, give yourself 10 minutes. These five checks have saved people hundreds of dollars. They'll take you less time than the drive to the shop. Start with the wall Not the TV, the outlet. Plug something else into the same socket. A lamp, a phone charger, anything. If it doesn't work either, your TV is completely fine. A tripped outlet or a dead power strip is behind more "broken TV" calls than you'd think. If the screen is black but the TV seems on, check your input Press the input or source button on your remote and cycle through every option manually. HDMI 1, HDMI 2, AV, everything. It sounds obvious, but TV remotes switch inputs accidentally all the time, and the TV won't tell you that's what happened. Pay attention to what it act...