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Oct 05, 2008 (The Sun Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- UEIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- TV repair shops keep pace with everything new

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Once upon a time, not that long ago, if the family TV's image blinked away, Dad hauled the appliance to the TV repair shop where the picture tube was the likely culprit.

Electronics have come a long way since then. As analog sets are being replaced by digital ones, TV repair people are keeping pace with the new equipment -- sometimes learning as they go, sometimes taking classes.

With a queasy economy now, are folks more likely to bring in their sets for repairs?

"Oh, it's not like it used to be," said David Haines, owner of Pass Road Tee Vee Service in Biloxi. "Business might have picked up, oh, about 10 percent, but not that much. There are quite a few older analog sets out there, but the simple fact is, after the storm, a lot of people got new ones.

"Immediately after the hurricane, people bought new TVs. Now, they're starting to break. The problem is, other than a few brands, they're not very well made. And when it comes to getting parts for repairs -- well, lots of times, people would just rather buy a new TV. A big problem is finding replacement parts. I've got a junk pile full of 2-year-old TVs."

Sometimes Haines has to "wait months for parts," or sometimes they're simply not available.

Michelle Blethen of A-1 Electronics in Bay St. Louis said their repair business has been "about average." More people, she said, are asking questions about the shift to digital television in early 2009.

"A lot of people don't understand how it's going to work, and they're concerned about that," she said.

Universal Electronics owner Mary Jacobs had to move her D'Iberville business to Mobile after Hurricane Katrina but still offers service to the Mississippi Gulf Coast as well as Alabama and Florida. She said business continues to be good while training keeps her and her staff on their toes.

"You continually have to stay on top of things," she said. "I like to say we're training on greased tracks going downhill. You get proficient with something, and then suddenly you have to learn something else new."

Sometimes customers puzzle Larry Lorenson of J.W. Electronics in D'Iberville.

"You'll have somebody who has a $2,000 or $3,000 TV but they don't want to spend $500 to get it fixed -- they'd rather just get a new one," he said. "The new stuff does cost more to fix."

But others prefer to stick with what they have.

"This week I had two busy days and two slow ones," he said. "You never know. There are people who don't want to buy a new TV and they're willing to get their old ones fixed."

He too has trouble getting parts for some brands.

"Some brands you can't get parts for at all. The major manufacturers are usually OK, but the other stuff, well -- I just tell people to stick with major brands," he said.

New TV or repaired TV, people just want their set to work. Now.

"People are going to have their TVs even if they don't have a car," Haines said.

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