Electronics Diagnostics Websites

I think this post is fair game for the doctor's lounge, if not, my apologies.

I have a TV with a bad case of the "can't help its". It is a Sanyo 25" unit, model # DS25590, about 7 or 8 years old. I am currently using the kitchen TV, a 13 inch Sanyo unit, as emergency backup, and that ain't gonna cut it very long. At about 1/4 the screen size that I am used to, I feel like I'm watching TV through a pipe or something.

It acted up about a month ago--picture disappeared except for an extremely bright horizontal slit about 1/4" wide in the center of the screen, sound and all other functions ok. I unplugged it for a while and it cleared up. It did it again yesterday and did not clear up, despite being unplugged for most of the day. I'm guessing that the problem is with the sync circuits that controls the electron gun as it draws the picture. Picture tube should be fine. Symptoms of a bad picture tube are dimness and blurred or distorted picture, along with slow warmup--immediate sound, picture does not come on for several seconds.

I know that there are HD ready units available now with digital tuners, but I have done no homework regarding cost, etc. I was hoping that that TV would last until the full rollout of HD-TV in about 3 years, so that I don't run the risk of ending up with a very expensive, obsolete and unusable doorstop. I know that there are two competing formats for next generation DVD's:HD-DVD and Blu Ray. That, friends, ain't nothing but a money racket to force people to toss perfectly good DVD's to purchase replacement DVD's in whatever format wins out when their players die. Why can't people see that through all the marketing hype and just say no with their wallets to force vendors to settle on one format??? Anyway, I don't want to play that sucker's game, so any links posted for good free electronics diagnostics sites would be appreciated.

Here's an article that's quite good:

http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/...ault_Diagnosis

That is a good article. I bought this Sanyo. I planned to get a 27" or bigger set and at some place other than Wal-mart, but it is hard to argue with a 24" flat screen stereo TV at that price. I do not want to spend any more than I have to on replacement components until I see how the full rollout of HDTV in about three years shakes out. I hope that my current DirecTV receiver lasts until then, because I will likely have to upgrade to a local channels package, which I don't want, now or then, because of rain fade during severe weather. But since I am about 50 miles from the local stations Xmit towers, I doubt that I will be able to receive the digital broadcast with an antenna. I guess then I will have to depend on the 'net for weather radar to tell me if I'm fixin' to get levelled by a severe thunderstorm. Anyway, I have not yet given up on the sick TV: I think (hope) that I can fix it if I can find the right troubleshooting and repair info. I won't throw it out until I know there is no chance of getting more usage out of it.