Proline 28n1

Proline 28N1

I'm amazed so many people can use the net to complain about this tv, but cannot use the net to find the free fix, rather than spend £49 on a call out.

The reason the screen 'compresses' on the sides is that the CRT controller chip is set for a smaller model, and when it gets reset by a power surge or similar, it comes back on as a 24" picture on a 28" screen.

I gave this TV to my mum after I bought my 42" Plasma, and I have showed her how to fix it, and she is in her 70's!

Ok, to enter service mode;

1. switch the tv completely off using the power button on the Tv, not the standby button on the remote.

2. open the flap on the front of the tv which hides the volume buttons, and you should see the middle one is labelled m (little raised black m on a black background)

3. Press and continue to hold in this M button and switch on the TV using the power button. The red standby light will come on. Now press the red power button on the remote.

4. The TV will come on in service mode. NOW RELEASE THE M BUTTON. Using the directional buttons on the remote, look for vertical amplitude "ver amp". It'll probably be on a value of 1A. The right size (for my tv) is 2B. select this, then press left or right a few times to get horizontal amplitude, and stretch the tv out to fit the screen using the directional buttons.

5. This will fix your tv, but to SAVE your new settings, roll your finger on the remote across the yellow and blue buttons, and back again until the green writing on the screen disappears.

6. if you cock up the settings, go to "init" setting and press right to put all settings back to the beginning again.

7. Do not mess around with the parabolic settings, horizontal/vertical shift, or text brightness, trapz, corners, etc unless you understand what it does.

Had the Proline 28n1 3 years ago, now broke, the TV will not switch on, the standby light just keeps flashing.

Since purchasing my Proline 28n1 set in 1999 I have nothing but crisp clear picture and sound. It is still as good today as when new. A fantastic set for the money 5*'s.

I bought my Proline 28N1 Television in December 2000. After just under 8 months the edges of the screen compressed by about 4 inches to give it a sort of vertical letterbox effect. Still under guarantee, so Comet engineer came out to perform a secret combination of button pushing on the TV & remote and problem solved. Ten days later the same problem occurred. Cue second engineer and a similar mysterious combination of button pushing.

A month or so later and screen again compressed from the sides. Cue third engineer who explained that this model is known to have a static/electrical short problem which causes the set to reset to it's factory settings (all picture and sound preferences also lost). One soldering iron later and an earth wire was added near to the internal speakers and the problem was meant to be a thing of the past.

Another month or so later, cue the first engineer again. Wire repositioned and more button pushing transpired.

After 12 month guarantee elapsed picture compressed again, cue another engineer. Despite the fact that this was clearly an ongoing problem told that as TV was now over 12 months old I would have to pay the £49.95 call out fee plus £5.05 for a 'CRT socket', which I was assured would cure the problem. Another combination of button pushing later and the screen was back to normal. Not trusting to the confidence of the engineer and after pleading with him to break the magic circle and divulge the secret code of button pushing he revealed the mystery, which I'm glad he did as the problem remained but at least I was able to fix it myself in a few seconds. If you have this problem on your TV the trick is to hold in the middle button underneath the panel on the front of the telly whilst pushing the 'ON' button. You then have three seconds in which to push the 'standby' button on remote (the central red button). That puts the screen into it's factory settings mode. Scroll down on remote to 'EW' which is the width setting and press 'right' on you remote to increase the width of the screen. Once desired width has been reached settings are stored by pressing the 'yellow' key on the remote.

All well and good for next year or so, except for having to perform the minor inconvenience as described above every now and again.

TV is now 3 years and 4 months old and has completely died. It cannot be turned on as keeps turning itself off when I try.

Don't fancy the thought of another series of engineers traipsing through the house so TV will be going bin side in favour of a new and NOT Proline model.

If you are looking for a cheap tv for occasional use for a short period of time these will see you through. If you're looking for something that will last more than a couple of years I'd give this a wide berth.

My Proline 28n1 broke down just after the one year guarantee was up. Fixed briefly but again broke down. Recommended by a Comet engineer to forget it and buy a new one as this is a recurring problem.

Just after the guarantee ran out my Proline 28n1 picture dropped by 4 inches from the top and the picture at both sides in the middle became narrow giving the same impression of a balloon with an elastic band around the middle i would warn anyone stay well clear of proline as its obviously designed to rip off anybody who cant afford an expensive set

My proline 28n1 broke down 3 months after warranty ran out and the after sales service is not very good. They want £49.99 just to come plus parts! I feel that this is the first in a long line of breakdowns and so I will quit while I'm ahead and put it out with the rubbish today! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PROLINE TELEVISIONS!

cheap and cherful good and bad points. A good starter to wide screen but tech surport not that helpful.

Set broke down 3 weeks after 12 month guarantee. Picture geometry failed giving distorted & compressed image on screen - phoned technical help for any possible reset but advised £49 service call needed - booked it - guy turned up - pressed a couple of buttons or combination of on the remote - picture perfect - time taken 5 minutes - goodby £49 Great - I'm not impressed.

Good t.v at a great price