I did not buy an extended warranty

Hitachi will not honor their warranty

I REALLY cannot recommend the Hitachi 57S700. After purchasing one on 1-24-04, two months later a small cooling fan began making a loud noise. I called Hitachi and was given the name of the local warranty service center. They came out, listened to the fan and remarked that it seemed pretty loud. Then they called Hitachi from my house and were told by Hitachi that "fan noise is normal" and that Hitachi would not warranty it. The repairman told me to let him know if the noise got worse. It got worse and worse. I kept calling the warranty service center and they would not come out and look at the TV again. I then called Hitachi and was told that fan noise was normal and there was nothing I could do about it. FINALLY I hired another TV service center, they ordered the fan and installed it. This easily solved the problem, but I had to pay $140 for something that should have been covered by the warranty. I then called Hitachi and told them that I had the receipts etc for replacing the fan and even had the old fan I could send them for proof. Of course they gave another similar style run around saying they could not help me since I had someone else do the work besides their local warranty person (who would not replace the fan or return my calls). You would have to be an IDIOT to buy an extended warranty from Hitachi and I seriously would recommend that you buy a different brand. No point having a TV that the company will not stand behind!!!