Tv/ Recorder Conundrum.

[Coppit]

Intermittently, (perhaps once a month or twice a week), on switching to record, the screen shows the menu 4 times normal size, so that only the top LH corner of the menu can be seen - Playback, Record. Rebooting sometimes solves the problem, until next time. Meantime it is not possible to use the recorder.

The recorder went to the local shop, and I was told there was nothing wrong with it but they suspected a board inside the TV needed replacing. Neither item had been bought there, and interestingly they didn't try to sell me anything. So next, the shop took the TV away along with a photo of the screen showing the fault, but it was returned and they said they could not reproduce the fault.

The TV was bought under guarantee from John Lewis and so was taken away by their repairers but as I feared, they say there is nothing wrong with it and it is being returned.

What do people think may be the problem, and what do I do next?

I don't want to make a meal of this, but am wondering whether to buy a new recorder from JL but only if I can get a promise that if the fault appears again, they will take back their recorder, give me a full refund - and repair or replace the TV.

[dannyk13]

Have you tried reducing the screen size?

[satprof]

Are the TV & the recorder connected by HDMI cables? As both TV & recorder have been tested & have failed to reproduce the fault, it's maybe time to look elsewhere & HDMI might be the place. I'd beg, borrow or even buy (Amazon's good) another HDMI cable or two, no longer than necessary, and replace those currently in use.

[TheChair]

I agree with satprof. My first thought on reading you post was "connection cable". Either the cable itself, of simply that it's not securely inserted.

[barry1010]

What is the make and model of your recorder? I do agree, though, that loose HDMi cables are more likely to be the cause of the problem.

[Coppit]

Many thanks for all responses. The position is that the replacement TV loaned for a week while my TV was taken away by JL's repairers was returned today. They say no fault can be found. I really don't think that a week is long enough to investigate the intermittent problem but I was unable to persuade them to keep it for longer. However, the man did say that if it has to go back to them they will also take away the recorder and all cables.
I've yet to tackle JL about the next step - which will be for them to allow re-investigation, but it is interesting that no problems were experienced during the too short week when I was using the TV they loaned me.

[Coppit]

It's now nearly 2 weeks since the TV was returned to me and there has been no trouble at all since. JL have agreed that if there is, then they will arrange for TV, recorder and cables to be taken away for further testing.