In 1998 BPL as a brand was on top of the mind. Amitabh was the brand ambassador for the group. BPL believed in quality and had launched a product much ahead of times. There were number of new players such as Samsung, Daweo, LG, Akai, Sony, who were not sure of back up service. We did not want to trust going for non repute brand, except for Sony any other international brands which lack service back up.
The BPL suggested @ 23 k go for the latest 25 " BPL Nicam BQR 25. Well after checking out the features, we felt that the features were quite upto the expectation :
Channels : 100 channels
Sound : Surround Sound, with Bass
Woofer : On top of the TV
Output : 60 Pmpo
DVD : Compatible
Earphone: Silent mode
Auto : Setting for 60 channels
Warranty : 2 years
We had in a span of 11 years two occasions when the TV had accumulated carbon, that required little bit of cleaning. Once we had to install voltage stabiliser to protect the TV circuits. After that minor problems of magnetisation prevails, no magnetic or electronic parts is supposed to be kept besides the screen.
Looking at how the brand has gone down in the market place I feel, it is sad such a good product and company has been mismanaged because of father in law and son in law fighting over the control. It has lead the company to the brink of disaster. Now if I am looking at replacement I have plenty of options. The price of TVs too have dropped substantially, Maybe I will go for a wall mounted product or flat TV. I would invite suggestions based on power consumption and warranty and service back up. Ideally a 5 year guarantee product with a budget of 25 K would be in place. If it is compatible with CPU it will be gr8 or maybe even a home theatre. Now, the new generation has arrived. It is time to move over from BPL*