Let's be honest -- after sinking a few large on a
new HDTV, a few hundies on some
overpriced cables and even more on
HD programming, you weren't about to cough up another month's paycheck for a decent TV stand. For the 48,600 customers out there who purchased one of four different King Pao Enterprise TV Stands (likely sold and distributed by Studio RTA), you now have a product known for tipping over and ruining lives. The E Series, Fierro, Madison DLP and Madison 3000 -- all of which were sold at Best Buy and other big box retailers from May 2004 to August 2008 -- have been deemed unstable and unfit for use in your living room, and it's suggested that you
cautiously remove your set and wait for a "repair kit" before it does the removing for you. Godspeed.
posted Sep 24th 2008 3:08PM
not to be insensitive, but this is the kind of thing that the ceo should be severely hurt for
not the guy yesterday! http://tinyurl.com/3r2u38
"Made in China" - Is that the reason why?
How do you f'up building a TV stand...that's just outright sad...
Good job investing in quality furniture companies, Best Buy.
IMO anyone that bought the stand deserves it. That thing is hideous!
ouch
I can't help but laugh whenever i read the reasons why something is being recalled: "could cause tv tip-over, resulting in injury or death" way to go
King Pao just fell through his throne.
A TV Stand that can't hold up a TV without killing children is just all kinds of fail. It is designed for exactly one purpose only and when tasked to do it, it chooses murder instead.
This is the best comment I've ever read on Engadget. I tip my hat to you, chefgon_ign.
King Pao = King Pwnd
Looks like my crappy stand from Best Buy is in the clear. *phew*
Oh man, just seeing that avatar made me nearly wet myself.
" . . . and it's suggested that you cautiously remove your set and wait for a "repair kit" before it does the removing for you. Godspeed."
One of the reasons I read Engadget. That was funny. Serious but yet funny.
If you are going to spend that much money on the electronics, you should have no problem paying for a quality stand or hang the thing on the wall.
It's your own fault for buying a cheapy piece of furniture to hold one of the more expensive pieces of electronics in your house.
Yes, its possibly the cheapest cost in your 'HD upgrade'. HDTV ~$2000, surround sound receiver ~$600, you shouldn't place all your expensive equipment on a cheap Ikea fiberboard stand.
$250 is very cheap.
want great stands - google Bello
itialian made stands that are durable and sexy looking
Yeah, that is pretty cheap. My stand cost around $650 and that sucker is *solid*. The stand alone weighs in at 80 lbs or so.
I guess I should be worried because I paid $10 for mine.
Shows you how absurd the TV stand economy is. I wonder how much $250 worth of particleboard actually costs to the manufacturer?
@gabe
My Bello stand was priced at $300 but was free with my TV purchase. So which part of your post do you want to revise?
So what? My Samsung 46" LCD cost $2300 and I put it on a $79 Ikea stand. The stand is very simple, black so it matches, and most importantly, nice and low -- most TV stands are too high for widescreen HDTVs.
Why should I spend a ton of money on something that just sits there? The piece I have does the job, looks great, and is sturdy as all hell. There's a difference between paying for quality, paying for style, paying for features, and just throwing money away.
PS: No, I didn't buy the extended warranty on the TV either.
@UnixSystemsEngineer
If you only paid 2300 for your 46" samsung, you probably didnt get one of sammy's top of the line models so it doesnt deserve to be on a good stand anyways.
I got a 46" Sammy for 1600.. its a 650 which is pretty high up there.. Well it was until the 8 and 9 came out in the last month.......... How'd you pay 2300!?
Oh and Bello are the same as everything else, furniture in a box. I have two Z-line desgin stands and love them!
They found melamine in the materials...
Well thank God I saved money and that stand so I don't have to eat it.
Nice job, China. Not entirely surprised, though.
I'm using my 5 year-old Panasonic stand. But, I'm working on building one. It'd be cheaper and stronger than the overpriced garbage sold everywhere.
the couch looks too close to the TV
To catch the TV when the stand tips over.
Not only did the family that bought the stand shown in the picture cheap out on the stand,
They also bought a cheap substandard (and noisy) Magnavox dvd player.
Yich!
Worse yet, it's not a real TV. http://www.propsbyidm.com/Televisions.htm
So wait - that family actually spent MORE money on the stand than they did the TV? This economic crisis is really hurting us...families can't even afford a real TV anymore!
A 60" Plasma for $134?
Sign me up...oh damn.
Man, this is one time I have to say "How did you not see that coming?" The damn thing LOOKS like it's going to fall over any second the way it's designed.
wow, I'm glad I was smarter. My kids will have a safe vegetative state.
Why would you buy something remotely close-sounding to one of the 'entrees' from Panda Express?
Kung Pao King Pao!
It is the tech that is important. No stand is too cheap if the opertunity cost was better tech. Is this because of heavy 120# plasma's?
They do make a good chicken dish, but watch out if you're allergic to peanuts.
I never eat cheap Kung Pao. Oh, wait... nevermind.
Um, I don't know if this is just a wild and crazy idea, but if you slide the TV farther back, away from the front, wouldn't the weight of the TV counter the tipping forward? You don't have to have your TV that far forward on the stand plus with the couch that close wouldn't you want the TV to be as far back as possible? *shrugs*
Since you asked a legitimate question I'll give you a legitimate answer - if you have larger speakers (towers or big bookshelfs) your speakers will be out from the wall quite a bit. Have the TV at the back of the stand may not allow you to put the screen and speaker fronts on a single plane- unless the stand is really far away from the wall.
That said- most people that care that much about the physical design of their home theater probably aren't buying their stands at Best Buy- so your question is still somewhat relevant. :)
"Repair Kit" = Two cinder blocks and a three foot long two by twelve.
and I was half excepting duct tape and a prayer
Nice job China.
We gave you a crisp twenty and told you we needed some TV stands.
We know you cut corners and bought a pack of cigarettes with some of that dough. That's why you failed.
In the future, utilize your children more productively. We need more goods for the American people. And investors need to make some money.
Sincerely,
Best Buy
Hm.. i feel guilty for laughing at a racist joke **hopes somebody that's chinese will say "it's ok to laugh at us Ross"**... unlikely but it's nice to wish of a world where racism isn't taken so seriously.
Most Americans support Child Labor.
Ask them: "Do you want the price of your Nikes ballooning up to $500 a pair?"
If they say "no," they are in love with Child Labor.
France is against Child Labor.
By that logic I guess I support child labor, but I know for a fact that no one supports France.
Is it my fault that China was about 150 years late for the party that was the industrial revolution?
America and China are crap.
To become legitimate, America must give back all its land to the Native Americans.
Same with China. China must give Tibet independence.
Haha, until then, France is morally superior. They are also intellectually superior. The greatest nation in the world... FRANCE.
Ha, yes! France, the smelliest, dirtiest shithole in the world other than New Jersey.
I'd rather be dead in America than alive in France.
i have that stand! it wouldn't be any part of the home theater of my dreams, but it's not that cheap. there's no particle board, and it feels sturdy. it was a bitch to assemble, though.
actually, i will say that i couldn't fully assemble it... there's a screw that's supposed to go into the glass table top that i left out because it couldn't be screwed in without the top being totally skewed.
so yeah, maybe it does deserve a recall...
with the purple-oceaned new jersey or whatever the hell they're watching on that TV it deserves to fall over
Damn you and ur funny PIC. Everytime i see Murrys face all i think of is "leggy blonde" and...."Bret your beard is nice" and i BUST OUT LAUGHING at my desk. regardless of what you write.
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.
Want a REAL laugh?
the recall kit? it's SAFTEY STICKERS!
Weird thing is that the stand in the picture looks similar (but definitely not the same) to a TV stand that my wife and I got from Target for probably a little over $100, if even that much. Wood (or thick pressboard, whichever) top shelf and floor shelf, two glass shelves in between. Hell of a lot sturdier than my old Sauder entertainment center ended up being after a couple moves. Can't see any way that this thing could possibly tip over. It's well constructed in the front, back and both sides. Even put a few Moving Men underneath at each corner for those times that I need to slide it out and rewire something. No regrets with that purchase. Inexpensive doesn't always equal "cheap".
Ikea TV stand (for a Panasonic 42-inch plasma).
$70.
No waiting.
Feelin' smart right about now. :-)
Particle board. Whee.
Particle board. Whee.
you can say that again
Um, hello? You put your big, heavy TV on the stand ... and it wobbled. Did this strike you as a problem?
The customer has to take some share of the blame, and any customer that claims to be an engineer, more so.
My TV sits on something even cheaper - a sheet of 3/4" plywood, a couple 1x4", some drywall screws, and white paint. The stand is pretty much invisible, is attached to the wall, and will only move if the house falls down.
Haha... same for me... Put the 42" Samsung on top of two old big speakers (woodmade), turned on the side. Very solid, close to the wall... Shouldn't move form there !
Happy for the save!
Like someone else on here said, push the TV back further. But also (and I know this is too much for a lot of parents to do but) keep the kids away from the expensive electronics/TV. They're not toys and shouldn't be played with as such. I doubt many of these TV's just fall over by themselves and hurt people.
My neighbor was attacked by a TV once. It was a rather upsetting experience, they had to take the TV out back and shoot it... I loved that TV. So many Superbowl memories, all for naught.
So someone who's had their TV stand for 4 years really is going to have it spontaneously fall apart all of a sudden?
Is this the extent of child labor? We need better productivity.
Can monkeys work?
yep, they can even grow up to be selected president
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnSrIJi_NYd3.7AYZtIkSuzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080922153453AAU9noQ
Wall mounting ... weee...
Suckee fuckee Fih' buckee. China no eat baby girls. China no eat dog. China no hate round eye americAN. we love u long time joe. QUARITY PLODUCTS.
i lold
ya blame best buy... there the ones that forced you to buy it. I know from experience the people that buy these cheap stands do so at their own will only because quality stands are "extremely over priced" and they can probably find a cheaper stand at wal mart but they are too lazy to check.
totally man there even too lazy to learn teh grammarz
I got the Studio RTA model from CSN Stores (http://www.racksandstands.com) for our analog TV. our little dog fluffy used to love sleeping right under the TV next to our stereo receiver where it was warm. Last week, I had to buy one of those digital converter boxes. I should have known not to put in on top - must have been the final straw that broke Fluffy's back :(
When I called to get a replacement, the CSN person told me that I was out of luck and that Fluffy must not have been a strong dog.
HAHAHA! OK I'm no engineer, but if that picture is representative of the design. There would be NO WAY IN HELL I would go near such a thing to hold a 3 figure or more TV. Lets see. There are only 3 posts instead of 4. There is no support from the sides or the back. IF the top front leg is any indication its probably got about the surface area of 2 inches holding it together instead of say a row of nails along the side of an inner panel. Screams structurally unsound.
Personally, I got a $70 "bench" from Ikea with 5 wheels and I can easily wheel the tv anywhere in the house. It also looks great.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10102197.
I have that stand pictured, looks pretty nice in person. I'm curious though how my DLP would fall? It's a solid stand that will support 250 pounds, my DLP weighs 60 pounds.... The strip of wood on the glass is a joke though, double sided tape, kept peeling so I removed the strip. Looks nicer. I'm curious what kind of "repair kit" is available.
Admit it; many of you are using the box your TV came in as a stand.