Review on Sony PS-LX250H Automatic Belt-Drive Turntable (No Longer Manufactured) by Alexander Morgan

I bought it in December 2010, it's now May 2012 and I don't have a gramophone. I wanted a turntable that could play my Dylan vinyl collection. It didn't have to be fancy, it just had to play records with as little distortion as possible. In the past I've had good luck (knock on wood) with Sony products. I bought this item because (or what I thought) it was the best deal for the least amount of money. All was good out of the box, albeit limited. I played albums on it a few times a month if at all. I took great care of him and always cleaned albums before putting them in and so on. etc. Well it's been two years and now it won't work. You push a button and it spins, and as soon as the arm moves toward the vinyl, it stops as if it's caught on something. The strap is fine, everything looks great, it just doesn't play. I can spin it by hand and the sound comes out of the speakers, so I'm assuming it's some kind of switch that just before it hits the platter and stops the disc. The first thing I do, of course, is check the date of entry. Purchase It's up to two years, and more than a year - their warranty. I contacted Sony and they offered me almost ridiculous options: pay for their service department. Fix it god knows what it costs OR do their "exchange program" which is utterly absurd because not only do they give me a REPAIRED turntable in return they make me pay $69 for it. HOW MUCH I PAID FOR IT! Yes, I'll trade my broken turntable for one that's not even new, PLUS I'll pay you the same as I paid for the original NEW one. Good luck if you plan to use this player for more than 2 years. The needle will survive the block.