The Notorious PC3LE Blinking Light Freeze/Crash

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i bought a used PC3LE6 on eBay which arrived in excellent cosmetic condition, however shortly after booting up, as i was simply going through the preset programs/voices in Program Mode, all the front panel lights began blinking intermittently and all functions became completely frozen. i was able to escape the freeze up only after re-booting a couple times.

Following this rather disquieting incident, i was able to successfully update the old OS to the latest one available / v.2.26, and have not yet experienced a recurrence of this malfunction. subsequently, however, i have researched this model-specific issue on the internet, and i have discovered numerous accounts from users who have experienced the same exact issue and had it recur even after their PC3LE6 had supposedly been repaired.

having bought the unit used, i fear that, as it is no longer under warranty, the costs of repair and two-way shipping will most probably be prohibitive.

i still have a 10 day time window during which i can return the unit (at my considerable expense) for a refund of the purchase price, which, regrettably, appears to be my best option, unless i am convinced that there is, at least, a good chance that the OS update has solved the problem permanently,

my main question is this: has anyone who has experienced this problem found that, after updating the OS, the problem was permanently eliminated?

i would be most grateful for any info anyone could provide!
thanks & best wishes,
g.smith
 

SeaGtGruff

I meant to play that note!
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I have no experience with Kurzweil products, so my reply is from a general perspective.

First of all, I watched a video of a guy demonstrating the PC3LE6 and it sounded great, so I can understand why you'd want one, and why you're willing to consider holding onto it after your experiences with it. However, I don't know how much you paid for it, but the lowest price I saw (for a refurbished item) was $999.99-- so unless (a) you're rich and a thousand dollars is just "pocket change" that can be spent on a "consumable" (non-lasting) item without breaking a sweat, or (b) you've got another keyboard that can take the place of the PC3LE6 while it's out of commission or in a repair shop, I'd suggest that you return it for a refund. If you're reluctant to go that route-- and the fact that you're asking this forum for advice rather than just immediately returning it suggests that you are-- then I'd suggest giving it a thorough and intensive workout during the next few days before your 10-day window expires, so you can still return it if you continue to experience problems with it. Just don't wait until the last day of your 10-day window to return it, in case of unforeseen circumstances that interfere with your ability to get it packaged up and shipped off before the window closes.

Bottom line: If you have any doubts, it's probably better to be safe than sorry.
 

happyrat1

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Reports are mixed about the "blinking lights of death" on the PC3LE but if you want to hear from some satisfied LE owners I'd advise checking out these two forums where all the Kurzweil people hang out.

http://www.cunka.com/forum//index.php

http://www.ksetlist.com/

You'll definitely get some straight answers there.

Personally I own a PC3K so I can't comment directly.

Gary
 
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thanks, so much, everyone for your suggestions…sage advice, indeed SeaGTGruff! i have, in fact, determined to return the unit for a refund.
unfortunately i am now quite distrustful of this model…just too too many reports of this issue! it's a shame, really…sounds so good, you really want it to work…oh well. i'll probably consider the PC3K6 now, as my research has, thus far, revealed no common issues.
ps. happyrat1: i've posted on ksetlist, and in both, of two, replies, the advice was clear: Hardware Issue - RETURN IT!
 

happyrat1

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Probably a wise decision.

You can count me as another satisfied PC3K customer. I've owned mine about a year now and not so much as a single system crash. Everything pretty much behaves as expected.

Forget the Buggy Soundtower Editor though. If it weren't free I wouldn't even have the garbage installed on my system. The good thing, though, is that it forces you to learn to properly program the keyboard via the LCD Menus and Control Buttons instead ;)

And Kurzweil has some amazing tutorials on PC3 series programming up on their website as well as on Youtube.

Here's hoping you don't have too much hassle returning the LE.

Gary
 

SeaGtGruff

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Based on the product comparison, it sounds like the PC3K line is better than the PC3LE line, anyway-- the LE may have better stats in one or two places, but the K has more polyphony, more ROM programs, sample memory, etc. etc. Of course, the K is also much more expensive than the LE...

Edit: PS-- It's too bad the Soundtower editor is buggy, because I was looking at that web site and thought it looked pretty cool. :(
 

happyrat1

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List price is very high on the K indeed, but if you shop around you can find the occasional bargain. I managed to pick mine up as a floor demo from an online music shop with a full warranty for $1100 below list price.

A few things to keep in mind.

1) This model has been around for four years already

2) Kurzweils are not as popular in North America as they are in Latin America and Europe for some strange reason.

3) If you're lucky enough to find a dealer who has one in stock he may be itching to unload it since it's a big ticket item hogging up a lot of floor space.

When I was shopping around for mine I was originally looking at the PC3LE8 for about $1800 CDN but when I scored the PC3K8 for $600 more I jumped on it like a starving man on a steak :D :D :D

Gary...
 

happyrat1

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This is where I bought mine.

http://www.axemusic.com/store/produ...Synthesizer-Workstation-with-88-Keys-and-USB/

Looks like they've already dropped the price on the one they stocked to replace the one I bought last year.

If you have no problems ordering from Canada you might be able to negotiate an even better price if that one's been sitting on the showroom floor for a year now.

You save another 7 or 8% on the dollar exchange right now too.

CDN$ = $0.93 USD right now.

;)

Gary
 

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