I bought a 24" Sony flat-screen TV for my bedroom in 2002. It has had very light use as a television for the past four or five months (I acquired TV reception only recently, via an outdoor antenna), and before that had very light, only occasional use with DVDs.

The other day I tried to turn it on with the remote as usual, but nothing happened. A red light came on at the TV button on the remote every time I did something, but that's all. So I turned on the TV at the set. When I wasn't able to change the channel using the remote, I opened the front panel on the set and tried using those buttons. Nothing happened.

I walked away from the set and all of a sudden the volume shot up to the maximum. I ran back and turned it off. A few minutes later I turned it back on and tried reducing the volume using one of the buttons under the front panel. It worked--as long as I kept my finger on the button. But when I removed it, the volume shot back up to the top again.

I unplugged the set for a day while we had some thunderstorms. I just plugged it back in, hoping to find it back to normal, but no such luck. It's still possessed.

Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone? Does it pay to get a TV like that repaired these days, or should I consider it a lost cause?

Thanks for your help!

Susan