As to getting it repaired I had a little 8" portable AC/DC color TV I really liked. One day I switched it on and it switched right back off. Every time I hit the power it would start then switch right back off in under a second. I called a local TV repair shop and they wanted $100 just to look at it. Now it's in a closet until I get around to bringing it to the hazerdous waste recycling center.
I know it's not exactly the same but I'd just buy a new one.
My late father was a genius in fixing electronics. When he was still alive nobody in my neighbourhood had problems like this, he would fix them for the price of a coffee cup or even free. Too bad I don't share his talent.
Some of his fixes created small legends locally, as one time when he was asked to fix a TV, he showed up with a soldering iron and after analysing the circuit board by pressing it with his wetted finger as he usually did, he asked for a safety pin and fixed the tv using that (he knew they wouldn't have electric wire around). Another case was a radio that someone dropped to the sea. A company electrician had spent two weeks trying to fix it without success, my father got it working in 15 minutes.
He was such a weird guy, on the other hand a drunk bastard and also a wizard in fixing anything. Cars, furniture, tools, electronics - I never saw him fail once.
Anywhoo, if you know a local electronics guy maybe he could take a look and fix it for peanuts. Often these problems are very easy to fix for people who know their stuff.