Television and Home Theater

I have a Panasonic Viera, HDTV, 42in, bought in Oct 2004. The TV won't turn on and there is no red 'ready' light.   Its 220V, 385W plasma tv using a step down transformer from 220 to 110 volt for us in the US.  I am using a plug adapter to covert the plug.

Was just given an Akai PT5492S 54" 4:3 projection tv.  It did not come with a remote or a manual.  Does anyone know how to get it to work.  Plugged it in and all it did was hum.  No picture......any suggestions?  Where do I start.  Does someone need to come out and program it?

I recently had to replace the lamp in my Samsung DLP TV after 3 years.  Worked great for 1 month.  Today while watching TV the screen went blank.  The lamp no longer lights when I turn on the TV.  Does anyone know how I can tell if I got a defective lamp or has the ballast gone bad?