Re: Who manufactures dependable tv's today?


ray wrote:
Used to be when you wanted to buy a good reliable tv you either bought
a Zenith or an RCA, it would last 15 years or better without any
trouble. If you search the internet looking for a good tv manufacturer,
the info is not to be found, all you can find is the trouble consumers
have with a modle here and there (seems like most all of them). It
would seem that along with the junk manufacturers are putting out their
customer support is also non exsistant. My own expeariance over the
past 10 years or so with tv's has been anything but plesant. Panasonic
3 years, Sony 2 1/2 years, Proscan 4 years, now an Advent 2 years.
These tv's ranged in price from $250 (panasonic) to $1500 (proscan), a
total of about $3000 for tv sets or about $300 per year over the past
10 years. It almost seems as if they are programed to burn out in a
short time, why can't they build them as reliable as they were built
back in the 60's and 70's? Is it to get us to go back and buy another?
Well I would not buy any of the above brands again, why should I, they
don't last so if this is the theory they are useing it is not working.
Or is it? It seems these companies all buy the components from a few
sources, put them together then put thier company name on it. So is the
problem the company that manufactures the tv's or is the problem with
the source of the componenets? You would think that with todays
technoligy things would be more reliable, but it appears we have taken
a step backwards in the reliablity department. Big name brands like
RCA, Sony, and others are running on their old reputaion of being long
lasting reliable sets. Now that the Advent has died I have to go shop
for another new tv, problem is which brand? At this point I am
considering going to walmart and not spending over $200 for a tv that
may only last a couple of years, at least this will work out to only
$100 a year. Anyone know of a manufacturer that makes reliable tv's
that last and have good customer support?

It seems to me I recall Consumer reports publishing a chart anytime
they run a tv test which has reliability ratings by brand. They're
always publishing special issues in addtion to their regular ones, so
check out the newstand or your local library's periodicals section.

I think also that manufacturers go through periods where they have
problems, maybe when they shift production from one plant or country to
another. Right now, my primary TV is a Sanyo 32-in 4:3 HDTV (model
HT32744) that I bought at Wal-Mart for a very reasonable $600 (at the
time, it was about the cheapest TV out there with a built in ATSC
tuner). Year and a half later it's still going strong. That's not
very long, because I feel that a TV should last a minimum of 10 years,
but I have had great luck with Sanyo products over the years so I think
this will be a good set.

My bedroom TV is a 19 inch Magnavox 4:3 (model HD1926C422) that was
given to me as a graduation gift in 1994. I took it to college and it
has seen HEAVY, almost abusive use during it's entire 12 year life.
I'm still amazed at how good a picture it has with the $30 DVD player I
put on it. My dad bought the 27 inch version of the same Magnavox and
it's still going strong as his primary TV. So, I would say that if you
found a mid 90's Magnavox at a garage sale for $20 it would be a good
choice. Can't say anything about their current production.

If you aren't interested in the latest and greatest I say buy the
cheapest set you can find. If it lasts, great, if it don't, no big
deal.

-beaumon

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