Which HDTVs Are The Most Reliable?Gizmodo UK

Which HDTVs Are The Most Reliable?Gizmodo UK
That was the goal of the latest report by big US consumer product testing outfit, Consumer Reports.

And the winners are: LCD and plasma displays, with the underdog rear projection TVs (RPTVs) dragging home third. The report found that LCD and plasma TVs require few repairs in the first three years of use compared to RPTVs.

Unlike many surveys, this one was big, looking at a total of 93,000 TVs bought between 2004 and 2007. On average, LCD and plasmas had a 3% repair rate, but RPTVs had a whopping 18% repair rate. According to Consumer Reports:

Among LCDs, Dell (which recently stopped selling its own brand of TVs) and Hitachi were among the less reliable brands, as were Philips plasma TVs. Aside from Panasonic, other brands with low repair rates include Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Toshiba and JVC in LCDs. For plasma sets, Panasonic, Pioneer and Samsung also had low repair rates.

Among the tiny percentage of sets with problems, most repairs were free, presumably because they were covered by the manufacturer's standard warranty.

For rear-projection TV sets, the Consumer Reports looked at the frequency-of-repair charts covering microdisplay sets using DLP and LCD rear-projection technologies. Toshiba and RCA DLP sets stood out as the most repair-prone. Hitachi LCD-based sets were more repair-prone than Sony and Panasonic sets of this type.

The moral though, according to Consumer Reports, is that if you are buying a branded LCD or plasma TV, do not be conned into buying an expensive extended warranty since you probably won't need it.-Martin Lynch

HDTV LCD TV plasma

Author: (author unknown)
Read more...