Average HDTV Today Made to Last Only a Few Years

[techtre2003]

I definitely would agree they "don't make stuff like they used to". But at the same time I don't know that I believe things are designed to break either. I just think we've moved from a society that values craftsmanship and quality to a society of cheap and disposable. These companies are just cranking out "newer and better" things as fast as they can for as cheap as possible and quality has just gone by the wayside.

 

[rosen380]

And being smaller, the internal components probably naturally fail faster than larger ones [heat build-up, small things just generally being more frail than larger things, etc].

But here is the other thing. Check out what TVs cost in the past:
http/www.tvhistory.tv/tv-prices.htm

That 16" 1948 Freed-Eiseman cost $795. The CPI in 1948 was 24.1 vs 229.4 now; so spending $795 in 1948 on a high-end 16" TV, is something like $7500 on a TV today. I put a 37" Dynex in my bedroom for $229, which is roughly equivalent to $24 in 1948.

That means for the equivalent of what you spend on a typical TV these days, you couldn't get ANYTHING AT ALL, 50+ years ago.

If instead of paying $1300 for a 54" LED-backlit TV, that'll probably last 3-4 years on average, you could pay $10k for one that had a 25 year full replacement warranty, which would you pick? I'd prefer the former which doesn't require me to layout a huge amount of money and allows me to essentially upgrade over the years for free...

 

[Onus]

This is deliberate, but I believe will change, as people realize that junk is not truly affordable if it has to be continually replaced.
In the mean time, look for (and expect to pay for) the longest warranties possible, to have any hope of lasting quality.

 

[ruszip1]

Thinking of this, anyone know why a KDL-V32XBR1 would have problems hooked to a computer with a dvi to hdmi and not be hdcp capable? I have had this for 7 years, other that that, it still works like a champ.

 

[Northwestern]

33'' Sanyo CRT = 13+ Years
9'' CompuServ (I think) CRT = 23+ Years
52'' (Unnamed) CRT = 28+ Years
Dell CRT = 8+ Years
ViewSonic Computer LCD = 6+ Years
Modern Flatscreen LCD = ~4 Years

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

 

[Netherscourge]

CRT's can last a long time.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]hairystuff[/nom]heres an example of the tvs that have failed in my families households:LG 60" (PDP) - failed after 13 months - PDP failed - repaired under extended warrentyLG 50" (PDP) - failed after 3 years - PDP Failed - dead and dumpedLG 47" (PDP) - failed after 4 months - PSU Failed - reapaired under warrenty2x Tevion (PDP)(LG) 42" - failed after 3 weeks (2 different households) - PSU Failed - repaired under warrentyTevion 47" (LCD)(Samsung) - failed after 7 years - PSU Failed - self repaired by me.I've got 2 tube tvs one a sanyo 28" which has run for 18 years and now the kids use it for their video games and a sony 32" which has run for 15 years which the kids also use for gaming.As for faults on PDP tvs I've seen mainly panels fail and go into dead-short state or the psu fail or the BGA chips just fail or go dry jointed, with LCD tvs its usually the PSU or BGA chips going faulty or dry jointed, I partly blame the solder used for the connections as the non-lead based stuff goes brittle and fails, but you'd think in this solid-state era that stuff would be much more reliable but sadly it's not the case.[/citation]
Heres a list of the TVs that have failed in my families history.
None.


LG 42" Scarlett - Going strong after 5 years of higher than average use.

 

[g00fysmiley]

I've gotten 2 free lcd's thus far from peopel who were going to throw them out. in both cases it hs been blown capacators on the psu or main boards, capacators are cheap and easy to fix and in most cases when i fix them for other people it is usually just blown caps due to people not using surge protectors, I'd be happier reading an article where a large numebr of tv's were followed not jsut a tv repairmand who liekly sees ... go figure... alot of broken tv's

 

[leo2kp]

My Panasonic plasma has two empty fan ports on the top corners of the TV. I bet adding those two fans would help.

 

[ram1009]

Some of you people are just Galactically naive.

 

[Guest]

I still dont have a HDTV cause I'm still watching on my CRT, which was built in 1998

 

[SkateZilla]

which is why i still have my Sony Wega HDTV,

A. its a CRT thats been magnetically tuned for shaping, looks just as good as most LCDs today.

B. it did have 2 chips fail, Sony repair shop wanted $200 to fix, i bought the chips and sockets online for $5+ Shipping from China, and removed the bad chips, soldered in the Sockets to allow future repairs to be quick, pushed in the new chips, powered up the TV like it was brand new.

C. the thing is 225+lbs, so nobody can break into my house and just walk out with it.

 

[Guest]

i dont see the basis of this article.. generalized "they dont make things like they used to" and the ramblings of a "random repair tech" ?

i have a relative who worked as a repair technician for over 30 years who although will agree with things being made to a lesser degree of quality will not state that a television is only going to last you a few years. he has also replaced the lcd panels in televisions as well. sure if you buy a $700 television it might not be worthwhile but if you spend $3500 on a top of the line television you might be willing to repair the television.

my sony television is about 5 years old and still going strong. i swear the thing gets at least 8 hours of use per day from the family. every single day of the week. i have another lcd panel monitor going on 9 years this year with heavy use as well.

another bogus article from toms.....

 

[Noworldorder]

BALDERDASH! This "article" is based on an "interveiw" with a person from a "discount" TV seller?????
Well, DISCOUNTED TVs DON'T last as long!
There is not one quantifiable statistic, no empirical evidence stated.
There are 13 LCDs at my work that each run 18 hours a day, every day, and most have never broken - despite being bottom of the line quality.
Most importantly, every manufacturer and A/V group is on record that the outrageous government imposed "efficiency" standards will result in shorter-lived units.

 

[Guest]

Does this really surprise anyone?

We've all known for years now that anything electronic that has been made since the early to mid 00's is a piece of poo. RoHS compliance is a major factor (solder bridges failing, having to reflow the solder to repair), crappy parts (anyone remember the HP/Dell/Apple issues around 2005?, Imac G5's were burning out after 6 months of use) plus as electronics get smaller, they burn out faster, it's as simple as that (take a look at NAND flash write cycle for an example). No company has incentive to make longer lasting goods. This isnt the 1950's anymore, they build it so it will last 1-5 years, then expect the user to buy a new product when it wears out. Simple as that, and the more people except this BS service life, the more companies will abuse it.

1. There really needs be laws in place that force companies to guarantee their products for 5-10 years, at the minimum.

2. RoHS (leadless solder) needs to be banded. Lead is what makes the solder flexible.

 

[rosen380]

"1. There really needs be laws in place that force companies to guarantee their products for 5-10 years, at the minimum. "

And who is going to pay for the extra costs... you are, so the option is to pay a lot more for your TV and have it longer, get more frequent 'updates' by tossing the set when it dies after 3-4 years.

Best Buys near me will take nearly any electronic device for free and recycle them, so if you take advantage of such things, the environmental impact will atleast be kept somewhat towards the minimum...

 

[syrious1]

good excuse to buy an extended warranty on LED/LCD, in all likelyhood by the time your TV goes out, they will no longer offer that model.

 

[Guest]

Working in the business of repairing electronics. I can say that a TV has a expected life of 3-5 years, with every year after 3 becoming more likely to have a failure. Laptops from my experience have a life expectancy of 2-3 years, with hard drives and AC-Adapters being the most common to fail. HP, Acer, and Gateway had the highest failure rates that I saw verse what was sold. Samsung surprisingly had a very small failure rate, followed by ASUS, and finally Toshiba. We didn't handle many Apple laptop products as they were not purchased frequently. However, there was a high failure rate on Apple iTouch products and nano's, mostly seen in 3rd gen products. It may have been related to user error in most cases.

 

[tipoo]

There's a Sony Trinitron from the 1980's that still lives in my parents garage. CRTs were tanks. Our Sony LCD HDTV from 2006 is still doing all right though, and they said we should have expected a bulb replacement but ours hasn't blown yet. Though if the bulb goes, to be honest I would considering just getting another TV instead of a new bulb, since it does lack modern ports, hopefully there will be more advanced smart TVs by then.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Highest failure point: Power supply, followed closely by panel, followed third by solder joint failure