Consumers Fried Over Fizzled TVs
Flat-screen TVs' longevity leaves a lot to be desired
10/14/2011 | By Mark Huffman
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ConsumerAffairs.com
| ElectronicsIs the flat-screen TV a disposable product? More and more consumers have come to the conclusion that it is.
“I bought a plasma LG TV from Best Buy for $1300 in 2007,” John, from Sheffield Lake, Ohio, told ConsumerAffairs.com. “Also bought an extended service plan for four years at a cost of $250. Less than two years later, Best Buy replaced the TV after the picture tube went out. Said it was cheaper than fixing it. Imagine my surprise when the new TV would not turn on or show any signs of life today, nine months after the extended warranty ran out.
John said he complained to the manager at the Best Buy store and got an amazingly candid response.
“He explained that the TVs are made on a foreign assembly line and put together with cheap parts, so I should not expect longevity from my purchase,” John said.
Well, it's one thing to toss a $40 toaster oven after three years, but a $1,000 to $2,000 TV is a different story. Consumers just expect them to last a little longer than three years. After all, the old tube-type TVs could last decades.
One technician told us last month that flat screen TVs are “designed” to last forever but are not manufactured that way. Dave Maltz, who owns Dave's TV Repair in Grants Pass, Ore., hears many of the same complaints and is very familiar with the problem.
For starters, Maltz, who has been repairing TV sets for 17 years, isn't a big fan of how most of these sets are designed.
“If you took apart one of these things, you would be amazed at how many components they're trying to compress into a six inch space,” he said.
And because they are so many, they are extremely small, making it hard – and expensive – to work on these sets. Maltz has produced a number of YouTube videos about repairing flat screen TVs, including the one below in which he conducted a poll on how long flat-screen TVs last. Six years was as long as anyone owned a trouble-free set.
Up in smoke
Not only can flat-screen TVs burn through a lot of money, they can burn your house down. Just this week, Sony recalled 1.6 million Bravia TVs because they're a fire hazard. Samsung TVs are also noted for their propensity to go up in smoke, as Sarah of Temple, Texas, told us earlier this year:
"I was watching on my Samsung DLP television and a large amount of foul smelling smoke came out of its back. This television is a fire hazard," she said.
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How about you? What's your experience been? Speak up!
Wayne Harris (Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:58:56 +0000): Mama wants one but Daddy says no way.
Carrol Maxwell (Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:15:42 +0000): Lamp engine went out on our 73" 2007 Mitsubishi DLP tv; thank God Mitsubishi paid for the part, which costs $800. We have learned since buying this monster, the lamp goes out every 2 yrs; it cost at least $179. Sure enough, exactly 2 yrs. after buying, we had to replace the lamp. (we still had to pay $311.65 for taxes & installation for the lamp engine). It goes to the garbage man upon the next problem and I'll never buy another that has a lamp of any kind.
Judy Rouse (Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:24:19 +0000): I don't think the lamp problem is exclusive to Mitsubishi TVs. Our son had another brand and experienced the same expensive lamp repair problem repeatedly.
Robert W Blackton Sr. (Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:20:51 +0000): My SONY makes an Arcing sound every so often ,. Plays fine. Who do you call >>? RWB
Faye-Linda Quimby McGovern (Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:30:05 +0000): ghost busters, I guess.
Sandy Edelstein (Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:19:47 +0000): Glad I'm still watching t.v. on my 26", 28 yr old Sanyo - PERFECT!
Edwin Walker (Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:50:25 +0000): Out of curiousity, I decided to check the age of my 40 inch Samsung LCD TV. I still have the receipt dated 1/31/2006, so its coming up on 6 years. Its never had a problem. I've been looking at new models, there are much more capable and larger models selling for less than this one cost me, and I was kind of expecting it to quit in the next year.
LCD's like mine have a fluorescent back light that is high powered, and, like any fluorescent fixture will dim over the years. The power supply for it is stressed very hard, so I'm happy with the life.
When I get a new one, it will have backlet, not edgelit LED's for lighting. LED's are much longer lived than fluorescent lights, but the power supply will again be a weak point. They are also made much more cheaply now than 6 years ago.
Susan Victoria Ciconte (Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:31:17 +0000): I guess that settles my interest in buying a small flat screen TV. I've done without a TV for nearly 20 years. I'm sure I can hold out even longer.