[Tfug] OT: HDTV

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, Claude,

> > Yeah, and I was specifically asking about "LCD TV's" and the
> > potential problems that *seem* inherent in that sort of design
> > (e.g., all the power/HV required for the backlights)
> 
> TFUG (or any forum) is only going to be able to give you anecdotal
> evidence.  Pick up an issue of Consumer Reports and see what they have
> to say.  They do reviews of tv sets every few months and always
> discuss reliability.  From their website:

The problem I have found with "mainstream publications" is they
talk to too many "general" users.  For example, when researching
DTV converter boxes, I looked at many reviews from different
reviewERs.  They all gave "squishy" comments that mean very
little:  "good picture", "better picture", "less good sound", etc.

Realistically, what you want to know is how clean the front
end is, how much "sensitivity", how *buggy* the firmware is
(I played with two converter boxes in stores and was able to
uncover obvious firmware bugs without even *trying* to do so!),
etc.

OTOH, I talked with many friends/associates and got comments
like "zero debounce on the remote", "crappy S/N in the audio",
etc.  *These* comments are far more enlightening than the
bland, generic comments that "reviewers" tend to give.  They
represent issues that you will eventually discover AFTER you
have made the purchase (and are *stuck* with the product).

For example, prior to purchasing my last TV (20+ years ago),
I made the same sort of canvas of friends/associates.  What I
learned was: "the dumbo ears snap off easily", "its a *bitch*
to carry", "mute is not an independant function".  Based on
those comments, I figured the first two were easy to workaround
and I could live with the third.  I was very pleased with the
19 years of service it gave me!  :>

OTOH, when I purchased my Dragons, I had no one to consult besides
the "mainstream reviewers".  None of them was aware of the bugs in
the decks' firmware.  :<  Would it have changed my purchase
decision had I known about it a priori?  <shrug>

> 
> 	There's mounting evidence that LCD TVs have been highly
> 	reliable products requiring few repairs during the first
> 	three years of use.

But the 2-3 year mark is where I just start to see most of the
LCD monitor failures.  :<  And, this doesn't tell me anything about
how people are *using* the devices (i.e., "on for X hours each day").
It's just more "fluff" that doesn't make me feel real good about
dropping a grand -- only to find myself one of many folks complaining
that they only got 4 years of life out of their <mumbletronic> LCD
TV.

Witness the mess with the Gateway plasma displays a few years ago.
I note that the guy running Visio had previously developed some
display products for Gateway...  (hmmmm... *which* products?)

> 	<snip>
> 
> 	Consider reliability. Our user surveys have found few repair
> 	problems during the first three years of use for LCD sets from
> 	JVC, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and
> 	Toshiba. Dell and Hitachi LCDs have been more
> 	repair-prone. Olevia and Sanyo look promising, but we don't
> 	have sufficient data to include these brands in our charts.
> 
> http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/televisions/hdtv/lcd-tvs/reports/how-to-choose/index.htm

I'll chase the link and see what else they have to say.  Maybe
idling on this purchase -- at this time -- is the most prudent
approach.

Thanks!
--don