[cypher007]

as it says. my reason for asking is ive not had experience of JVC, usually i but panasonic stuff.

[spocktra]

Sony .

[Astaroth]

I think this is a question that no one can really answer as it is so much on personal experience.

I have had 3 Panasonic TVs (and 2 DVDs) and never had anything go wrong and the performance has been great.

My father-in-law has bought a Sony (which I think are always over priced) and is currently on set 4 in less than 2 years due to continuous faults.

Never had a JVC TV but my old hi-fi by them lasted 10 years before anything went wrong (and then it was just the backlight on the LCD screen)

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by spocktra

Sony .

Probably true 30 to 40 years ago, but not today. These days Sony are no better and no worse than most other established brands, but the myth of Sony superiority still continues in some circles.

[Himji]

Plus it always changes. I've come to the opinion that buy cheap and expect it to last 5 years as opposed to buy top of the range and still expect it to last 5 years

[spocktra]

I think it is a bit of a lottery.A lot like owning a car.I have had japanese cars which have broken down.Dont laugh but i now own a skoda and[touch wood] not a problem in two years.I guess with any tv you need a good bit of luck but i do feel that sony have the best build quality which can only help reilability.

[DRGL]

Sony-set number 9 in 12 months is on it's way!!

[Nick_UK]

The least reliable car I ever owned was a Mitsubishi. A work colleague had the same model (they were company cars), and I did a little more mileage than he. Whatever went wrong with my car, went wrong with his a couple of weeks later. It even got to the stage where I was warning him what would go wrong next.

Japanese goods have a reputation for reliability, but, believe me, they are just as capable of producing a "Friday afternoon special" as anyone else

[C.Wolf]

Everything sony ive had over the past 10 years has gone wrong. I personally find toshiba to be the most reliable brand ive owned, this view is also shared by many friends and colleagues.

Must admit the 4 Tosh sets, 1 video and DVD player I've owned have never broken down apart from a minor fault on the portable I got as a birthday present 19 years ago. The volume pot (yes, remember those?) broke down and had to be replaced. The 2939 is now 10 years old, has never missed a beat and still looking great, my parents love it. my last set, a 32WD98 is 5 years and has had no problems. My present one is just about a year old now so a bit early yet to talk about that one. The video player, is now 9 years old and has never needed anything other than the heads cleaning and the SD3109 is 5 years old and still going as far as I know.

Sony...I cannot comment on their current AV kit but my sister has a 10 year old 21" which is used at least 10 hours a day and that's never gone wrong. She also bought a Sony vdieo at the same time and it had a head swap out 2 years back, but it was very heavily used so I'd say that was pretty inpressive for a video recorder. My dad got an old 22" trinitron about 25 years ago and that is now doing fine service in an old people's home - it has never needed any work at all. The stereo gear that various members of my family have bought is all still going strong and none of it has ever needed work, so I'd say it all comes down to luck to a certain extent. I'd say any company is capable of producing 'Friday afternoon specials'. Occasionally though it seems like the specials occurred in any day ending an a 'Y'!

[Cool-hand]

I, now always buy Honda/Jap cars! My problem is I keep crashing!! 6 cars in as many years!!

Well i got a Orion tv for my 21st birthday i,am now 36 and it gave up just before Chrimbo,so i got a Durabrand tv/dvd from Santa had to take it back today to get a replacement

[sh18]

ive got a 10 yearish old 21" Akura (dont laugh!) and its served well for many years, but sadly the fact that the there is only one scart socket (slowly dying) and the speaker is on its last legs made me order the Toshiba 23NNB a week ago, wanted a cheap 28" so i went for this, still havnt had it delivered though but ill let you know what its like when i do.

[Cool-hand]

That's ok, you can spare us!!!!

ch

[bonzobanana]

In the Which Reliability survey of 2002 if I remember rightly it was Toshiba and Thomson that were most reliable for widescreen televisions. Toshiba were also at the top for 4:3 televisions but Thomson weren't as reliable for those. Sharp were at the bottom. Philips and sony were in the middle. Its all relative to how reliable specific models are though and how popular they are. A huge percentage of tvs are all made by Vestel in turkey anyway so they shouldn't be that different for reliability.

Originally Posted by Himji

Plus it always changes. I've come to the opinion that buy cheap and expect it to last 5 years as opposed to buy top of the range and still expect it to last 5 years

I have found this to be a very good piece of advice over the years.

The "You get what you pay for" attitude is overrated in my opinion, I have bought Bush, Matsui, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba and a few more and the cheaper ones have lasted as long as any other..

Just my point of view for what is worth.

[drew]

Originally Posted by gaffer51

I have found this to be a very good piece of advice over the years.

The "You get what you pay for" attitude is overrated in my opinion, I have bought Bush, Matsui, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba and a few more and the cheaper ones have lasted as long as any other..

Just my point of view for what is worth.

Yes, but during the lifetime of your purchase the audio and picture quality of a Bush TV is not going to be the same as a quality brand. It's the same with Hi-Fi. You pay more, a lot more sometimes, for a small improvement in output quality. My wife can't hear (Hi-Fi) or see/hear (TV) any difference between various grades of equipment. I can; though I'm not sure this is a good thing as I'd rather be happy with what I can reasonably afford to buy!

[James M]

Well I was going to say Sony but people have different experiences I suppose.

In the last three years I've had the following Phillips products fail, 28" TV, surround sound amp, DVD recorder and a DVD. Won't buy Phillips again

A while back I was speaking to a guy who worked for Sony. A few years ago they apparently took one of their own sets off the production line, went out and bought a Panasonic and a cheaper brand (Goodmans I think). Then they tested them to destruction. The cheap one failed first, the Panasonic outlasted the pair of them.

Sony have a reputation for reliability that is ill-deserved, as the PS2 proves with its frequent "disc read error" problems (that have still not been solved with the V12 "PStwo" models).
Innovation, yes, they're brilliant. Trinitron tubes, MiniDisc, UMD, Blu-Ray, the list goes on. Just don't ask Sony to churn out a couple of million of them!

TV service(9 years)............panasonic is the most reliable.