Plasmas - reliability, life expectancy

[prusling]

I'm thinking of taking the plunge soon (probably a Panasonic).

I realise that its early days yet, but does anyone have views on likely reliability. Warranties after the first year seem to cost a fortune, which doesn't bode well...

What is the life expectancy of the technology used?

Thanks, Peter

 

[jmack]

i had 2 bad philips
but the toshiba i have now is great and it come with a 2 year warranty
some warranties are different though some in home some return to base.
i did not buy extra warranty as the house insurance covers damage.
and no warranty that i know covers screen burn
and in 2 years i will hopefully be upgrading
alot of the worry is taking away if you know you got a good dealer?
i think the life expectancy is down too screen brightness they vary from 10,000 to 30,000 hours before half brighness,
but you dont have it set to full brightness anyway or i dont.
so i think it should be longer.
each genaration of screens is getting better and better so get the latest you can afford,

 

[snyphr]

Plasma life expectancy is about 12-15 years!!

Apart from pixel burnout*. Just think of it as a TV, it will loose the brightness over the years but you'll not notice for a while (min. 5 years) unless your using the set for 15-18 hours a day (min. 3 years).

As far as extended warranty, on a plasma, is concerned, I suggest that you give the insurance companies a call and see exactly what they do and don't cover. I don't think you get the new for old scheme on them, it's just the parts and labour and they charge around £500 for that!

*Pixel burnout tollerance = 8 pixels anywhere on the screen, even out of the box is tolerated by the manufacturer. Sore subject for me.....