New LCD television how reliable

"Invisible Man" wrote in message
...


I tend to rely on the warranty and the Sale of Goods legislation. A TV
should last 5 years so if it fails you have some recourse against the
retailer. I also pay on my own credit card to get protection in case the
retailer goes bust.

I recently got a new dish washer from GM card because the free warranty I
got from Empire direct was useless when the WD broke. I could probably have
got it fixed but the wife hated it anyway and GM card just refunded the cost
without any hassle.

Most electronic stuff is obsolete long before it wears out.

Except stuff with water in it. 8-(

On 30/07/2010 13:12, [email protected] wrote:


"Invisible Man" wrote in message
...


I tend to rely on the warranty and the Sale of Goods legislation. A TV
should last 5 years so if it fails you have some recourse against the
retailer. I also pay on my own credit card to get protection in case
the retailer goes bust.

I recently got a new dish washer from GM card because the free warranty
I got from Empire direct was useless when the WD broke. I could probably
have got it fixed but the wife hated it anyway and GM card just refunded
the cost without any hassle.

Most electronic stuff is obsolete long before it wears out.

Except stuff with water in it. 8-(

I am old enough that I still think of things that work with water as
electrical rather than electronic even though they have electronics
these days. With all the clever countdowns and displays it never ceases
to amaze me that so few washing machines have a facility to sound a
warning when the cycle is complete. I tend to set the cooker timer for
the approx time our Bosch says it will take. Quicker the stuff is out
the less ironing.

On 30/07/2010 13:12, [email protected] wrote:


"Invisible Man" wrote in message
...


I tend to rely on the warranty and the Sale of Goods legislation. A TV
should last 5 years so if it fails you have some recourse against the
retailer. I also pay on my own credit card to get protection in case
the retailer goes bust.

I recently got a new dish washer from GM card because the free warranty
I got from Empire direct was useless when the WD broke. I could probably
have got it fixed but the wife hated it anyway and GM card just refunded
the cost without any hassle.

Most electronic stuff is obsolete long before it wears out.

Except stuff with water in it. 8-(

I am old enough that I still think of things that work with water as
electrical rather than electronic even though they have electronics
these days. With all the clever countdowns and displays it never ceases
to amaze me that so few washing machines have a facility to sound a
warning when the cycle is complete. I tend to set the cooker timer for
the approx time our Bosch says it will take. Quicker the stuff is out
the less ironing.

On 30/07/2010 13:39, Java Jive wrote:
Over the years, consumer advice has consistently been against paying
for such extended warranties. They are a rip-off. In fact, if you
think about, there is a sense in which all insurance is a rip-off.

The best form of insurance is to have enough money earning interest to
replace whatever it is that is being insured. That is unlikely to be
possible with your life, your house, or your legally required car
insurance, but for anything else, don't bother with it.

You pay money out for something that you hope and may actually never
happen, and it's dead money - it's gone and most likely will never
be of use to you. However, if you took that same money and put it
into a suitable account, it would be earning you interest and could
still go to replace a faulty item in the unlikely event of it being
required, and otherwise will be of such use as you wish.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:10:10 +0100, "john hamilton"
wrote:

So is it really
worth paying extra for a five year guarantee?

Whenever someone tries to sell me a warranty or insurance I say I worked
for an insurance company for 36 years and don't believe in it. Car
insurance, house and contents insurance and travel insurance I do have.

On 30/07/2010 13:39, Java Jive wrote:
Over the years, consumer advice has consistently been against paying
for such extended warranties. They are a rip-off. In fact, if you
think about, there is a sense in which all insurance is a rip-off.

The best form of insurance is to have enough money earning interest to
replace whatever it is that is being insured. That is unlikely to be
possible with your life, your house, or your legally required car
insurance, but for anything else, don't bother with it.

You pay money out for something that you hope and may actually never
happen, and it's dead money - it's gone and most likely will never
be of use to you. However, if you took that same money and put it
into a suitable account, it would be earning you interest and could
still go to replace a faulty item in the unlikely event of it being
required, and otherwise will be of such use as you wish.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:10:10 +0100, "john hamilton"
wrote:

So is it really
worth paying extra for a five year guarantee?

Whenever someone tries to sell me a warranty or insurance I say I worked
for an insurance company for 36 years and don't believe in it. Car
insurance, house and contents insurance and travel insurance I do have.

On Jul 30, 8:10*am, "john hamilton" wrote:
I'm just about to buy a Sony television for about £500 from ebuyer. *A
friend says that LCD televisions are now very reliable. So is it really
worth paying extra for a five year guarantee?

Comes down to the price of the warranty.
#1 - Is the standard warranty 1yr or 3rd?
#2 - Does anyone do the TV with a discount or free warranty?

In LCD terms 5yrs is quite a long time.
- CFL backlight brightness does fade over time.
- CFL backlight & invertor can and do fail.
- PSUs are another area that can fail

All those items are "discrete parts or repairable". A panel failure
writes the panel off in terms of the replacement costing more than the
TV.

LCD monitor experience is PSUs do fail at about 3yrs and by 5yrs that
rises. You can buy a PSU for about £25-40 or even repair it for less,
but dissassembly is a bit tedious in terms of getting it open,
removing the shielding shells & micro-plugs.

One note with Sony is their parts & repair service.
Sony laptop parts are hard to source and expensive, service from Sony
is hilarious.
Sony CRT parts are readily available, service from Sony is 90-day
warranty & expensive.

Most brands are not too different, but with a product such as a TV it
is likely the PSU, backlight invertor & backlight will be readily
available "in the spares marketplace". An issue will be getting one
fitted, because the local repairers are beginning to packup and it
merges into "central businesses" which can be like outsourced laptop
repairers. Selectron in the USA for example were good at shafting
Customers, IBM & product aesthetics over Thinkpad repairs for a time.
Dell likewise outsourced repairs in the UK and you got light-leaks,
distorted case and so on when it came back.

So if you can follow a (probable) YouTube video on PSU removal &
replacement, or backlight bulb removal & replacement then it may be
worth "self-insuring" and buying with a lower warranty.

I would still check what the standard warranty is, Sony often do 3yr
offers on some TVs at no cost - check around.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:46:12 +0100, Invisible Man
wrote:


I am old enough that I still think of things that work with water as
electrical rather than electronic even though they have electronics
these days. With all the clever countdowns and displays it never ceases
to amaze me that so few washing machines have a facility to sound a
warning when the cycle is complete.

That would need to be a switchable facility. Some of us run our washing
machines at night to use cheaper electricity. We DO NOT wish to be woken
in the middle of the night to be told the machine mashine has finished.

I tend to set the cooker timer for
the approx time our Bosch says it will take. Quicker the stuff is out
the less ironing.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:46:12 +0100, Invisible Man
wrote:


I am old enough that I still think of things that work with water as
electrical rather than electronic even though they have electronics
these days. With all the clever countdowns and displays it never ceases
to amaze me that so few washing machines have a facility to sound a
warning when the cycle is complete.

That would need to be a switchable facility. Some of us run our washing
machines at night to use cheaper electricity. We DO NOT wish to be woken
in the middle of the night to be told the machine mashine has finished.

I tend to set the cooker timer for
the approx time our Bosch says it will take. Quicker the stuff is out
the less ironing.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:49:55 +0100, Invisible Man
wrote:

On 30/07/2010 13:39, Java Jive wrote:
Over the years, consumer advice has consistently been against paying
for such extended warranties. They are a rip-off. In fact, if you
think about, there is a sense in which all insurance is a rip-off.

The best form of insurance is to have enough money earning interest to
replace whatever it is that is being insured. That is unlikely to be
possible with your life, your house, or your legally required car
insurance, but for anything else, don't bother with it.

You pay money out for something that you hope and may actually never
happen, and it's dead money - it's gone and most likely will never
be of use to you. However, if you took that same money and put it
into a suitable account, it would be earning you interest and could
still go to replace a faulty item in the unlikely event of it being
required, and otherwise will be of such use as you wish.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:10:10 +0100, "john hamilton"
wrote:

So is it really
worth paying extra for a five year guarantee?

Whenever someone tries to sell me a warranty or insurance I say I worked
for an insurance company for 36 years and don't believe in it. Car
insurance, house and contents insurance and travel insurance I do have.

Yes. For domestic appliances "self-insurance" is the thing. Keep enough
money in reserve to be able to replace just one or two of the kitchen
appliances, entertainment boxes, etc.


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:49:55 +0100, Invisible Man
wrote:

On 30/07/2010 13:39, Java Jive wrote:
Over the years, consumer advice has consistently been against paying
for such extended warranties. They are a rip-off. In fact, if you
think about, there is a sense in which all insurance is a rip-off.

The best form of insurance is to have enough money earning interest to
replace whatever it is that is being insured. That is unlikely to be
possible with your life, your house, or your legally required car
insurance, but for anything else, don't bother with it.

You pay money out for something that you hope and may actually never
happen, and it's dead money - it's gone and most likely will never
be of use to you. However, if you took that same money and put it
into a suitable account, it would be earning you interest and could
still go to replace a faulty item in the unlikely event of it being
required, and otherwise will be of such use as you wish.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:10:10 +0100, "john hamilton"
wrote:

So is it really
worth paying extra for a five year guarantee?

Whenever someone tries to sell me a warranty or insurance I say I worked
for an insurance company for 36 years and don't believe in it. Car
insurance, house and contents insurance and travel insurance I do have.

Yes. For domestic appliances "self-insurance" is the thing. Keep enough
money in reserve to be able to replace just one or two of the kitchen
appliances, entertainment boxes, etc.


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)