Copied from avsforum.com that I wrote: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1403415/which-tv-brand-would-you-buy-without-warranty/30

50-year consumer electronics (including CRTs) reliability average curve since 1960 (currently, in order):

1. Panasonic/Quasar (Matsushita) (most-reliable)
2. Toshiba
3. Sharp
4. Sanyo/Fisher
5. NEC/Fujitsu
6. Sony
7. Funai/Symphonic/Emerson/Magnavox/Sylvania
8. JVC
9. Hitachi
10. Orion/Sansui/Emerson/Toshiba
11. Zenith
12. Samsung
13. RCA
14. LG/GoldStar/Zenith
15. Curtis Mathes
16. Mitsubishi/MGA
17. GoVideo/CineVision
18. Phlips/Philco/Magnavox/Sylvania
19. Daewoo
20. RCA/GE/ProScan/Thomson (the worst, least-reliable)

70-year consumer electronics (including flat-panel TVs) reliability average curve since 1960 (prediction, not actual, but good reference, in order):

1. Panasonic/Quasar (Matsushita) (most-reliable)
2. Toshiba
3. Sanyo/Fisher
4. NEC/Fujitsu
5. Sharp
6. Sony
7. Funai/Symphonic/Emerson/Magnavox/Philips/Sylvania/Toshiba
8. Apple/Sharp/Sony (Foxconn)
9. JVC
10. Orion/Sansui/Emerson/Hitachi/JVC/Sanyo/Toshiba
11. Hitachi
12. Dynex/Insignia/Prima (XOCECO)
13. Zenith
14. LG/GoldStar/Zenith
15. RCA
16. Vizio/Hitachi/JVC (Amtran)
17. Samsung
18. Toshiba/Panasonic/Sanyo (Compal)
19. Hisense
20. TCL/RCA/Panasonic/Toshiba
21. Curtis Mathes
22. GoVideo/CineVision
23. Westinghouse/Apex/Element/Haier/iSymphony/RCA/Sceptre/Seiki/Sigmac/Silo (TongFang)
24. Daewoo
25. Phlips/Philco/Magnavox/Sylvania
26. Mitsubishi/MGA
27. Coby
28. RCA/GE/ProScan/Thomson
29. Curtis/GPX/Oritron/Supersonic/Sylvania
30. Toshiba/RCA/Craig/Venturer (Alco)
31. Vizio/Apex/Digix/Dynex/Insignia/KCPI (Contel) (now the worst manufacturer in the world, least-reliable)

Eleven new OEM manufacturers, all Chinese, have been added to the 70-year list.

Sony less reliable that Sanyo/Fisher ??

However, my Toshiba and Panasonic stuff will not die.

Ah...so you can be sure if it TongFang

About what I figured.

Sony less reliable that Sanyo/Fisher ??

That's what I thought too. Those old Trinitrons held up well as did most of their stuff. I have a '69 Trinitron that works flawlessly and shows no sign of ever being repaired. The thing that killed most of them was the "instant on", people would leave them plugged in and it killed the CRT. It didn't surprise me to see Matsushita no ichiban, they made really rugged stuff over the years.

I was surprised to see Funai brands at a solid 7th place, given how much I've heard forum members rant about them. I have a 12 YO Symphonic 12" TV/VCR purchased at Best Buy that has been used 2-4 hours a day for those 12 years and still functions fine with no repairs to date:banana:.

Sony less reliable that Sanyo/Fisher ??
Absolutely, yes. These reliability data were published by Consumer Reports, Electronics Magazine, and customer reviews since the last 50 years. Sanyo has a better reputation for reliability than Sony because during the mid-90s, Sony Trinitron CRTs were quite troublesome, VHS VCRs were also troublesome, and SXRD projection TVs from 2000s were also troublesome as well. Sony Beta VCRs from the 80s were also rated least-reliable. Sony only did well in the audio area, such as CD players, cassette decks, radios, and receivers. Sanyo did better in all categories.

I was surprised to see Funai brands at a solid 7th place, given how much I've heard forum members rant about them. I have a 12 YO Symphonic 12" TV/VCR purchased at Best Buy that has been used 2-4 hours a day for those 12 years and still functions fine with no repairs to date:banana:.
That's correct. Funai, as a manufacturer itself, did surprise me in the reliability ratings, and I was already warned about this before. Their flat-panel TVs continue to be one of the most-reliable out there. DVD players and DVD recorders also receive good reliability marks, and sometimes more reliable than Panasonic (I'm not kidding). :yes:

Funai had a major head-start in reliability during the 1980s when their VHS VCRs were rated third most reliable, after Panasonic and Toshiba, in the VCR reliability charts provided by Consumer Reports. CRT tube TVs did okay and always scored better than Samsung. Funai's reliability rating slipped a little in the late-90s when they had some troubles with their VHS VCRs, but gradually improved again when VHS VCR production was reduced in favor for DVD players, DVD/VCR combos, Blu-Ray players, flat-panel TVs, and etc. Today, Funai has successfully made it being one of the top-10, most reliable electronic manufacturers in the world. They should be proud with themselves, I think. I wish I can pass this message to Tetsuro Funai in Japan, founder and CEO of Funai.

Funai also provide the lowest-number of defects out from the box in the world. If you click on this link below, "Magnavox," all made by Funai, is rated third most reliable TV brand, but Magnavox score the highest in "Problem on Arrival," meaning that you opened up the factory-sealed retail box, and does it work or not when you first plug it in.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/244561/hdtv_reliability_and_satisfaction_lg_is_the_brand_ to_beat.html

The thing that killed most of them was the "instant on", people would leave them plugged in and it killed the CRT.
That counts on reliability. "Instant on" increases rate of repairs, regardless how well the TV was designed, so that's one of the good reasons why Sony isn't rated #1 in reliability.

I didn't know Quasar was also Matsushita (Panasonic). I do know all the little Panasonic Micros I have are REAL reliable as long as they haven't been tossed around too much. That little 9" B/W Quasar I rescued has a phenomenal picture for being such a pedestrian looking set.

I do have issue with Toshiba.....but it's a very ODD issue. EVERY single Toshiba laptop computer I have EVER owned.....is still alive and kicking. Having a laptop computer not die is a strange phenomenon. You will STILL "outgrow" the computer and replace it, but you end up with a HOUSEFULL of computers you can't really give to anyone!

My very first laptop was a 720-CDT running Win95. It still lives
Toshiba "Libretto" computers (I really love TINY)...all still live (FOUR of them)
Toshiba Satellite P105 from like five years ago...still alive (from when Vista came out)

THIS laptop....A QOSMIO! Just got it three months ago, because I "outgrew" the Satellite.

So, I still own and play with every Toshiba laptop I have owned since like 1995!

I've had HP laptops come and go, Compaq, Dell (YUCK!) and COUNTLESS printers of one kind or another, but have never had a Toshiba fail me. I do also hafta give a shoutout to a Fujitsu "N-series" laptop that still lives for around ten years now as well.

I'm not sure I have ever owned a Toshiba TV set though. I guess I still would if I had ever gotten one :-P

I didn't know Quasar was also Matsushita (Panasonic).
Yes, Quasar was bought by Matsushita from Motorola somewhere during the 1970s. If you lived in Hong Kong before, National is also owned by Matsushita, and it's the Asian Panasonic-brand type.

EVERY single Toshiba laptop computer I have EVER owned.....is still alive and kicking. Having a laptop computer not die is a strange phenomenon. You will STILL "outgrow" the computer and replace it, but you end up with a HOUSE FULL of computers you can't really give to anyone!

My very first laptop was a 720-CDT running Win95. It still lives
Toshiba "Libretto" computers (I really love TINY)...all still live (FOUR of them)
Toshiba Satellite P105 from like five years ago...still alive (from when Vista came out)

THIS laptop....A QOSMIO! Just got it three months ago, because I "outgrew" the Satellite.

So, I still own and play with every Toshiba laptop I have owned since like 1995!
Wow, you own all the higher-end, most-expensive Toshiba laptops, so that's why they lasted well on you. If you purchased most of them from Hong Kong, they were all Made in Japan.

As far as I know, the most-expensive Toshiba products appear to last longer than Panasonic (yes), Sony, Sharp, Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, and etc... I've seen more Panasonic CRT TVs and DVD players died in the first 10 years than with Toshiba. There are more number of used Toshiba (Made in Japan) DVD players selling on eBay right now than Panasonic.

I sent this message before to a tech regarding Toshiba who regularly sell VCR parts at studiosoundelectronics.com, but he didn't believe me at first. While he still has a lot of favoritism toward Panasonic and Sharp, he agrees that they aren't the most-reliable, and he finally admits today that Toshiba built the most-reliable VCRs from the 1980s. :o

I've had HP laptops come and go, Compaq, Dell (YUCK!) and COUNTLESS printers of one kind or another, but have never had a Toshiba fail me.
These American laptop brands usually have a higher-than-average repair rate for years now.

I do also hafta give a shoutout to a Fujitsu "N-series" laptop that still lives for around ten years now as well.
All Fujitsu laptops were Made in Japan before 2008, and Fujitsu Japan competed well with Toshiba Japan for reliability.

I'm not sure I have ever owned a Toshiba TV set though. I guess I still would if I had ever gotten one :-P
Don't bother owning one. They have problems. All Toshiba TVs sold today are outsourced and made by Compal in China or Mexico (#18). These are NOT real Toshiba TVs, but more of re-badged Toshiba TVs from various manufacturers.
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[QUOTE=AiboPet;3038084]I didn't know Quasar was also Matsushita (Panasonic). I do know all the little Panasonic Micros I have are REAL reliable as long as they haven't been tossed around too much.


Aye-Yup. I have 2 CT-101s, the 1.5" color CRT sets, one I bought new, the other I got off an AKer, its case is all broken/cracked, but it STILL works...I WISH Panasonic had bothered to spend more than 3.5 cents on the case for their "Flagship" product...My "Good" one ain't perzacly all that great-the case on it, well, all you can say is it keeps you from putting yr fingers where they ought not to be, but that's about it.

I bought a 36" CRT Toshiba TV eight years ago that works like new, bright sharp picture, never been touched. It runs usually from 6AM until 8 or 10 PM daily. I bought it back then because I had heard of their reputation of being trouble-free.

I bought a 36" CRT Toshiba TV eight years ago that works like new, bright sharp picture, never been touched. It runs usually from 6AM until 8 or 10 PM daily. I bought it back then because I had heard of their reputation of being trouble-free.


That was probably one of the last real Toshiba TV's. About two years ago, I fixed one for someone and it was a fairly well built set. Then, they started outsourcing to Orion.

Regarding:
RCA/GE/ProScan/Thomson
I'm guessing it was those 80s/90s tuner problems that sunk them so low on the list? I generally rank the Thomson stuff as being better than NAP or Zenith.

I have that little CT-101 as well Sandy. Fun little set, and never ceases to amaze even today. Mine seems to been treated better I guess. It doesn't look like anyone has been into it, and I dread the day I ever have to get into it. Working on the little 1020 that had the "squeeze if you want vertical" problem was a real bear. it turned out to have some real dodgy soldering. That soldering turned out to BE the problem it had though and has been okay for the last few years I've had it. it even has a REAL small little HV cage...."OMG!...so CUUUUTE! :-P That HV cage was STILL quite capable of biting me though...damn thing :-P

I think the ONLY reason I have no Toshiba TV set....is I've NEVER seen a micro from them.

I did already know of National as being Panasonic. I think National is actually better known in HK when I was a kid. The ONLY electronics I really had in HK was a Commodore PET computer...some other early NTSC computers like VIC20, Coleco ADAM,etc. The only TV I owned as a kid was a little 5" Unisonic "briefcase" thing, which I actually STILL have. I've fixed several little things on it since then (usually cassette...and petty little vertical problems).
I had much LESS room in HK to have any sort of collections...and no real money for this sort of thing. I do remember I so wanted a JVC CX-500 briefcase, because it was color. I do have one of those now...for really no reason than to say I finally GOT one :P

I came to USA in 1986, so I was 20yo...and still wasn't into "acquiring" things until I got a decent job. My first "collection" was actually of Sony AIBO robots, because I was there and involved with this project since 1997. Currently have six AIBO, and they are REAL hard to keep healthy. MUCH harder than some little micro TV sets.

The small tube set I hope to have some day may turn out to be a National. They appeared to have at least a couple of those "big as a breadbox" sets with the LITTLE tiny CRT that I dream of finding some day.

That was probably one of the last real Toshiba TV's. About two years ago, I fixed one for someone and it was a fairly well built set. Then, they started outsourcing to Orion.
All Toshiba 35"-36" CRT TVs were made by Toshiba until they were discontinued in 2004. Toshiba outsourced all of the CRT TVs to Orion beginning in 2005, until they were discontinued in 2007. Toshiba first began outsourcing in 2001 for all round-tube TVs, sized 27" and under.

An easy way to identify is the location of the power button at front. If the power button is located at the right side of the TV, it is made by Toshiba. If the power button is located at the left side of the TV, it is made by Orion. Toshiba has NEVER made a CRT TV with the power button at the left side.
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I bought a 36" CRT Toshiba TV eight years ago that works like new, bright sharp picture, never been touched. It runs usually from 6AM until 8 or 10 PM daily. I bought it back then because I had heard of their reputation of being trouble-free.
You made the right choice. :yes:

Consumer Reports listed Toshiba as the most-reliable CRT TV brand for sized 34" and larger in the 2005 report, with units purchased new between 1998 and 2003. Sanyo came in second, Sony third, Sharp fourth, JVC fifth, Panasonic sixth, Mitsubishi seventh, Philips eighth, and RCA ninth, the worst.

Not sure what went wrong with Panasonic in reliability? Can anyone explain?