50-70 year consumer electronics reliability average curve since 1960...

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by DavGoodlin

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.

[wkand]

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.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by wkand

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.

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).

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/24456...d_to_beat.html

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

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.