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

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

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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[waltchan]

Originally Posted by Reece

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.

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?