Disposable Flat Panel TV's

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I bought my first "big screen" plasma TV about 4 years ago (Panasonic 50" 1080p). It worked great and had a great picture.

One day it just stopped turning on. I found a reputable TV repair shop on Yelp and took it in. Very friendly older fellow and gave a me a free estimate. Turns out the "main board" is bad and is about $250-$300 + labor to replace.

The guy told me candidly that it is not cost effective to fix it and not to bother. I know I can get a new 50" for around $500 if I catch a sale, but I liked that TV and wanted to fix it. He said it might work for a while and then a different board would go out possibly.

I asked which replacement brand is the most reliable. He said they are all the same, disposable junk and will work for 1-2 years, maybe more if lucky. That is how they keep the prices down and repairs are discouraged by the manufacturers who prefer the TV's be junked and replaced when they stop working.

Any feedback from knowledgeable TV folks would be great. All of this is pretty disappointing news to me. The TV's we had 20-30 years ago worked forever..I guess not so much anymore.

[ChevySS]

I have a Samsung 40" Smart LED tv that I have had for about 3 years and its still going strong.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Still working on my Sony 32" picture tube TV.

Gotta be 15 years old and still works great. It doesn't have that new fangled HD crap, but it does the job. But I must say it's heavier than a fat person after a pizza party.

[Garv]

I had a 42" Vizio die on me.
I decided to take it apart to see if I could see anything wrong because otherwise I was going to get a new one.
I saw a burn mark on the electronics board and replaced it with one from eBay for $40.
Still working for about three years now

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I had a 42" Vizio die on me.
I decided to take it apart to see if I could see anything wrong because otherwise I was going to get a new one.
I saw a burn mark on the electronics board and replaced it with one from eBay for $40.
Still working for about three years now

If I had the electronics skills, it would be fun to try to fix it. I guess there isn't any risk of bricking something that is already bricked. Glad that worked for you though!

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Still working on my Sony 32" picture tube TV.

Gotta be 15 years old and still works great. It doesn't have that new fangled HD crap, but it does the job. But I must say it's heavier than a fat person after a pizza party.

That is no lie. I have a first gen Sony 720p Tube TV in my bedroom. It survived 2 moves, time in storage, and heavy video game use. The picture is as brilliant as when new. And you can't even give them away because they require a crane to move.

Newer is clearly not always better. The huge price drop on 4K TV's make that an option, but I have read there is very limited content available in that resolution.

[JohnnyMtn]

In order to make high tech affordable it has to be built to not last too long. If you want high tech and built to last long, guess what? It won't be affordable. It's just a fact of life in the current world we live in.

Long gone are the days where you could by a TV and it would last 20 years. Same goes for a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, a microwave, and so on.

On the flip side, you wouldn't necessarily want a TV nowadays that lasts 20 years because Tech is advancing so fast now that TVs made just 5-10 years ago are highly outdated.

Still seems odd though to have to just throw good stuff away.

[SonofWWIIDI]

That is no lie. I have a first gen Sony 720p Tube TV in my bedroom. It survived 2 moves, time in storage, and heavy video game use. The picture is as brilliant as when new. And you can't even give them away because they require a crane to move.

Newer is clearly not always better. The huge price drop on 4K TV's make that an option, but I have read there is very limited content available in that resolution.

I have no idea what the "p" rating is on mine. I don't think they even advertised that when I got it.

[TitanCi]

I have one of the first gen 120hz Samsung tvs. From 2007. I had a resistor go out, so it wouldn't turn on. Replaced both of them with higher "ability" ones (sorry I'm not an electrician and don't know the correct terms) and it's been fine since. Un-solder and solder back in. It's 8 years old and works fine.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[gorn5150]

I have a 50" Panasonic plasma hanging in my bedroom. I bought it in 2006 and it is going strong. I had an LG that lasted for about 7 years before it died. I replaced the LG with a 50" Panasonic. Since I have had such good luck with Panasonic that is all I have now (4 50"). I'm kinda hoping this bedroom set dies. I like my newer tv's with the built in wifi.

[henmar77]

Samsung LCD going on 9 years. the picture still looks better then the two LCDs i just bought. never had a better tv. the only issue is that it heats up the room a bit

[MaHoTex]

I bought my first "big screen" plasma TV about 4 years ago (Panasonic 50" 1080p). It worked great and had a great picture.

One day it just stopped turning on. I found a reputable TV repair shop on Yelp and took it in. Very friendly older fellow and gave a me a free estimate. Turns out the "main board" is bad and is about $250-$300 + labor to replace.

The guy told me candidly that it is not cost effective to fix it and not to bother. I know I can get a new 50" for around $500 if I catch a sale, but I liked that TV and wanted to fix it. He said it might work for a while and then a different board would go out possibly.

I asked which replacement brand is the most reliable. He said they are all the same, disposable junk and will work for 1-2 years, maybe more if lucky. That is how they keep the prices down and repairs are discouraged by the manufacturers who prefer the TV's be junked and replaced when they stop working.

Any feedback from knowledgeable TV folks would be great. All of this is pretty disappointing news to me. The TV's we had 20-30 years ago worked forever..I guess not so much anymore.

Yup, then he is gonna replace the bad capacitors on the board and it will work just fine. The vast majority of the monitors and TVs only go bad because the electrolytic capacitors dry up. 80% of the time you can look at the components on the board and visually see which parts have failed and need to be replaced.

Do a search on google for the motherboard, assuming you believe what the guy told you, and replace it. You can probably get it for less than what he was telling you.

[pepsi2451]

I just fixed a broken 46 inch TV I got from my grandparents. First I found a one wire in a set of about ten going between two boards wasn't getting connection. That seemed to fix it at least until I put it back together. Luckily it turned on again after I reopened it and had it lying flat. Next I noticed a faint high pitch sound coming from the power supply board. I very lightly tapped a few components on the power supply board and when I hit what appeared to be a some kind of transformer the TV went off again. I re soldered all the connections on the transformer and the TV has been working fine for the past week. I'll see how long it lasts.

I also had a monitor that started making a buzzing sound and wouldn't come out of standby without power cycling it. I replaced a couple capacitors and its as good as new.

I fixed the monitor with salvaged caps so neither repair cost me a penny but it was kind of a pain to have to do. I guess they just don't make them like they used to.

[M1NM]

Have a Samsung DLP. It's about 7 years old now. Picture was getting dim. Put a bulb & cooling fan in it last year cost less that $100 good as new.
The thing that chaps my butt is the signs for the "free" electronic disposal weekends. You already paid $8.00 disposal fee when you bought it. It's like the "free" freeway patrol/tow that you are paying through the nose for. 1/2% on your sales tax.

[Mr.Caketown]

Look up planned obsolescence.

that started way back in the 1920s with kitchen appliances