Samsung flat screen TV’s

@quinten,

"The problem is that all appliances seem to be junk these days... no matter what brand, people are always having problems if you look at reviews."


Thats our problem.

The manufacturers must see it the other way around.

Just how are they going to keep us buying?

Replacing or upgrading?

Since true innovation is quite rare (repackaging and cosmetics is easier) far too many of them resort to built in obsolescence.


Apple deliberately tie their consumers into their rather restrictive ecosystem and fit their products with puny batteries which, unless very carefully protected, are next to useless in about 2 years.

This strategy has made them the most successful company on the planet.

Others will no doubt seek to copy it.

Nevertheless it’s still good to see small scale brands like Harbeth who genuinely expect to see their products last 25 years or so without any need for repair.

Had our 15-year old washing machine repaired a year or two ago.  Repairman said, "if you ever want to get something newer, please call me because I have a list of people looking for these."  He basically went on to say that some of the newer machines don't wash the clothes as well, are difficult to repair, and typically reach a point where they are unrepairable much sooner than the machines like ours. 

The energy-saver thing seems to be a double-edged sword at best.  In some cases, the manufacturers achieve the energy savings by providing a less robust operating mechanism, which then wears out faster.  It has long been my observation that conservation is the greenest (and most economic) approach - build it to last.  

@jdoris 
Samsung appliances have terrible repair/reliability history.
For dishwashers, we have always found Kitchen Aid in the
$900 range to be very dependable and trouble free.
    

Have an LG 86" which I like very much. Can’t imagine anything smaller for my relatively small living room and I don’t even consider it very big for my space. Kind of wish I had gotten a projector for 120".
Robert Harris the great film restorer(Lawrence, Spartacus, My Fair Lady which is coming out next week in 4k and the spectacular reviews are saying it is the new reference for UHD) says TVs need to be professionally calibrated. So I'm thinking wow my TV can look even better? But I have no idea how much it will be so I have to be satisfied for now.

@roxy1927

Robert Harris the great film restorer(Lawrence, Spartacus, My Fair Lady which is coming out next week in 4k and the spectacular reviews are saying it is the new reference for UHD) says TVs need to be professionally calibrated.
 

That's a pretty good endorsement. These are all classic films lovingly restored.

The restoration on My Fair Lady in particular must be some kind of reference for both picture and sound.

It's difficult to imagine how it could be any better without losing that lovely period feel.

As far as reliability goes one good standard might be when you are getting impatient for something to break down as an excuse for replacing it.

In my experience that doesn't happen too often, although I do have an old Sony portable radio (1990s) that appears to be indestructible.  As for televisions, I wonder if anyone is still running a cathode ray set. I can't remember having seen one recently.

They must be getting quite rare nowadays.