Cheap LCD TV - Not Always The Best Buy

Unknown brand Cheap TVs cost more in the long run

Before you buy a TV or other consumer electronics product you ought to bear in mind not only the purchase price of the product but in addition the probability of it going faulty, the life expectancy of the product, and the features and the performance.

Cheap unbranded LCD TVs and cheap unbranded plasma TVs that are manufactured by unknown factories may appear to be excellent value for money. Generally they are sold at lower prices than the equal sized models from dependable known brands such as Hitachi, JVC, LG, Philips, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba and Sharp. The specification that they offer may appear equivalent to the main brands of televisions and often the styling isnt dissimilar.

Why are non-branded TVs so cheap?

Evidently when you purchase a known brand of TV you are paying a premium for the brand, which you dont do on the unknown brand cheaper televisions. However is this the only difference?

One clear reason for the recognized brands being more pricey is that they have UK warehouses, offices and staffunlike the cheaper brand TVs that are imported directly into the UK by importers from in China and Eastern Europe and are delivered directly to the retailer.

The manufacturers of unbranded cheap televisions dont have the same incentive to safeguard their televisions from being unreliable or poor quality. It doesnt matter to them if the televisions are unreliable or if they last for 4 years or 7years. Ultimately you wont be able to find out which factory manufactured the TV, as a result you wont be able to avoid it in the future if you buy an unreliable TV.

The probability of cheap TVs from unheard of manufacturers going faulty are greater for the reason that they dont operate the same stringent levels of quality control that the top brands do. Therefore the probability that the unbranded cheap Television will go faulty from new, either directly out of the box, or once, or even more than once in the first 12 months is far greater than for the quality known brands of televisions.

Cheap TVs dont have the same quality of internal components and circuit design as those in the branded Televisions and as a result the chance of a cheap TV going faulty is greater. This is evident in reliability surveys that the consumer magazine Which has carried out where brands such as Panasonic and Sony consistently out perform other cheaper non brands.

Less likely to be repaired

The major brand manufacturers of TVs stock spare parts to accelerate repairs this doesnt happen for the unknown cheaper TV brands. Often it is very difficult to obtain replacement parts for the unbranded cheap televisions .

If an repair engineer is struggling to find the cause of a fault on a main brand Television they can get technical assistance from the technical department of the UK subsiduary. In a number of cases if the repair engineer can't fix the fault then the Television manufacturer will even carry out the repair. The unfamiliar cheaper television brands dont have this type of back up. So not only is it more probable that the unbranded cheap Television will go faulty but when it does it will be more difficult, if not impossible to acquire technical assistance. Furthermore it will almost certainly take longer to acquire the parts. If the problem cant be repaired, due to no technical support, it follows that the unbranded cheap TV is more likely to become unrepairable earlier than the main brand televisions and will need replacing earlier.

It is not unknown when a branded Television has had very poor repair history, for the manufacturer to replace, repair or subsidise the cost of the repair outside of beyond the 12 month warranty as a good will gesture. It is improbable that this would happen for a cheap Televisions from an unfamiliar brand, which means that you would have to purchase a replacement one earlier than if you had purchased a recognized brand of Television.

How does the performance of cheaper unknown Television brands compare to known Television Brands?

An additional reason for the higher selling prices for major brand TVs is that the manufacturers invest in research and development to achieve ways of improving the current technology to enhance the performance of the Television. This doesnt happen with cheap unbranded televisions which have second-rate features and performance. If you read specialist magazines like What Hifi or What Videoyou will see that main brand TVs get much better reviews than the unknown cheap TV brands.

Conclusion

The cheaper brands of TVs arent as reliable and dont have the same specification and performance as known brands such as Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, JVC, Philip, LG, Pioneer etc. For the small premium that main brand televisions sell for over cheaper unfamiliar and poorly supported cheap Television brands, it isnt worth purchasing the cheaper ones for the reason that you will most likely pay more in the long run - Especially if you divide the price difference over the life of the TV. In fact in all probability the cheaper TVs are more expensive when all factors are considered. So purchase a known main brand of TV and save money in the long run.

Armadeus Cornelius is an AV enthusiast and expert with nearly 2 decades experience in consumer electronics. His website at www.digitaldirect.co.uk offers Cheap LCD and Plasma TVs and a large selection of AV products at low prices. For your convenience you may also find these links useful lcd cheap tv and cheap 37 lcd tv