Cheap TV – Not always the best Buy
Are unbranded cheap televisions are a false economy?
Before you buy a TV or other consumer electronics item you should 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.
Unbranded cheap Plasma televisions and unbranded Cheap LCD TVs retail for less than the similar specification, identical size TVs from well known manufacturers like Hitachi, Pioneer, Panasonic, LG, Philips, Toshiba, Samsung, Sony, JVC and Sharp. The secondary brand cheap TVs may well seem to be good value for money even though they are produced by unknown manufacturers. On first examination the features offered can appear to be comparable to those of the known brands. Some cheap brand televisions are also sometimes aesthetically well styled.
Why are the known brands of televisions more expensive?
It is easy to think that you are paying a premium for the badge on the branded models of televisions, whilst this is to some extent true there are other differences that justify the extra cost of the branded televisions.
Another explanation for cheap unbranded Television brands being cheaper is that they dont operate from high-priced offices in the UK backed up with warehouses, and staff. They often transport the products straight from the factory in Eastern Europe, China, etc to the retailers warehouse with no or scarcely any personnel and premises in the UK. This may appear to be good thing and would help explain the price differential.
The manufacturers of unbranded cheap TVs dont have the same incentive to protect their televisions from being unreliable or poor quality. It isnt important to them if the televisions are unreliable or if they last for 4 years or 7years. Ultimately you wont know which factory manufactured the television, so you wont be able to avoid it in the future if you purchase an unreliable Television.
The likelihood of cheap televisions from unfamiliar manufacturers going faulty are greater because they dont operate the same stringent levels of quality control that the top brands do. So the probability that the unbranded cheap TV will go faulty from new, either straight out of the box, or once, or even more than once in the first year is far greater than for the quality known brands of TVs.
The circuit design and internal components on unknown cheap TV brands are not of the same quality as the main brands of televisions, yet again increasing the likelihood of the TV going faulty. Reliability surveys carried out by the consumer magazine Which have repeatedly found that TV brands such as Panasonic and Sony consistently out perform the cheaper unknown cheap TV brands.
It is more difficult to repair cheap TVs from unknown brands
Spare parts are not as readily accessible on cheap Television brands as they are for the main TV brands. This is often because there arent any parts kept in the UK by the manufacturer for the unbranded cheap TVs unlike the main brand televisions so it takes longer to get hold of the parts.
Also it is more difficult to repair unknown cheaper brand TVs because they havent got the technical support in the UK that the main brands do. As a result if an repair engineer struggles to carry out the repair he cant ask the manufacturer for assistance so it will be more likely that the TV cant be repaired. During the first 12 months this isnt a problem as the retailer that sold you the cheap TV will have to repair it or replace it. However after this period it means that it is more likely that you will have toreplace the cheaper unknown brand TV earlier than a main brand Television.
It is not unheard of when a branded TV has had very poor service history, for the manufacturer to swap, repair or subsidise the price of the repair outside of beyond the 12 month warranty as a good will gesture. It is unlikely that this would happen for a cheap TVs from an unfamiliar brand, which means that you would have to purchase a replacement one at an earlier time than if you had bought a recognized brand of TV.
How does the performance of cheaper unknown TV brands compare to known TV Brands?
The main brand TV manufacturers invest in research and development to improve the performance of the TVs. As a result the features, picture and sound quality will be superior to the unknown cheaper Television brands. Typically the cheaper unbranded televisions have second-rate out of date components that prevent them from performing as well as the branded televisions. This is evident if you compare them side by side and can be seen in the reviews in magazines such as What Video and What Hi-fi.
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, Philip, Hitachi, LG, Pioneer, JVC etc. For the small premium that major brand televisions sell for over cheaper unheard of and poorly supported cheap TV brands, it isnt worth purchasing the cheaper ones for the reason that you will almost certainly pay more in the long run – Especially if you spread the price difference over the lifetime of the Television. In fact in all probability the cheaper TVs are more expensive when all factors are considered. So purchase a known major brand of TV and save money in the long run.
Tags: LIVE TV
