Unknown brand Cheap TVs cost more in the long run

Before you buy a TV or other consumer electronics item you should take into account not only the purchase price of the product but additionally the probability of it going faulty, the life expectancy of the product, and the features and the performance.

Main brand TVs from manufacturers such as Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, LG, Samsung, Hitachi, Hitachi, Sharp and JVC always retail for more than secondary brands of televisions with unknown brand badges on them. The unbranded cheap televisions from unknown manufacturers look like good value for money when compared to the known brands of TVs. The styling and features may well make justifying the difference difficult.

Why are the known brands of TVs more expensive?

Obviously when you buy 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 obvious reason for the recognized brands being more pricey is that they have UK staff, offices and warehouses unlike the cheaper brand televisions that are imported directly into the UK by importers from in China and Eastern Europe and are delivered straight to the retailer.

Because the unknown secondary brands of cheap TVs are manufactured in unknown factories there is no incentive for them to invest in the reliability of the TVs for the reason that they dont have a brand reputation to look after. Ultimately if the TVs that they manufacture last on average 3 years or 6 years it isnt important to them since it is unlikely that you will knowingly purchase a further Television that is manufactured in the same factory -there is no way identifying the factory that manufactured the unbranded cheap TV.

The probability of unbranded Cheap TVs becoming faulty at some point in the first year or after is greater than for branded televisions since they dont boast the same stringent quality control systems.

The circuit design and internal components on unheard of cheap Television 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 again and again found that Television brands such as Sony and Panasonic consistently out perform the cheaper unknown cheap Television brands.

It is more difficult to repair cheap televisions from unknown brands

Replacement parts are not as readily available on cheap Television brands as they are for the major Television brands. This is often for the reason that there arent any parts kept in the UK by the manufacturer for the unbranded cheap televisions unlike the main brand TVs so it takes longer to obtain the parts.

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 some cases if the repair engineer can’t resolve the fault then the TV manufacturer will even carry out the repair. The unfamiliar cheaper TV brands dont have this sort of back up. As a result not only is it more likely that the unbranded cheap Television will go faulty but when it does it will be more difficult, if not impossible to obtain technical assistance. Furthermore it will probably take longer to get the parts. If the problem cant be repaired, due to no technical support, it follows that the unbranded cheap Television is more likely to become unrepairable earlier than the main brand TVs and will need replacing earlier.

It is not unknown when a branded Television 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 guarantee as a good will gesture. It is unlikely that this would happen for a cheap Televisions from an unknown brand, which means that you would have to buy a replacement one earlier than if you had bought a recognized brand of TV.

Better performance on well-known brand TVs

One more reason for the higher selling prices for major brand televisions is that the producers invest in research and development to find ways of improving the existing technology to enhance the performance of the TV. This doesnt take place with cheap unbranded TVs which have inferior features and performance. If you read specialist magazines like What Video or What Hifi you will see that main brand televisions get a lot better reviews than the unknown cheap TV brands.

Conclusion

Cheaper brands of TVs experience poorer reliability and dont have the features and performance of the more expensive main brand TV manufacturers. Bearing in mind that you often buy a Television to last for 5 years or more, when you share the cost differential by the number of years that you intend to keep the TV for, it is worth paying the additional amount for a branded TV. More often than not the cheaper unbranded TV will prove to be more costly because of poor reliability and the probability that it will have to be replaced earlier. This is forgetting about the better performance of the major brand televisions. Consequently the unbranded cheap TVs represent poor value compared to TVs from Pioneer, Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Panasonic, LG, JVC etc.

Armadeus Cornelius is an AV enthusiast and expert with nearly 20 years 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 rock bottom prices. For your convenience these links are useful cheap lcd 32 and cheap lcds

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