Panasonic, thou too lets down....

[murali]

My Panasonic 42" plasma turned 1 month after 3 years. Now it shows a vertical blue line in the left half of the panel and the service technician says it is a panel defect. Since the panel warranty expired after 3 years, replacement will cost the same as buying a new TV. That is what they say.
In the good old days, Panasonic used to be one of the most reliable and safe bet to buy. It looks like times have changed.
My Pioneer Kuro still works fine even after 4 years.
Sadly, I have lost my faith in the Panasonic brand and should I decide to change the TV, I need to consider others.

Murali

 

[musicbee]

I have two Panasonics still working fine after 2 years... guess I'll know after one more year.

I'm a recent Sony LED convert... though its only 47" the HD and Blu-ray content looks really awesome.

 

[Dirac]

My Panasonic 42" plasma turned 1 month after 3 years. Now it shows a vertical blue line in the left half of the panel and the service technician says it is a panel defect. Since the panel warranty expired after 3 years, replacement will cost the same as buying a new TV. That is what they say.
In the good old days, Panasonic used to be one of the most reliable and safe bet to buy. It looks like times have changed.
My Pioneer Kuro still works fine even after 4 years.
Sadly, I have lost my faith in the Panasonic brand and should I decide to change the TV, I need to consider others.

Murali

I feel that it is not specific to panasonic as such.
Every hardware can fail. And things like latest tv panels with all their complex driving logic, are always prone to such failures.
Regarding Kuro, we really don't know how many of them failed. As there is no option to call pioneer and get serviced, people just accept their luck and silently replace the TV.

 

[murali]

In the CRT TV world of yesteryears, they used to last at least 7-10 years before we contemplated change. Technology has changed but reliability???
When we invest in plasmas and Lcds, I for one expect them to stay with me for 5-7 years before writing off.
Panasonic used to be a trusted brand, not innovative like Sony or Sharp, but bulletproof and competitive. Hence the disappointment. I agree, any TV can fail, but then Panasonic falls to the level of Chinese and Korean brands.

Murali

 

[ranojoy]

My 42 Pana plasma just turned 5 !! Am I lucky or am I lucky ?????

 

[Dirac]

In the CRT TV world of yesteryears, they used to last at least 7-10 years before we contemplated change. Technology has changed but reliability???
When we invest in plasmas and Lcds, I for one expect them to stay with me for 5-7 years before writing off.
Panasonic used to be a trusted brand, not innovative like Sony or Sharp, but bulletproof and competitive. Hence the disappointment. I agree, any TV can fail, but then Panasonic falls to the level of Chinese and Korean brands.

Murali

I understand your feeling of let down.
But calling panasonic less innovative than sony or sharp is not palatable to me.
Somebody who produces three reference plasmas straight in one year, finally laying to rest the ghost of pioneer Kuro, is less innovative?

 

[Rupam]

Panasonic always delivered quality for me over the years. Every electronic item is a matter of fact prone to failure. Its a mere coincidence that your warranty was just over when it happened. BTW, do you live in a humid condition ?

 

[sgmane]

Panasonic always delivered quality for me over the years. Every electronic item is a matter of fact prone to failure. Its a mere coincidence that your warranty was just over when it happened. BTW, do you live in a humid condition ?

Living in humid conditions does matter? My friends who does not live in humid conditions (and including myself) does had these panel issues. Its like people who own IFB washing machines (older than 5yrs) running strong and people who owned them less than 2-3 yrs are facing problems!

 

[j4jobi1]

very sad to hear..

actually my experience doesn't differ from yours. i bought my panasonic plasma 42" and in mere span of one year, it started showing the vertical lines all around. while i approached panasonic, they quoted almost same price for its repair. Without any further thinking, i sold to a scrap dealer for 4k.

But i didn't loose my faith in Panasonic and went to buy another Panasonic plasma. This time i bought with 3 years warranty.

 

[Dushie]

I am using my Sammy plasma from last 8 years and its still going strong. Very happy with the same.

 

[rpanand25]

In the CRT TV world of yesteryears, they used to last at least 7-10 years before we contemplated change. Technology has changed but reliability???
When we invest in plasmas and Lcds, I for one expect them to stay with me for 5-7 years before writing off.
Panasonic used to be a trusted brand, not innovative like Sony or Sharp, but bulletproof and competitive. Hence the disappointment. I agree, any TV can fail, but then Panasonic falls to the level of Chinese and Korean brands.

Murali

http://www.hifivision.com/television/27353-tv-buying-guide-led-lcd-plasma-13.html

The above thread has detailed discussion on your view point. My views expressed therein mirror your view.

 

[rpm19050]

a. they don't produce electronics the way they used to.
b. panasonic is not what it used to be.
c. panasonic warranty is worse than above two at the moment.

 

[Dirac]

Yes. Panasonic is not the way it used to be.
The PQ is not the way it used to be.
Colours are not the way they used to be.
Blacks are not the way they used to be.
Motion is not the way it used to be.
Smart features are not the way it used to be.
Calibration controls are not the way they used to be.
Personalization of tv home screens is not the way it used to be.
Tv sizes are not the way they used to be.
Power consumption is not the way it used to be.
Electronic complexity for miniaturization to produce a slim panel was not the way it used to be.
Consumers insatiable apetite for seamless connectivity with smart phones is not the same it used to be.
Reference tvs are not the same they used to be.

Universe is not static. It expands and evolves.

 

[rpm19050]

Yes. Panasonic is not the way it used to be.
The PQ is not the way it used to be.
Colours are not the way they used to be.
Blacks are not the way they used to be.
Motion is not the way it used to be.
Smart features are not the way it used to be.
Calibration controls are not the way they used to be.
Personalization of tv home screens is not the way it used to be.
Tv sizes are not the way they used to be.
Power consumption is not the way it used to be.
Electronic complexity for miniaturization to produce a slim panel was not the way it used to be.
Consumers insatiable apetite for seamless connectivity with smart phones is not the same it used to be.
Reference tvs are not the same they used to be.

Universe is not static. It expands and evolves.

I am unable to understand what reliability has got to do with all of the above 'used to be' points. as for miniaturization - i can buy that point. But i think that I, as well as several folks on this forum would be willing to have a tv set an inch thicker if it can survive 5-7 years?

 

[Rupam]

Yes. Panasonic is not the way it used to be.
The PQ is not the way it used to be.
Colours are not the way they used to be.
Blacks are not the way they used to be.
Motion is not the way it used to be.
Smart features are not the way it used to be.
Calibration controls are not the way they used to be.
Personalization of tv home screens is not the way it used to be.
Tv sizes are not the way they used to be.
Power consumption is not the way it used to be.
Electronic complexity for miniaturization to produce a slim panel was not the way it used to be.
Consumers insatiable apetite for seamless connectivity with smart phones is not the same it used to be.
Reference tvs are not the same they used to be.

Universe is not static. It expands and evolves.

Poet Dirac :clapping:

 

[Dirac]

I am unable to understand what reliability has got to do with all of the above 'used to be' points. as for miniaturization - i can buy that point. But i think that I, as well as several folks on this forum would be willing to have a tv set an inch thicker if it can survive 5-7 years?

Don't worry. It was just my reflections.
But each one of them have a hardware tweak involved.
Take for example the smart features.
They are now placing a separate processor for this. With seperate processor there will be its own peripheral devices and its own power requirements.
Now this SOC should coexist on the main board. Again tweaks.
And 3d processing requires its own dsps with their own requirements.
They are just a few.

What I am saying is that the tvs now are not the same simple displays they used to be. Reliability will take a hit now and then.

 

[adi_vastava]

Well, they at least stand by you for three years. Samsung only gave one year for my LCD; and no paid extra warranty too. I think you just got unlucky with this piece.

Happened once with me for my washing machine; I bought the extra warranty; and right after that expired; it stopped working.

 

[rpm19050]

you can continue to justify high product failure rates with 'innovation' being behind them. But the way I see it, they just spend less on reliability engineering. two points in favour: it's not a very big selling point for most junta; the faster a product fails, the earlier the customer hits the market.

Isn't it funny? so many products failing ever so often right after warranty ends? like it had a timer?

forget all that. panasonic is not honoring it's warranty as on date.

 

[Dirac]

you can continue to justify high product failure rates with 'innovation' being behind them. But the way I see it, they just spend less on reliability engineering. two points in favour: it's not a very big selling point for most junta; the faster a product fails, the earlier the customer hits the market.

Isn't it funny? so many products failing ever so often right after warranty ends? like it had a timer?

forget all that. panasonic is not honoring it's warranty as on date.

Yes. Panasonic has to honour the warranty and replace the panel. Afterall they should be having statistics of how many panels could fail per say 10000.
So they should have already prepared for the eventuality of discounting them.

 

[himanshurajan]

I had the same problem with my 42 inch UT50 model just after 2 months from purchase date. I had contacted the service centre and they said the problem is with the panel and they dont have any new panels available. They replaced the TV with the fresh TV within 2 months. But I am worried that will this problem occur after 3 years of warranty, what can one do.