I am in Hawaii where power surges are unfortunately common. Having lost
several PC power supplies, I now use line conditioning battery backup units
to protect my PCs.
Several months ago I salvaged a Westington flat screen [LTV-32w6 HD] that
had been abandoned because the tuner failed. As the tuner is part of the
motherboard I didn't fix it was easier to use an external VCR as the tuner.
TV functions fine. I assume the tuner died in a power surge.
Yesterday, the power failed and I awoke to find that the TV had turned
itself on but no sound. Toggling mute and adding external speakers did not
work. I assumed the worst but guessed that maybe this was a microprocessor
locked into mute. I unplugged the set and tried again after 15 minutes.
Sound was restored. Whew!
I wonder how many consumers would be so lucky? Is this type of sensitivity
common? [I have a nice old 32inch CRT that has been immmune from these
problems and provides a great picture.] I'll probably add a line
conditioner, but, really, are consumers expected to be that cautious?