In sci.electronics.repair Bee wrote:
Make up your mind. You have now shifted from poor design to inferior
manufacturing standards. "Cut corners" is what you are now singing.

They go hand-in-hand in most cheap stuff.

component. Solid state components last forever. Transformers and

They don't.

condensers (nowadays also solid state) change parameters over time (minimal

Nowadays??? Electrolytics still have fluids, and transformers never
changed design in a major way.

in solid state components) initially but remain stable thereafter.

They won't. Electrolytics dry out, faster so in a poorly designed
apparatus. Also cheaper electrolytics will have less tolerance for avuse
or even for use.

apply to all whether big name or no name manufacturer. All are in the same
boat. Cutting corner in the selection of components is meaningless.

Admittedly, Philips made a mistake buying cheap power switches from
Stelvio that don't last too long and can cause spectacular shorts, but
the really cheap brands do this all the time as well.

Television is a mature product. The design is standard. Any refinement, if
indeed desired (different manufacturer have different perception) by the
consumers, will be implemented as a priority. The alterations virtually
cost nothing. When one implementation is warmly received by the public,
every other manufacturers follow suit. Unlike computer software, there is
no secret proprietary circuit design (there are too many equally good ways
to accomplish the same task). Research? Whatever the new fashion of
outward cosmetic is, yes; otherwise, no. A flatter screen, a shorter tube,
a more brilliant phosphorus... or whatever else (I'm referring to a radical
change of direction here) have all been done and finished with. The money
is now on solid state panels.

I agree with you that there is not too much new development in
traditional TV design, but your lack of understandig the aspects of
different technical designs and implementations of those designs, do
indicate you don't have a relevant electronical background. You should
gain some more experience in the design AND repair business before
judging technical stuff from a consumer point of view. Otherwise you're
better off juding stuff only by the features and price, as most
consumer magazines have traditionally done and still do.

Cutting corners is a vague vernacular. The off hand treatment of Turkish or
Chinese chassis exposed your prejudice, not evidence in support of your
argument. Why has JVC taken an unknown manufacturer for the innards of its
14" model?

Because it is cheap. Nowadays it seems every 4:3 JVC TV-set is made by
Vestel of Turkey. They can only afford to manufacture more expensive
models themselves, nowadays. Statistically, Onwa sets have always been
more vulnerable to defects (anyone remember the 2 small caps in
virtually every related design (not only Onwa but also a few more
standard designs that are virtually the same) that always loose capacity
after a few years and cause damage through overvoltage?). I do see
Vestel chassis with various defects as well. A friend bought a 28"
Vestel JVC set, of which the power supply crapped out after only a few
weeks. It was replaced under warrantee, so I have not analysed the
defect, but chances are that costs were cut a bit too much.

All electronic equipment nowadays are remarkably reliable and should last
forever (the critical components being minerals in sand) save a replacement
of mechanical parts. If the equipment works without fault in the first
couple of months, if not in the first hour, then there should not be any
problem from then on. Well....until the time comes when an 'upgrade' is too
tempting to be ignored.

This was true for most solid state equipment from the eighties and
nineties, except maybe some really cheap stuff (*). It is not anymore.
Main cause: demand from the public for cheap stuff. You can't expect
premium and long lasting performance for low cost.

(*) Yes, even Philips made a crappy design in the early nineties (G90B
chassis), and this was French, not even Turkish :-P


Met vriendelijke groet,

Maarten Bakker.