On Thursday, March 24, 2011 1:12:50 PM UTC-7, wrote:
[no sound on HDTV] . I am
looking at this $80 TV that has worked for about 18 months and am trying to
figure if it is worth fixing.

If it has stereo sound, one bad capacitor wouldn't take out both channels.
And, if there are audio inputs (like for a DVD input), you can try
an external sound source to see if the amplifiers and speakers are OK.

Firstly, you have to exercise the problem, see what part of the block
diagram the fault is in...

Second, you have to inspect the hardware and determine which components
are in which block. If there's a melted thingummy and you can see the crater
where it lost its smoke, things get easier.

Then, with about twenty minutes of work into the job, you think about 'worth'
issues.