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-   -   tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc? (https://www.diybanter.com/electronics-repair/46039-re-tackiest-brand-names-worst-brands-tv-vcr-stereo-etc.html)

Lance Dyer July 21st 04 02:00 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
WallMart oxymoron..................Durabrand

"b" wrote in message
om...
I am constantly amazed at what weird /unheard-of/ downright cheap 'n'
nasty-sounding "brand" names continually pop up on the front of 'brown'
goods like TVs,Videos and stereos. Most of the culprits appear in large
national supermarket and electrical stores. So, here are some of the
tackiest I have found so far (UK and Europe). (NB. Most of the
equipment also lived up to its tacky name by being either of low
quality or impossible to find service / & parts info.) Anyone else got
names to add to the list?

Sonitron (TV VCR)
Roadstar (TV VCR)
SoGo (TV / audio)
Kniessel (TV/vcr)
Unisef (portable audio)
shan (car audio)
Cathay (portable audio)
Mikachi (clock radio)
Artech (portable audio)
Yokan (TV)
Playsonic (TV)
Beko (TV)
Ansonic (TV)
Vistar (TV)
JRC (TV)
gran prix (portable audio)
silvano (portable audio)
MX Onda (portable audio)
Blue sky (Tv, audio)
Saivod (TV, audio)
SEG (TV/VCR/Audio)
Oskar (portable audio)
Radiotone (TV/portable audio)
Gelhard (car audio)
Schneider (TV/VCR/audio)
Shinko (vcr)
Shintom (vcr)
Sanwa (vcr)
Pershin (audio)
Basic line (TV/VCR)
Firstline (TV/vcr)
Redder (TV)
AR systems (TV/ portable audio)
Crown (audio)
Binatone (TV/audio)
Fidelity (TV/audio)
Alba (TV /VCR /Audio
Matsui (TV/VCR/Audio)
Hinari (TV VCR/ Audio)
Saisho (TV/VCR/Audio)
Proline (TV/VCR/Audio)
(Konka, Funai - from the US I presume)
-----
Looking forward to your contributions!
Ben




ivan July 21st 04 02:00 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 

"b" wrote in message
om...
I am constantly amazed at what weird /unheard-of/ downright cheap 'n'
nasty-sounding "brand" names continually pop up on the front of 'brown'
goods like TVs,Videos and stereos. Most of the culprits appear in large
national supermarket and electrical stores. So, here are some of the
tackiest I have found so far (UK and Europe). (NB. Most of the
equipment also lived up to its tacky name by being either of low
quality or impossible to find service / & parts info.) Anyone else got
names to add to the list?

Sonitron (TV VCR)
Roadstar (TV VCR)
SoGo (TV / audio)
Kniessel (TV/vcr)
Unisef (portable audio)
shan (car audio)
Cathay (portable audio)
Mikachi (clock radio)
Artech (portable audio)
Yokan (TV)
Playsonic (TV)
Beko (TV)
Ansonic (TV)
Vistar (TV)
JRC (TV)
gran prix (portable audio)
silvano (portable audio)
MX Onda (portable audio)
Blue sky (Tv, audio)
Saivod (TV, audio)
SEG (TV/VCR/Audio)
Oskar (portable audio)
Radiotone (TV/portable audio)
Gelhard (car audio)
Schneider (TV/VCR/audio)
Shinko (vcr)
Shintom (vcr)
Sanwa (vcr)
Pershin (audio)
Basic line (TV/VCR)
Firstline (TV/vcr)
Redder (TV)
AR systems (TV/ portable audio)
Crown (audio)
Binatone (TV/audio)
Fidelity (TV/audio)
Alba (TV /VCR /Audio
Matsui (TV/VCR/Audio)
Hinari (TV VCR/ Audio)
Saisho (TV/VCR/Audio)
Proline (TV/VCR/Audio)
(Konka, Funai - from the US I presume)
-----
Looking forward to your contributions!

Don't you have to be careful condemning various makes of appliances out of
hand, especially when in many cases they are just a brand name that can turn
up on virtually anything?

I'm surprised you haven't included companies such as Hitachi and Toshiba in
the list, considering that some of their models use the same Vestel chassis
as Beko.

Over the years I have also found that Matsui and Saisho receivers and VCRs
could incorporate anything from Panasonic to Grundig and Orion chassis, to
name but a few of the various permutations that one is liable to encounter,
you'll also find a lot of Goodman's stuff is manufactured by Philips.

I own a fairly cheap w/s Crown TV receiver, which uses a nicely made
chassis, very similar to one found in some Grundig receivers, it also uses a
Panasonic CRT.






Ben




LASERandDVDfan July 21st 04 03:57 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
Don't you have to be careful condemning various makes of appliances out of
hand, especially when in many cases they are just a brand name that can turn
up on virtually anything?


True, too. I've seen some cheaper model Toshiba TVs turn out with an Orion
chassis.

Also, many of the cheap companies can only afford to hire an OEM source for
their products instead of manufacturing their own stuff. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan July 21st 04 03:58 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
WallMart oxymoron..................Durabrand

Heheh.

How about Best Buy's "Classic" or "Audiophase" brands.

Another one:

Venturer - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan July 21st 04 10:08 PM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
Fair comment. For example the name Sonitron

Another set of names come from those wonderful people who make those greatest
high end speakers that are sold out of the back of white vans. :-p

Grafdale, ripoff of Wharfdale
Paradygm, ripoff of Paradigm
Acoustic Response, ripoff of Acoustic Research

Dahlton, Dogg Digital, and Theater Research are also other brands that are sold
in the back of vans and are utter pieces of crap.

These speakers are built with thin particle board with no bracing. There is no
internal insulation. Shoddy drivers are typically used. Small gauge wiring is
typically used. There is an underdesigned crossover circuit, if there is one
inside at all. At least they look nice, but they aren't worth $200, much less
the $1000+ these speakers are advertised for.

You have to see the frequency response curves of these things, one person
commented that it's like looking at a roller coaster ride at a Six Flags theme
park, and I am forced to agree. There have also been instances where these
speakers blow at moderate listening levels.

Even a cheap $100 amplifier could blow these speakers before it reaches
anywhere near clipping. - Reinhart

William R. Walsh July 22nd 04 06:16 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
Hi!

I've found the recent string of Hitachi-LG CD/DVD drives that identify
themselves as "HL-DT-ST xxxxxxxxxxxxx" drives rather entertaining.

It's not a particularly strange name like others have mentioned, but I'd
still love to know what (if anything) it might stand for...and when you
consider that many drives have quite a descriptive ID string, it is odd.

William



ivan July 22nd 04 12:49 PM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 

"b" wrote in message
om...
Fair comment. For example the name Sonitron: Opening up such a VCR (in
the 80s), I discovered it was a Sanyo (Fisher) clone. (in those days
Sanyo still made some respectable low to mid-price goods). However,
you can't deny that the name sounds tacky, (almost trying to evoke
Sony) and as such deserves a place on the list!
Ben


'Pacific' is a name I'm beginning to see more of, sold by Asda (Wal-Mart)
although I haven't had the back off one yet, but picture wise, the ones I've
seen so far, appear to have given a pretty good account of themselves.

I automatically assumed from from your original list that you were based in
the UK, however looking at the receiver fitted with the flimsy looking two
pin plug, I'm now not so sure.



"ivan" wrote in message

...!
Don't you have to be careful condemning various makes of appliances out

of
hand, especially when in many cases they are just a brand name that can

turn
up on virtually anything?

(snip)




ivan July 22nd 04 08:33 PM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 

"b" wrote in message
om...
"ivan" wrote in message


'Pacific' is a name I'm beginning to see more of, sold by Asda

(Wal-Mart)
although I haven't had the back off one yet, but picture wise, the ones

I've
seen so far, appear to have given a pretty good account of themselves.


Yeah. Picked up one of their 40 pound dvd players to leave at my
folks' place - seemed ok but then, I only used it once in the space of
a year. As for their other products - can't say.

I automatically assumed from from your original list that you were based

in
the UK, however looking at the receiver fitted with the flimsy looking

two
pin plug, I'm now not so sure.


I live in Spain but am from the UK. And , yes, the spanish /european
plugs are terrible! In my unbiased objective humble opinion, the UK
3-pin system is the best in the world ;). And you, are you another
ex-pat from UK but living in Berlin?

Electrical goods prices still seem to drop almost by the day, for instance I
recently saw an angle grinder complete with two cutting discs retailing at
£7.99...12 months ago I paid £5 'each' just for the discs.

Also if one shops around, it's possible to find twin speed videos for around
the £30 mark, and only last week, my brother bought a DVD player in
Woolworth's for twenty-five quid.

I'm resident in the UK, what made you think I live in Berlin?

Mind you the way things have been going over here for the last few years,
and with my mortgage paid off, I dream about selling up (before the the
crash!) and buying something cheaper abroad and then living on the money
thats left over, unfortunately however it will have to remain a dream, as my
wife is so attached to her family that's it's a total non-starter.



regards, Ben




LASERandDVDfan July 23rd 04 03:36 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
I remember that affair well! One day years ago at university ,passing
through the campus after returning from the town, having placed an
order for a pair of wharfedale floorstanders at the local HiFi shop I
was approached by some dodgy characters in - wait for it - a white
van.


Heheheh.

Although, these days, they'll drive anything that can hold product, from a
beat-up Chevrolet Astro all the way up to a pristine Lincoln Navigator.

Or, for Europe, from a beat up Ford Transit to a pristine Range Rover.

It is shocking that this appears to be a worldwide affar. Apparently, it
started here in the 1970s in the States and then spread to other countries over
the years.

There have been instances in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan, and I
think even in Germany with possibly many other countries.

And, I am also sorry to say, that this foul business will most certainly not go
away for quite some time. There are too many greedy suckers who think they
will be bagging themselves a good deal, and the business runs to the point
where the authorities can do almost nothing about it.

Faces fell as I told them
where I was coming from, and tried to convince me that the ones I had
ordered "were Ok but what we got here is the real ****, know what i
mean?" they then spun me some ridiculous story ... I said "no" and left them

to it.

Great feeling to dodge a bullet and look good in the process, yes?

Week or two later on BBC watchdog or some similar programme, lo and
behold I saw a trading standards report on the scam, they got a pair
of these speakers from a disgruntled duped customer and ran an
analysis on them. They came to the same conclusions as you said -
pieces of crap with awful response curves, sensitivity, phasing,
soundstage, build, crossovers...you name it. In fact I 'm fairly sure
I still have a video of the programme somewhere.....


I'd love to watch that, although the video would have to be sent through the
net. I'm afraid I don't have the capability to play PAL recordings.

Another thing I've heard about these white van speakers, they may not have
serial numbers tagged on the product or labeled on the packaging.

And, of course, common sense dictates that buying speakers out of a van from
real pushy people telling an ethically questionable story should be avoided at
all costs. - Reinhart

Michael A. Covington July 24th 04 12:06 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
Often, "off-brand" machinery of any type is simply last year's model of a
name brand. I remember around 1970 opening up a Lafayette (house brand)
cassette player and finding Pioneer parts. Other Lafayette tape recorders
were Sony's previous year model.

And some name brands (e.g., RCA) no longer correspond directly to any
manufacturing facilities -- they are just names that have been sold.



jakdedert July 29th 04 02:21 AM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
b wrote:
Fair comment. For example the name Sonitron: Opening up such a VCR (in
the 80s), I discovered it was a Sanyo (Fisher) clone. (in those days
Sanyo still made some respectable low to mid-price goods). However,
you can't deny that the name sounds tacky, (almost trying to evoke
Sony) and as such deserves a place on the list!
Ben

OTOH, some of the more respected brands have names which would look/sound
just as tacky if not for their reputation...like Awai (took years before I
ever found out how to pronounce that one), Akai, JVC, LG, Sanyo...actually
almost any of the oriental brands.

jak


"ivan" wrote in message
...!
Don't you have to be careful condemning various makes of appliances
out of hand, especially when in many cases they are just a brand
name that can turn up on virtually anything?

(snip)




Art July 29th 04 01:24 PM

tackiest brand names/worst brands TV/VCR/stereo etc?
 
Samtron, Brocksonic, Zenith, ?? All about the same overall quality??
"b" wrote in message
om...
"jakdedert" wrote in message

(snip)+

some of the more respected brands have names which would look/sound
just as tacky if not for their reputation...like Awai (took years before

I
ever found out how to pronounce that one), Akai, JVC, LG,

Sanyo...actually
almost any of the oriental brands.


I know what you mean. Often the name can sound cheesy yet the
equipment is good. For that reason I tried to include brands which A)
sound tacky but, more importantly B) I know produced junk, whether of
low quality or poor design....from having personally had first hand
experience of trying to repair it. To illustrate some of the worst
cases, there are some pics on the website at:

www.hometown.aol.com/worldoftack

regards, Ben





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