A report by WCPO, Channel 9 Cincinnati consumer reporter about low-end HDTV and inability to get repairs:

http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/localshow...55-4a02378a1f97

I bought a Yugo and was shocked when it broke down.

You get what you pay for.

No sh--?!?

As for Target, I went in there once when I was shopping for a new toaster. Just by the dilapidated condition of their store and help, I wasn't expecting much; literally worse than Wal-Mart. Then, the only toasters they had in stock were ~$80. Their electronics department is a fcuking joke; look online and they have like 20 items. If they put half the effort in making their stores look and function better as they do in making their TeeVee commercials... their business model is 90% marketing and the only way they get by is signing fruity name 'designers' to put their autograph on cheap Made in China crap and getting the lemmings with a hipster cover song.

I refuse to buy knockoff brands for bigger items. Going with a long-time reputable brand isn't an absolute guarantee that things won't go wrong, but.... Coincidence that people report the cheapo products lasting to just after the warranty expires? Wares of all kinds are designed to fail in short order --- it gets people back in the stores, which is what our economy is now based on and what our society's throwaway mentality has become.

A variant of the Fiat 127/128 series. See also the Lada.

I happen to know a lot about the vehicle(s). It was a decent design save the electrics - easily fixed by the usual changes at low cost penalty by anyone who gave a sh*t. But they didn't.

But the many variants were assembled in Italy as well as in the Commie block with, breathtaking incompetence. The unibody was infected all over with rusting flanges and cold, popping, failing spot welds. Corrosion protection measures approached zero.

Interesting. Here in Rochester, Target is definitely on the higher end of that type of store. Significantly nicer than Wal-Mart.

Same here. Other retailers would do well to emulate Target's hiring practices. Their clerks are uniformly intelligent and pleasant...and unlike competitors K-Mart and Wal-Mart, there are always plenty of cashiers.

Well, we do live in an era where it would prolly cost more to get the dam thing repaired in the States than it would cost to buy a new TV made in the Asia-Pac somewhere. I know I have a 5 year old DLP that I have never replaced the bulb. When that needs replacing, I will have a decesion to make as we are prolly talking $400 for it, and is it really worth it at that point? I hardly watch the thing anyway, prolly why my bulb is lasting so long.

Now, on my outside porch, I have a 32 inch Westinghouse LCD, never comes in, been out there for close to 2 years. Paid $599 i think for it. If it breaks-out she goes and in comes a new one for prolly $499. Thats the TV i watch 90% of the time, and i think its great

Remember the tv tube testers that were in drugstores? There good ole' Dad would stand, determined to fix that old Philco or Admiral.

Some of those old tvs were pretty nice pieces of furniture. A poster here (Rockpile?) was trying to resurrect one of those console units, the ones that were several feet wide and had a turntable, radio, and storage cabinets.

Too bad the factory was one of the first things to get blown up when the war broke out...

???

What factory? What war? The Fiat 127/128 series was hatched in 1969...

Same here in Central Illinois