[AnotherUnixGeek]

Sony has had issues since all the management shake up back in 2000 or so. Their commercial division is still solid but less of that engineering has filtered down to consumer line.

Perhaps someone better informed can verify or deny this, but I've heard that Sony has begun moving manufacturing out of Japan and quality has dropped off as a result. My last 36" Trinitron XBR broke down within two years of purchase, which certainly never happened with any previous Sony TV I bought. Also, Sony's engineering and electronics products seem to be increasingly dominated and crippled by the intellectual-property protection demands of their entertainment division, which cripples products such as the PSP. The rootkit introduced into buyers computers by one of Sony's music CDs convinced me - no more Sony.

I keep seeing good reviews on Samsung for LCD televisions, and I'm considering Pioneer for plasma.

[ejonesie22]

A large portion of their consumer electronic production has moved to their factories in Malaysia. It is widely assumed that’s where the quality has dropped off. Seems even Japan has outsourcing issues.