I'm interested in hearing from anyone that currently works (or has worked) in the AV industry (sales, repairs, management, design) about their opinions of the overall reliability regarding Panasonic, Samsung, and Pioneer HDTVs. I recently spoke with a salesman who said that out of the three, he experienced the most repair issues with Pioneer.

The information that I've been able to find would suggests that Panasonic is the most reliable over an extended period of time (several years). If you want to post your own, subjective experiences that would be fine, but what I'm really looking for is information from people that have surveyed a much larger data pool through their work and professional experiences.

Manufacturers don't share reliability data or meantime to failure info. So, the best that someone like Consumer Reports can do is to survey customers which has it's own faults and biases. Even from CR data the differences in failure rates are only about 1% between manufacturers

The only thing I've seen is the Consumer Reports thing that omelet mentioned...they rated flat panels in general (lcd/plasma) higher than rear projection/DLP and Panasonic as the most reliable among the flat panel makers. Of course I don't know how they gathered their data and there didn't seem to be a huge gap between the best and worst maker.

With the latest technology I have found that all three are good.

Consumer Reports rates Panasonic and Pioneer at 2% and Samsung at 5%

In my personal experience, the Pioneer 5080 I own has been hands down more reliable than the Samsung 4253 I owned and it suffers ZERO IR at any time, which was always a concern with the Samsung.

Can't speak for panasonic, but there's some CRAZY deals on panny's lately, so might be worth a look if you haven't viewed a kuro.

I tell people there's plenty of HDTV's, but viewing a kuro is like seeing HD for the first time again, keep your eyes off a kuro and you won't be disappointed in your purchase.

I owned a consumer electronics repair company for over twenty years (although I left the field some time ago). At the time we were an authorized repair center for more than forty brands including the three you refer to. Based on those years of experience my reliability rating is 1: Panasonic, 2: Pioneer, 3: Samsung.

It's usually acknowledged within the CE industry that Panasonic's in-warranty failure rate (for all products) is about half the industry average - my own experience would confirm this. I have no such numbers for the other brands in question, but based solely on my own experience I would rate the Pioneer as average and the Samsung below average. The only other companies I can think of that are still manufacturing plasma televisions are LG, Sanyo, and Visio, all of which are below average in reliability. Sadly this limits our choices to two reasonably reliable brands (fortunately they both make a nice TV).

Frankly it amazes me that more people on this forum don’t consider reliability before making such a major purchase.
Good luck with your decision.

I owned a consumer electronics repair company for over twenty years (although I left the field some time ago). At the time we were an authorized repair center for more than forty brands including the three you refer to. Based on those years of experience my reliability rating is 1: Panasonic, 2: Pioneer, 3: Samsung.

It's usually acknowledged within the CE industry that Panasonic's in-warranty failure rate (for all products) is about half the industry average - my own experience would confirm this. I have no such numbers for the other brands in question, but based solely on my own experience I would rate the Pioneer as average and the Samsung below average. The only other companies I can think of that are still manufacturing plasma televisions are LG, Sanyo, and Visio, all of which are below average in reliability. Sadly this limits our choices to two reasonably reliable brands (fortunately they both make a nice TV).

Frankly it amazes me that more people on this forum don’t consider reliability before making such a major purchase.
Good luck with your decision.

In the electronics industry a couple of years is a lifetime. You admit you have been out of the business awhile so I'm not convinced that your assessment is valid today. Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world and their production strategies rival any company. Having worked with them I know this first hand. Finally, since they are the largest flat panel producer in the world they will have more incidents than a Pioneer. I have Samsung plasmas, phone and other products and know people that also own and have never heard of a problem.

I'd trust those who repair this tech daily as knowing best what is quality built and what isn't. An authorized depot will know about manufacturing flaws and defects of a given model or brand long before a CE company admits to them. From the techs I know it's pio 1, panny 2, samsung 3.

In the electronics industry a couple of years is a lifetime. You admit you have been out of the business awhile so I'm not convinced that your assessment is valid today. Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world and their production strategies rival any company. Having worked with them I know this first hand. Finally, since they are the largest flat panel producer in the world they will have more incidents than a Pioneer. I have Samsung plasmas, phone and other products and know people that also own and have never heard of a problem.

Although it's true I sold the business years ago it continued in operation until last July. I often stopped by to visit and we'd naturally talk 'shop'. Nothing in those conversations suggested anything had changed in terms of quality between these companies from what I stated in my previous post.

My opinion is based on seeing thousands of products from these companies (inside and out) and from talking to people who are still in the industry. Your general dislike for Panasonic is well known on this forum. I don't know of ANY creditable source that rates Samsung products to be more reliable than Panasonic. I'd like to think I'm open minded but until something convinces me otherwise I stand by my previous assessment.

In the electronics industry a couple of years is a lifetime. You admit you have been out of the business awhile so I'm not convinced that your assessment is valid today. Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world and their production strategies rival any company. Having worked with them I know this first hand. Finally, since they are the largest flat panel producer in the world they will have more incidents than a Pioneer. I have Samsung plasmas, phone and other products and know people that also own and have never heard of a problem.

I hear ya omeletpants. I'm confident with Samsung and given their large customer base for flat screens over more than a few years now, I guess most people are happy with them as well.
Most of what is said by some here is purely anecdotal and lack any scientific basis. In another thread, someone mentioned higher repair rates for Pioneer so you really can't go by what a few yahoos might say.
Oops, I did it again (said something that may be unflattering about kuro) :eek:

Although it's true I sold the business years ago it continued in operation until last July. I often stopped by to visit and we'd naturally talk 'shop'. Nothing in those conversations suggested anything had changed in terms of quality between these companies from what I stated in my previous post.

My opinion is based on seeing thousands of products from these companies (inside and out) and from talking to people who are still in the industry. Your general dislike for Panasonic is well known on this forum. I don't know of ANY creditable source that rates Samsung products to be more reliable than Panasonic. I'd like to think I'm open minded but until something convinces me otherwise I stand by my previous assessment.

I respect your opinion but unless someone has hard data it's all anecdotal. Contrary to what CR wants you to believe repair frequency is a heavily guarded secret by manufacturers. I remember Panasonic having the worst cordless telephones yet that was in the past and to judge current products by that experience isn't credible.

Why not call a repair depot and ask? oh nevermind - they're yahoos with anecdotal data - untill you need your set repaired. Talk about defending your purchase..wow. Samsung products are great bang for buck units but there is no free lunch. No one is saying they are bottom of heap-not even close- but they are certainly not the top either. I own a samsung lcd and like it and would buy one again but that is because it works well and was good value. What a tech can tell you is design flaws at the board level that make a set a time bomb. If you upgrade every year you likely don't care. Some of us want a great set that will last 5-10 years with no repair. That's like a free extended warranty and makes the set far more attractive to me, especially if I'm spending large. Another trick is to buy a set near the end of a production cycle when issues like poor cooling and failing components have been worked out on the production lines, not the first run (been a new adopter and regretted it). As long as you are realistic about what you buy (forget listening to salesmen) you'll enjoy whatever you buy.

Costco put out what they call a home almanac a few months ago with information on certain types of products and blurbs from a number of sponsors. There was a small Samsung ad - the Samsung ad started off by saying (and I'm paraphrasing) that CE companies in this day and age will be known for brand recognition rather than quality or reliability and went on to talk about their positioning/brand strategy....after re-reading it I though that was a really dumb way to introduce your brand - seemed like they thought of quality/reliability as afterthoughts when a lot of consumers will always weigh them heavily. I have a Hitachi RPTV that we will replace this weekend b/c of its poor reliability so I am one consumer where it's a huge factor. For the record I will never buy another Hitachi!!

In the electronics industry a couple of years is a lifetime. You admit you have been out of the business awhile so I'm not convinced that your assessment is valid today. Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world and their production strategies rival any company. Having worked with them I know this first hand. Finally, since they are the largest flat panel producer in the world they will have more incidents than a Pioneer. I have Samsung plasmas, phone and other products and know people that also own and have never heard of a problem.

Well omeletpants I don't think he was saying Samsung was bad just that in his experience(which seems like a lot) he gave us his opinion on reliability. To me when people say things like "I have Samsung plasmas, phone and other products and know people that also own and have never heard of a problem" makes me question their opinion."Having worked with them I know this first hand" I would think you would know nothing is perfect and you will have a problem somewhere along the line.It may be minor overall but it's a problem.
Anyway just my two cents and time to get back on topic.

Good example. Hitachi made some top tier crt hd rptvs - then they cheaped out on components and failures ruined their excellent reputation in the hdtv segment. They are now trying to turn that around but maybe too late for many buyers. As to samsungs positioning in the market they are on track with the disposable mentality many buyers now have. It's the computer market thinking of selling on features and price and outdating as soon as it's produced so upgrading for these new "must have features"will be quick and reliability is an after thought. Thing is so many of these features are nonsense. I'd expect to see 90 day warrantys quite soon. It's just the way things are going.

Repair depots can't know unless they know the volumes sold in the area they service.

They can't know failure rates by percentage. They can know build quality and number of design flaws and known issues from one brand to another (usually poor component or design related).

RicheyPoor, I'm with you that's why I bought my daughter a Panasonic instead of a Samsung........Reliability!

I also have nothing against Samsung & in fact I bought one of the 1st VCR's that they imported into this country. Sofar I still consider Samsung as being the GE, RCA of today & I think that was the market they were going after when they entered this country & they are not an upscale company yet like Panasonic & Sony but that could change in the future.

My daughter ran into the guy who will be taking over Samsung in the next few years & the first thing she said to him was that you could sell a lot more products if your quality control was better & he said that was something that Samsung was looking into because they really do want to become the Best Electronic's Company In The World.

In the future I would'nt even be surprised to see Samsung come out with & upscale brand under a different name.

But I do have to say that I always thought that Samsung made better products than GE or RCA & it's one of the reasons those brands are no longer with us.

I hear ya omeletpants. I'm confident with Samsung and given their large customer base for flat screens over more than a few years now, I guess most people are happy with them as well.
Most of what is said by some here is purely anecdotal and lack any scientific basis. In another thread, someone mentioned higher repair rates for Pioneer so you really can't go by what a few yahoos might say.
Oops, I did it again (said something that may be unflattering about kuro) :eek:

You mean like you here, a person that has to call anyone who says anything bad about Samsung a yahoo or fanboy....which is the only reason you posted.


I owned two Sammy's and two Kuro's and a Panny.....only one of the two Sammy's had any issues.(4 stuck pixels in first two weeks, not to mention the aweful dithering which is why I don't own a Samsung)

I owned a consumer electronics repair company for over twenty years (although I left the field some time ago). At the time we were an authorized repair center for more than forty brands including the three you refer to. Based on those years of experience my reliability rating is 1: Panasonic, 2: Pioneer, 3: Samsung.

It's usually acknowledged within the CE industry that Panasonic's in-warranty failure rate (for all products) is about half the industry average - my own experience would confirm this. I have no such numbers for the other brands in question, but based solely on my own experience I would rate the Pioneer as average and the Samsung below average. The only other companies I can think of that are still manufacturing plasma televisions are LG, Sanyo, and Visio, all of which are below average in reliability. Sadly this limits our choices to two reasonably reliable brands (fortunately they both make a nice TV).

Frankly it amazes me that more people on this forum don’t consider reliability before making such a major purchase.
Good luck with your decision.

This post is right on the money, except the differences are even greater than one can imagine between the three. Anyone here visit the factories?

Why not call a repair depot and ask? oh nevermind - they're yahoos with anecdotal data - untill you need your set repaired. Talk about defending your purchase..wow. Samsung products are great bang for buck units but there is no free lunch.


Yeah, it is being a yahoo and it is being anecdotal. These depots aren't doing statistical analysis, they can only speak for their facility. They can't quantify the numbers they see compared to other authorized service centers in the area, and so on.
I know we live in a bumper sticker culture but seriously, what you seem to advocate is as useful as asking a drunk what is the best scotch whiskey out there. If that works for you well, to each his own! :cool:

realize there's a thing called statistics, right? you know, where sample means and variances can be used to infer population means, etc? If even one repair shoppe owner tells me that, say, Panasonic* panels come in half as often as the rest...I would tend to agree there's a strong chance that means they're twice as reliable overall.

*disclaimer: I'm a happy Panasonic owner!! hehe. I bought an LG LCD tv earlier this year and the remote didn't even work. apparently not even a rare problem either! duh...remotes are an pretty important thing to get right in a TV

but seriously, what you seem to advocate is as useful as asking a drunk what is the best scotch whiskey out there. If that works for you well, to each his own! :cool:

Yeah, crazy isn't it? Sort of like asking a mechanic what vehical is best - just nuts:rolleyes:
Better to come here for all the imperical data, give me a break.

I owned a consumer electronics repair company for over twenty years (although I left the field some time ago). At the time we were an authorized repair center for more than forty brands including the three you refer to. Based on those years of experience my reliability rating is 1: Panasonic, 2: Pioneer, 3: Samsung.

It's usually acknowledged within the CE industry that Panasonic's in-warranty failure rate (for all products) is about half the industry average - my own experience would confirm this. I have no such numbers for the other brands in question, but based solely on my own experience I would rate the Pioneer as average and the Samsung below average. The only other companies I can think of that are still manufacturing plasma televisions are LG, Sanyo, and Visio, all of which are below average in reliability. Sadly this limits our choices to two reasonably reliable brands (fortunately they both make a nice TV).

Frankly it amazes me that more people on this forum don’t consider reliability before making such a major purchase.
Good luck with your decision.


That was one of my main concerns when I was shopping for a new plasma. I was all set to get a PN50A550 as I've been hearing great things about it. However, I was surprised at what I saw when I went to a few local stores to check it out. The TV had major issues at three different stores! First at Fry's, it was in one of their display rooms shut off. I turn it on, Half of the screen has a red tint. OK, fair enough, we have a defective unit. Then I make my way over to Sears, and the TV has a completely distorted, blocky picture to where you only see bits and pieces kind of like a mosaic effect. It couldn't have been the feed as all of the other TV's were fine. Then I head over to Magnolia to check out some tv's and lo and behold, the Sammy had a ****ing red line down the middle! :mad:

Reliability is a huge factor for me as I don't want to be the guy having a defective TV 4 months down the road dealing with crappy customer service all day long. Obviously not all Sammy plasmas are defective or will have issues down the road, but what I saw that day is pretty inexcusable when you're considering reliabilty! It's a shame too, because one of my friends just got one and it has a damn fine picture!

Samsung and LG have very tempting products but in the end reliability is more important than any additional feature.