# Off brand TV's... Anyone ever had luck ?



## Fif23 (Jan 2, 2015)

So the story is like this... I am stationed in Israel, where a 200$ LG TV in Amazon costs around 700$ here... Not sure why. 
They do have those odd "Fujicom, Innova, Neon, AGFA," and all kinds of crap for half the price of the imported brands. 

They look OK, I guess, but the question is what is the deal with these TV's ? Can they even last more than a year or is it a complete waste of money ?

At these rates it's either those cheap TV's that most list FHD 120HZ or nothing... I'm not paying 700 bucks for a 32 monitor


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## R-T-B (Jan 2, 2015)

My parents bought a "Mintek" that was good believe it or not.  Well, kinda good.  It still runs.  I would not write home about the picture.


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## micropage7 (Jan 2, 2015)

the best way maybe you ask your friends and take a look at warranty.
some local brands offer nice quality but some is crap.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Jan 2, 2015)

I've had experience with Fujicom 19" monitor, it was actually a pretty nice little monitor! Decent colours, pretty good pixel density. The guy only paid the equivalent of $50 USD for it, and for that price it was well worth it


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## BumbleBee (Jan 2, 2015)

Fif23 said:


> So the story is like this... I am stationed in Israel, where a 200$ LG TV in Amazon costs around 700$ here... Not sure why.
> They do have those odd "Fujicom, Innova, Neon, AGFA," and all kinds of crap for half the price of the imported brands.
> 
> They look OK, I guess, but the question is what is the deal with these TV's ? Can they even last more than a year or is it a complete waste of money ?
> ...



try and look for a Plasma television.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 2, 2015)

If a hdmi port on any tv back feeds voltage its junk to me.

The worst ones ive seen this on were LG and Sony Units. Samsung and Panasonic were the least prone.


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## Fif23 (Jan 2, 2015)

OK, so local guy here has a FHD LG 32" to sell.
It's either that, at around 180$ converted, or about 400$ for a 40" low end korean/fujicom/etc. 

Get the LG ? Top viewing distance will be about 6.5 ft


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## WhiteNoise (Jan 4, 2015)

A bit small but if you don't mind then that is a lot of money saved.


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## Raw (Jan 4, 2015)

eidairaman1 said:


> If a hdmi port on any tv back feeds voltage its junk to me.
> 
> The worst ones ive seen this on were LG and Sony Units. Samsung and Panasonic were the least prone.


How would one know if a tv does have a backfeed issue while shopping in a store or online?
One would need to have it powered on and be able to check with a meter.
Any store I have ever shopped at would never let you use any kind of electrical test equipment on their for=sale product, on their premises, due to many issues, liability being one major factor.
Maybe if you were buying from a private individual if you approached it right.


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## micropage7 (Jan 4, 2015)

Fif23 said:


> OK, so local guy here has a FHD LG 32" to sell.
> It's either that, at around 180$ converted, or about 400$ for a 40" low end korean/fujicom/etc.
> 
> Get the LG ? Top viewing distance will be about 6.5 ft



looks good but dont forget to ask him about whats in package? and you may ask about warranty too
since its secondhand and you dont know how he treats the tv


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## digibucc (Jan 4, 2015)

my vizio was off-brand when i bought it - now it's the next thing. research specs like everything else and forget about the brand name.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 4, 2015)

Raw said:


> How would one know if a tv does have a backfeed issue while shopping in a store or online?
> One would need to have it powered on and be able to check with a meter.
> Any store I have ever shopped at would never let you use any kind of electrical test equipment on their for=sale product, on their premises, due to many issues, liability being one major factor.
> Maybe if you were buying from a private individual if you approached it right.




Foreign Voltage Detector 

http://www.toolup.com/milwaukee_220...scplp1088838&gclid=CPbczJ6S-8ICFejyMgodUCYAfw

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Telco-Sales...rg=20140407115239&rk=6&rkt=30&sd=251703685651

The reason I know of this is because I worked as a Premesis Technician for AT&T and when a TV back feeds voltage into a TV box it can damage that box, if the TV box is a wired box it can send that voltage back to the modem and knock it out damaging it. and the way you test the TV is hook a HDMI chord to it and put the FVD to it, if it shows any voltage on it don't use that TV. There is an issue with TV ports are not terminated/grounded properly. Those ports are called Inputs for a reason, not outputs.


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## Raw (Jan 4, 2015)

eidairaman1 said:


> Foreign Voltage Detector
> 
> http://www.toolup.com/milwaukee_220...scplp1088838&gclid=CPbczJ6S-8ICFejyMgodUCYAfw
> 
> ...



I hear you and I know what a FVD is. I own one. And I own a few Fluke meters too.
What I am saying is your local Sears, Best Buy, WalMart, etc. would probably not be too happy letting you walk in to the store with a meter (or a FVD) and a HDMI cable, hook up your cable to their television and use test equipment in their store. Most of the display models are chained together anyways and the rear of the tv is not even accessible in most stores around these parts.
And if the item you want is not on display but boxed, forget it. Not going to happen here.
I'm not saying you are wrong at all, I know you are correct.
I just don't know how you could check without causing issues in the store.
Heck in most stores around here you can't even find a sales person, much less one who was willing or had time to help you out.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 5, 2015)

Raw said:


> I hear you and I know what a FVD is. I own one. And I own a few Fluke meters too.
> What I am saying is your local Sears, Best Buy, WalMart, etc. would probably not be too happy letting you walk in to the store with a meter (or a FVD) and a HDMI cable, hook up your cable to their television and use test equipment in their store. Most of the display models are chained together anyways and the rear of the tv is not even accessible in most stores around these parts.
> And if the item you want is not on display but boxed, forget it. Not going to happen here.
> I'm not saying you are wrong at all, I know you are correct.
> ...



well you can take the product home and then return it. Voltages affect comcast equipment aswell, I heard though that most who have a TV with the ground chord have the problem as per this link which i find odd. Most Ive told either have an electrician check the grounding of the home or get a different TV. Just my findings have said Sony or LG were the most prone to foreign voltage on a TV.

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/47113/answer/submit


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## Raw (Jan 5, 2015)

Good information to have and thanks. I am passing it on to everyone I know.
My nephew just last week bought a 75 inch Sony tv and he lives downtown in a new High Rise tower, on the top floor.
I hope his tv checks out ok. The thing weighs about 100 pounds. It  will be a hassle to get that back to the store as it's mounted on the wall, it takes 2 guys to get it down and he already threw out the box. Then as it is a brand new built high rise the elevator isn't working yet. He needs to use the stairs, it's twelve floors down. The elevator won't be ready for at least a month, he has been told by management.


update: We checked his television and it is ok. And the elevator is working now, 3 weeks earlier than anticipated. I guess they were just waiting for a final inspection and permit from the city.


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