It is funny you should say that, robinird, about customer reporting on products that actually work.

I have not had a great deal of luck with modern Philips products, although I have been very lucky with my DVDR800 DVD recorder (famous last words). I tend to avoid Philips now. It is a shame because they have/had a flair for innovation but then appear to ruin it with dreadful quality control and/or reliability. Such a shame.

I dare say there are many Philips customers out there with very reliable products. Do not forget that we tend not to hear from those whose products are working well because they are simply happy with them! This is a bit like the doctor: we only go when we are ill, so that is when the doctor hears from us. At every other time of the year, when we are well, the doctor hears nothing from us and so assumes all is well. It is what is reported that matters, although I dare say there are also many Philips and other customers who simply return their products without registering any formal protest at the apparent unreliability of Philips and other products.

I have a Ferguson 15-inch TV made in the UK (early 1990s) that has a Philips tube and lots of Philips electronics inside, and it is very reliable, but a recent Philips 15-inch TV (the nearest equivalent) we got a few days ago was awful straight out of the box. Cost of the Ferguson in 1990: £300; Philips in 2006: £100. Go figure!

So, as you can imagine, we took the Philips back and put the old Ferguson back into service! The Ferguson was serviced by a local engineer n 2004 for just £4.40 in parts! LOL Wonderful!

This topic has risen to the top of the post list again. Thinking about it I have probably had more problems over the years with Sony products than Philips. Worst experiencein last 5 years was however with an Aiwa (Sony 2nd brand) stereo system that my teenage son paid good money for which blew its firmware chip after 15 months use and would have cost nearly as much as he paid for it to repair. Replaced it with Philips kit (Better audio spec, less gizmos, lower price, still works after 2 + years)
Generally I would favour Panasonic or JVC kit as I think they generally have best spec -give best PQ for former and best popular brand audio for the latter. Also have not had any reliability problems with Panasonic/JVC kit.
But of course Panasonic and Philips VCR's were made in the same European factory and Panasonic CRT TV's sold in Europe and I think the USA were all fitted with Philips tubes and used a lot of Philips components. Not sure where any manufacturer stands these days in LCD market as to source of supply.
Last edited by Gilson : 29-07-2006 at 23:29

I used to have a JVC hi-fi system, but there was a problem with the volume control. All of a sudden the sound used to go really loud by itself. I remember dozing in bed one night and I'd set the sleep timer. Well, at 1:30am it suddenly went full-blast and I nearly had heart failure!!! Three of my friends have also had the same problem with the volume control on their JVC hi-fis.

I have a JVC camcorder, though, and it's the best!

Any more stories about Philips home entertainment products knocking around? Are they still going down the pan or are they turning the corner?

Turned the corner, had understeer and went straight off into a horrible mess!!

Turned the corner, had understeer and went straight off into a horrible mess!!

It's true....

There seems to be a hell of a lot of Phillips gear in my local Cash Converters. Any ideas why?

That's a real puzzler........

Customers have long memories when it comes to products breaking down. 30 years ago I owned a Philips reel to reel tape recorder that while under warranty spent weeks at a Philips repair centre only to come back with the same fault. Philips eventually changed it but by then the damage was done. I vowed never to buy a major product from them again as I perceived problems with their products and their service. Even now I would still not buy any costly item from them.

I bought a Philips flatscreen CRT telly at new year, 6 months on I remain delighted with it

You'll be glad you didn't buy one of their LCD or Plasma sets then, they're very bad.

I've gone through 3 Sony CD players in only 5 years. I don't know why I still buy Sony!

Is that just a Philips thing though? When I was deciding to buy the CRT, I had a good browse at the various LCD sets in the shops. Most of them look very bad.

I think these posts are worthy of inclusion here:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=588463

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=584795

They've got a familiar ring to them.....

Oh, another one.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=566642

So the message seems to be "DON'T BUY PHILIPS!" , right?

Definitely.

Or Sony. Not because their products are poor but because they are a bunch of

Its always been known that Philips are good with ideas but shit when it comes to actual production.

Philips is shit

Sony is shit just more expensive

I think it's time to put this thread to bed.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! (Pity you can't say the same about a lot of Philips products).

Good old Philips aftercare:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=612951

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=622607
Once again, sounds familiar.

Just found this thread ,glad to see the Sony hate brigade active on it.
I purchased the worst DVD recorder ever made the DVDR980, a machine of legendary unreliability, it went back to Philips 3 times in as many years and now sits in a cupboard after a fourth disc reading error. That and many TV problems have made my home a Philips free zone ever since.