When you visit local electronics stores or scan weekly advertisements and internet sites to find a new television, you'll likely take notice of eye-catching deals on cheap TVs. The cheapest televisions on the market can be purchased at prices ranging anywhere from £20 to £150 less than top-rated brand names, but they also come without the reliability and support you can expect from well-known manufacturers.
While buying a cheap TV may feel like a bargain, you might not get the chance to experience hours of quality entertainment as you'd hoped. Many of these low-cost electronics are unbranded products that are not designed for long-term use. In most cases, unbranded cheap televisions will not offer the same visual quality and will probably malfunction after a short period of time.
Can You Really Cut the Cost?
Although a lower price tag seems appealing, in the long run the cost of buying a cheap television may be greater than you think. Consumers often believe that price is purely influenced by brand name, but that is not entirely true. Popular brand name electronics companies do charge a premium, but this additional cost is directly related to the product's quality.
The price of a television is largely determined by its interior workmanship, which influences the product's lifetime, the ease of repair, and your overall viewing experience. Brand name manufacturers devote considerable time to developing improvements for their TVs in order to maintain a superior reputation and ensure customer satisfaction.
However, the cheapest TVs are produced by unknown manufacturers and assembled in substandard factories outside of the UK. These manufacturers are difficult to track down when you need replacements or repairs, so many consumers give up and give in to the cycle of buying cheap televisions again and again.
Tube televisions are now being replaced by expensive, hi-tech LCD and plasma TVs. There is even more risk of finding faulty products when you purchase cheap LCD TVs and cheap plasma TVs. A poorly made plasma television will quickly experience burn-in and won't offer the energy efficiency of expensive models, while a cheap LCD TV won't have the best colour output.
What is the Long-Term Price of Buying Cheap TVs?
No matter how much you save on the initial purchase, you will feel the consequences of frugality later on. Unlike branded models with accessible customer support, the cheapest TV models won't come with dependable warranties and quick response for replacement and repairs. If you require professional repairs in the future, there will be difficulty contacting the manufacturer and locating the appropriate replacement parts. If the television becomes unusable and it is too late to receive a refund from the store, you will receive no reimbursement of your expense and will need to purchase another product.
Making an electronics purchase based purely on price is never a good idea. Without realizing it you may be buying the same inferior, cheap televisions from a manufacturer that sells under different company names. To avoid stretching your wallet with little to show for it, focus on buying high-quality brand names that have been marked down. These brands have earned their reputation by consistently producing first-rate products with the best technology and up-to-date features, so save yourself a lot of wasted effort and leave the cheap televisions on the shelf.
