Does Choice include spare parts availability in the comparison of products. If not, this would be a valuable criterion to assist those who are inclined to battle on and keep their ageing products going. Probably not an easy task to measure parts availability at 10 years and beyond. Still it will become increasingly important when carbon pricing fully kicks in.
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I think it would be hard to measure the need and thus the amount of parts needed. ACL requires that there is an adequate amount of spares, a manufacturer would be the one deciding what is an adequate supply. They employ actuarial staff many times to work out the cost, amount, and benefit. I donāt think CHOICE would be well placed to assess the need and thus the amount that are required.
The ACCC however should be proactively engaged in reduction of failures of manufacturers in this area. What I mean is that ACCC are active in ensuring manufacturers comply with ACL, this could mean taking Court action, it could mean having constant reminding of manufacturers of their obligations. It certainly isnāt sitting back until failure occurs.
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Further to @grahroll, it is a valid point to make, but very difficult to measure. Spares may be available when a product is new, but not after the product ages when spares are needed.
Some products canāt be repaired, so spares may not be seen as being relevant.
Choice is a supporter of the right to repair, whereby most products should be repairable when faults occur. Possibly Choiceās energies and focus should be lobbying for the right to repair rather than trying to measure if, where and what spare parts are available.
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Feel for your situation. It sucks. Especially when itās not even a component of the actual TV.
I learned the lesson a while ago to never to pay top dollar for tech.
Technology is just moving too quickly. Top of the line models are superceded and close to worthless after 5-8 years (if they even last that long). The depreciation is just too great.
I think youāre better off buying top second tier brands like TLC, Hisense (for TVs), that still provide very decent viewing for usually around half the price. So when it dies or becomes worthless and you need to upgrade itās not so bad. But until premium brands make their warranties commensurate with the premium prices I wouldnāt bother.
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And here lies the basic problem. The TV manufacturer decided to move all the smarts and inputs on to an external device. The TV itself is just for displaying what the box produces via a proprietry cable connection. There are no other inputs, apparently, to the TV.
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The current iteration Samsung promote as a āFrameā TV. The marketing promotes it as an artwork. The thin LCD or ā¦ display portion bezel can be wrapped in a picture frame to resemble an art work. The latest Samsung spiel promotes a special glare resistant finger resistant surface coating. So one can admire your library in true to life reproductions of modern and classic masters.
To do so requires all the smarts power supply and connectivity to be remotely located, hence Samsungās solution of a proprietary connected which provides power over copper and all other functions over compact fibre optic.
Itās to me an appeal similar to owning a Rolls Royce with a bespoke āunder the starsā roof lining. But a slightly more affordable bespoke feature for your home. Should one expect Samsung to look after customers with such discerning taste and needs? For those customers spending up to get that special little bit more from their purchase, it would seem a very un-bespoke attitude from Samsung to abandon customers of their premium products.
Still worth a shonky nomination even if most of us would not have justified the premium at the time. The current Frame models do however offer the latest at a more affordable price. Not a recommendation to buy. Itās also possible Samsung could at anytime in the future drop the line, or update the interface to a different incompatible version.
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I have had a similar experience ā¦ also with Samsung.
My high spec 64" TV failed because of a power supply problem.
The power supply was integrated into the TV and could not be replaced.
Technical people say that a common point of failure in electronic equipment is the power supply.
My new Sony TV has a separate power supply with common fittings and voltages.
Samsung are dodgy with other equipment eg mobile phone which donāt receive operating system upgrades after about 2 years.
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That is unfortunately fairly standard across the industry. Some are (were?) even so stingy as one year!
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Sony is no different, assuming one seeks out their mobile products.
P.S.
Iāve a Sony mobile dating back more than 7 years that is pristine and still in use on the alternate mobile phone network. Not so great a smart device now it has mobile data turned off unless critically needed, ancient Android (insecure?) and only does 3G. The battery still holds out nearly a week on standby, itās water resistant, slim and fits easily into a shirt pocket. Waste not and miss out?
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Until the 3G network is turned off in a few years time.
I also have a 2014 Samsung with a One Connect box (still working, thankfully). What a great idea the One Connect concept is. The idea is that as technology improves you swap out the old One Connect and in with the new. A single cable - wow - fantastic for wall mounting. But then, a few years later, I checked if the latest One Connect box was available. No, there were no upgrades, and since I have relegated my Samsung to a secondary location, and I bought a new LG OLED TV. Now I have a cluster of cables, clearly visible from the sides of the non-wall mounted TV. Not as neat as Samsung, but also not so catastrophic to fix
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If you have a TV box media, it is possible to have a similar connection with any make or model of TV. This is particularly the case no that live TV can be streamed through each of the TV station apps. One HDMI cable between the box and the TV screenā¦all other devices plug into the TV box. Use can be a little clunky, but after time one gets used to it. For some. mouses and keyboards can also be plugged into a media box which can also be useful in addition to the remote.
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Buy or make a cable box and put all the excess cable in it, that way you can clear up a lot of clutter and each cable enters the box and leaves the box with as little slack as possible.
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Old school. Mice and keyboards are bluetooth these days. No wires required except for charging.
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