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HDTVs now Made in the USA

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I'm betting that a vast majority of the parts will still have to come from overseas, but it is a step in the right direction. I'm not aware of fab in the US that is capable of building large LCD panels for instance.

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I'm betting that a vast majority of the parts will still have to come from overseas, but it is a step in the right direction. I'm not aware of fab in the US that is capable of building large LCD panels for instance.

 

Dan,

 

I was thinking the exact same thing... I think they are misrepresenting the facts in the article... Assembled in the USA does not equal MADE in the USA... but I guess it's good that at least some of the work is being done in the USA. I would bet that most of the parts are still made in an asian country.

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Dan,

 

I was thinking the exact same thing... I think they are misrepresenting the facts in the article... Assembled in the USA does not equal MADE in the USA... but I guess it's good that at least some of the work is being done in the USA. I would bet that most of the parts are still made in an asian country.

 

That's pretty much true all around. Look at cars - a lot of parts are made overseas.

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If "assembled in USA" is successful and takes off, eventually there could be more and more components "made in USA" due to supply chain cost savings. It makes sense to manufacture the stuff closer to the consumers...

 

Bringing manufacturing back to the US is tough business. We have to make it easy and cost effective to build stuff in the USA! We have to relax and/or simplify regulations and rules.

 

I can imagine how complicated it is to open a factory in the US today with all the federal, state, and local regulations, permits, licenses, insurance, etc etc that needs to be satisfied.

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If "assembled in USA" is successful and takes off, eventually there could be more and more components "made in USA" due to supply chain cost savings. It makes sense to manufacture the stuff closer to the consumers...

 

Bringing manufacturing back to the US is tough business. We have to make it easy and cost effective to build stuff in the USA! We have to relax and/or simplify regulations and rules.

 

I can imagine how complicated it is to open a factory in the US today with all the federal, state, and local regulations, permits, licenses, insurance, etc etc that needs to be satisfied.

 

DEP alone is a nightmare...

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Last year I visited a factory for LCD panels being built by LG in South Korea just a few miles from the DMZ.

It was friggin gigantic.

This picture just shows some of the workers dormitories being built:

img0950cs.jpg

 

Here's the factory:

img0968v.jpg

 

And here are some ROK pillboxes along the highway up from Seoul (at that point the highway runs along a river which is the border)

img0975w.jpg

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You'd think it would be more cost effective to build large flat panel TV's here in the US rather than build them overseas and ship them. Shipping costs are pretty expensive from the far east.

 

I remember back in the 70's when we were shopping for a new TV for the family, the Sony TV's from Japan were much more expensive than the American made Admiral and Zenith brands. We bought an Admiral, it was still working thirty years later (with no repairs) in 2005 when my dad replaced it with a 50" Samsung. The Samsung needed a color wheel replaced after 5 years (it literally exploded) and the lamp was replaced at the same time. The lamp was normal maintenance for a rear projection set, but that color wheel should have lasted longer IMO.

 

I guess they just don't make them like they used to. People are so worried about how long the LCD panel or the plasma panel will last in their TV, but that's not the part that will probably fail. (unless you physically break it)

 

I routinely pick 3-5 year old flat panels from the trash and repair them. Mostly power supply issues due to substandard components. I would buy based on brand reputation and quality rather than origin of manufacture. My last purchase was a Panasonic plasma. Hope it lasts 20 trouble free years like the Magnavox it replaced. (which still works)

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Last year I visited a factory for LCD panels being built by LG in South Korea just a few miles from the DMZ.

It was friggin gigantic.

This picture just shows some of the workers dormitories being built:

img0950cs.jpg

 

Here's the factory:

img0968v.jpg

 

And here are some ROK pillboxes along the highway up from Seoul (at that point the highway runs along a river which is the border)

img0975w.jpg

 

I somehow have a feeling that, perhaps, in just a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy way, this was sort of an F-you to North Korea. They hardly have food, despite their glorious leader, yet the South Koreans are one of the best economies in South East Asia.

You'd think it would be more cost effective to build large flat panel TV's here in the US rather than build them overseas and ship them. Shipping costs are pretty expensive from the far east.

 

I remember back in the 70's when we were shopping for a new TV for the family, the Sony TV's from Japan were much more expensive than the American made Admiral and Zenith brands. We bought an Admiral, it was still working thirty years later (with no repairs) in 2005 when my dad replaced it with a 50" Samsung. The Samsung needed a color wheel replaced after 5 years (it literally exploded) and the lamp was replaced at the same time. The lamp was normal maintenance for a rear projection set, but that color wheel should have lasted longer IMO.

 

I guess they just don't make them like they used to. People are so worried about how long the LCD panel or the plasma panel will last in their TV, but that's not the part that will probably fail. (unless you physically break it)

 

I routinely pick 3-5 year old flat panels from the trash and repair them. Mostly power supply issues due to substandard components. I would buy based on brand reputation and quality rather than origin of manufacture. My last purchase was a Panasonic plasma. Hope it lasts 20 trouble free years like the Magnavox it replaced. (which still works)

 

That's the insanity of it, our labor in America, though of better quality, is SO overpriced, it's cheaper to outsource the job overseas, and then import it to America. Personally, I think this is due to the unions... We may disagree on the cause, but that, likely along with government regulations, seem to out price American labor to the point where products we make, even though they're higher quality, are totally outpriced by Asian goods.

 

I do believe that American products are the best made. Though it's not an EXACT comparison, look at some of the old service rifles, with a little care, they still operate just as well as they did when they were new.

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I pretty much agree with most of your points, but personally, I don't associate quality with origin of manufacture.

 

I am typing this message on an IBM ThinkPad that is about 7 years old. It was built by a company called "Lenovo" in China. It is very high quality. IBM eventually sold their PC business to Lenovo and Lenovo is selling under their own name, shedding the IBM brand.

 

The Ruger SR9 and the High-Point C9 are both built in the USA, yet both of them are considered garbage by some people. (and some love them)

 

Many OLD things made here in America (and elsewhere) were built to last. From toys to electronics, things were built to last generations. The stereo receiver in my living room is a 1962 Fisher. Sure it's hooked up to modern speakers and CD player, but it still works and sounds as good or better than what they build today. Do you think a new surround sound home theater system will be around and working 50 years from now?

 

Our society has turned into a "disposable society". Nobody repairs things anymore. When things break, they get replaced - not repaired.

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"It's got Sony guts......"

 

LOL - that's the standard line a a lot of retailers. "Their all the same inside anyway"

 

While it is true that some electronics firms farm out the manufacturing to the same company, they are all built to spec. They are not the same.

 

Some TV's may share common components too. There are only a handful of manufacturers that make large LCD and plasma panels, so that no name plasma TV may have a LG, Samsung, or Panasonic plasma panel. But the rest of the "guts" could be poorly assembled junk.

 

I favor Panasonic because they also manufacture a lot of the smaller components that go into their TV sets. (capacitors, resistors, etc) I was in the repair business for some time, and the Panny's were always the best made stuff. Sony went down the toilet in the 80's. Made a lot of money off of Sony repairs. Their big advantage was the patent they held on the Trinitron picture tube. (they did have the best picture) The patents expired, and picture tubes are outdated technology now. No real reason to buy a Sony now other than brand recognition.

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"It's got Sony guts......"

Even if some components are produced by other firms, that doesn't mean the quality of a product, indeed, of even those specific components within the product are the same. I mean, look at airsoft, you should know about that. Companies like Echo1 though claiming to be American airsoft companies, tend to outsource their stuff overseas, however, they have better Quality Control, and specify their designs to be slightly different, and made with better materials than some of the cheapo airsoft brands.

 

I mean, if you compare a piston manufactured to JG's specifications, to one manufactured to Echo1, there's a world of difference, even though they're made by the same company.

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Just a little bump. I was in Target yesterday and it appears they are selling the Element Electronics' USA assembled TVs. They currently only had the 46" LCD with JBL audio, at a cost of $499. You cannot miss them, draped in American flag packaging. Also as per their Facebook Costco has the 39", 46"LED, and 50". Also by the end of september there will be up to a 70" and more retailers will be carrying them.

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I love how the cost of manufacturing always involves the "UNIONS" remark. Maybe it is the willingness of foreign countries, and their citizenry to live in poverty that is the problem. If you notice, none of them can purchase the products they make in their own country. Maybe if we stop supporting countries that willfully support the abuse and impoverishment of its citizenry, we could be a level global economy, instead of what we have now..

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DEP is bad, how anyone could believe this country, or any industrialized country can be brought back to pre-Columbis emission levels with todays tech have issues. Wantant disregard for the destruction of our planet, can not be tolerated either. Guess one day we can find a happy medium, but a medium nun the less. Not a lopsided all or nothing as the DEP sees it...

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