What the Measures Mean
We asked readers to rate HDTV manufacturers using five reliability measures and four service and support measures. We then judged each company as "worse than average," "average," or "better than average" based on statistically derived scores relative to competitors. If a TV maker drew fewer than 50 reader responses for a measure, we discarded the results, deeming them statistically unreliable. Some smaller HDTV vendors received too few votes for us to rate their reliability and service accurately.
Reliability Measures
- Problems on arrival: Based on the percentage of survey respondents who reported one or more problems with the TV set out of the box.
- Any hardware or software problems: Based on the percentage of survey respondents who reported any problem at all during the TV's lifetime.
- Severe problems: Based on the percentage of survey respondents who reported a problem that rendered the TV impossible to use.
- Ease of use: Based on the percentage of survey respondents who rated their TV as extremely or very easy to use.
- Satisfaction with reliability: Based on the owner's overall satisfaction with the reliability of the TV.
Service Measures
- Phone hold time: Based on the average time a product's owners waited on hold to speak to a phone support representative.
- Phone rating: Based on a cumulative score derived from the owners' ratings of several aspects of their experience in phoning the company's technical support service. Among the factors considered were whether the information was easy to understand, and whether the support rep spoke clearly and knowledgeably.
- Failure to resolve problem: Based on the percentage of respondents who said their problem was unresolved after they contacted the company's support service.
- Service experience: Based on a cumulative score derived from TV owners' responses to questions focusing on 11 particular aspects of their experience with the company's service department.
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