I've owned some higher-end Sony equipment without any problems. However, my ES DVD player recently suffered a lightening strike that took out its HDMI output. I gave it to a local tech, hoping that the problem was relatively minor and inexpensive. Unfortunately, close inspection revealed that the entire board was shot. I received a call directly from Sony, telling me that the board replacement would take until November; instead, Sony would be sending me a brand-new player, gratis. This replacement was above and beyond the call of duty; the damage was the result of an act of god, not poor quality control. Granted, the player is an ES model, which carries a 5-year warranty, but the problem was not Sony's fault. Some of the rumors about particular companies start to snowball, started for any number of reasons, good and bad. Customer service with any of these manufacturers can be dicey; from what I've seen in Consumer Reports, Sony products do not seem to be especially prone to failure. Flat-panel LCDs will lose brightness over time (not necessarily a bad thing), often as a sign of impending failure. Unfortunately, many are not easily replaceable, Sharps's being an exception. RP LCDs will need new lamps periodically. Plasma owners may be at an advantage in that respect, since the LCD lamps aren't cheap, and failure doesn't always wait the expected time.

Another couple of brief comments/observations. Stuck pixels are no longer the cause for concern that they used to be. Plasmas lose brightness over time, but consumers can extend the life of their sets (usually well beyond the time that they keep them) by not overdriving brightness and contrast. Keep the lights relatively dim, and you won't have the impulse to crank up the controls beyond the point of damage.