ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Suprised nobody mentioned this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...cs-market.html

I'm sure many people will have a go at Philips in one respect or another because something they made went wrong. But IMHO, the loss of such a brand in home appliances is a sad one. Also one of the more innovative brands that had a better focus for EU buyers.

Much like Pioneer with their Plasmas; Philip's last generation 9000 series LED tvs IMHO is/was the best LED TV you could buy. Because quite simply Philips had perfected motion processing that actually worked a long time before the Koreans even realised it was a problem (even our old Philips CRT had natural motion processing). They also realised the shortcomming of edge lit displays and pushed the matrix/full array backlighting when other manufacturers like Sony cheaped-out and fobbed us off with edge lit panels on their top of the range models...disgraceful.

The problem is they were/are the most expensive LED Tvs on the market, but without the brand cachet like Sony or Panasonic to appease the brand snobs. Failure was inevitable. Shame.


I've always been a fan of their TVs....I still have a 1980s 28" G11 CRT and a early 1980's portable in the roofspace (did have a late 1980's portable too, but I chucked it at the tip when it developed a dry solder joint somewhere)

The g11 I have is a bigger version of this:
http://www.philipstv.org.uk/blog/wp-...3/no-3-660.jpg
http://www.philipstv.org.uk/blog/wp-...3/no-2-660.jpg
It was our old lounge TV that I spent my childhood stuck infront of. One of the first remote controlled TVs...not infrared...but ultrasonic: http://www.philipstv.org.uk/blog/g11...emote-control/

Still in full working order bar a few dusty volume/picture pots....Philips unreliable? Who'd have thought a thirty year old TV made by them still works?

When I get my house sorted and moved in, I was going to have the spare room done as a cinima/HI-Fi listening room, but instead I now plan to have it as a Retro-electronics room. I've already have some bits and bobs...a 1970's/80's Sony music system, a 1950's GEC streogram. 1980's Philips CD midi system (Ken Barlow on Coronation street still has one :lol1 ), 1980's Panasonic VHS recorder etc. Still unsure if I should decorate it with 1980''s wall paper

dpb

Thought about one their leds, couldn't really justify it

So went for panasonic plasma in the end cos of reviews

If they had some fancy Dan name I reckon they'd still be going


Can't actually recall anything there's that's failed in fact

dpb

Scrub that iv got a Cd723 downstairs which is iffy now, could be something to do with stacking several books on top it

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

I got rid of my Revox B77 reel to reel only a couple of years ago ... would have looked spot on in there!

Sad news about Philips.... inventor of the compact disc amongst other things!

pslewis

Philips were not in the game over the past 2 decades.

I have some of their stuff, obviously - we all have/had.

In the 60's and 70's they were a force to reckon with - so was Hitachi .... both fell away.

Most people I know had a Philishave back in the day ..... time moves on, changes are ineveitable and Companies must move very fast just to stay still.

Samsung are taking over most areas - they are even giving APPLE a damned good thrashing out there on the streets.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Stopped buying Philips back in the 80's when their after sales service became sh!te.

Wouldn't shed a tear for them now. Architects of their own demise.

corradoboy

I've always liked Philips stuff, have a 32" LCD of theirs in the bedroom. They didn't need to pull out, all they needed to do was downgrade the tired Philips name and use it for their low end items, and then introduce a sexy new brand name to capture the public interest for their top end stuff. It might be a few years before the general public en masse realise the scam, but if the products are good and well priced, everyone is a winner. It's called 'marketing'

pslewis

Lexus took a while to take off as a Toyota ...... Philips would have to build a name for reliable, advanced, goods - if they could make them they wouldn't be in trouble.

saints_forever

We have nothing Phillips in our home, neither did we in my parents, though we did in the past. Always saw their products as budget without the cheap tag, but that stems from bad experiences, the same could go with any product. At least they haven't gone under and are still operating with other departments, they may well look at consumer electronics in the future when the world is more financially stable again!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I still have a Philishave. Can't fault it...it shaves (obviously), is washable under the tap, lithium ion battery lasts for weeks on one charge and charges up in less than 30mins.

As a consumer, one thing this means is less choice, and less competition. Thats bad news for everyone.

One thing to note though is Luxeon (Philips's LED arm). I suppose a little satisfaction will come in the form that many items containing high-output LEDs, including TVs from other makers will have LEDs made under licence from them.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Well it worked for Goldstar

Goldstar stuff was really nasty quality budget shyte...some may argue it still is


(hint....they are called LG now, just in case some techno luddites haven't cottoned on yet )

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

They already tried it, called the stuff "Whirlpool".
It didn't work because that stuff was sh!te too........

I mean, come ON, it's made in Holland by workshy, dope-smoking, *****-visting cloggies........

nyscooby

iTrader: (12)

not reading this stht

Jamz3k

Philips products are fantastic by the design but damned awful by manufacture. Used to do the RTM's in my last job and the amount of Philips products that were faulty out of the box was laughable. Absolutely everything I've ever had from them including car lightbulbs, smart remotes, lcd screens have failed prematurely.

It is scary to think they produce so much medical equipment!

yellowvanman

Their LED TV's have won several What HIfi TV of the year awards, in recent years.

And hence our last 2 flat screen LED Tv's have been Phillips. As well as great picture the Ambilight feature is superb.

Shame, will have to be an overly bright Samsung next time.

corradoboy

How often do you buy TV's ? My Panasonic PDP is now +6 years old, and the Sony CRT it replaced was 10yo or so. Prior to that I had a Finlux that I bought when I was 17 and living with Mum & Dad. Three TV's in 43 years, apart from my childhood portable. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to replace the HD Ready PDP with a newer 1080p Full HD set, but I can cope with what I have

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Actually Whirlpool is NOT Philips.

Its a American brand that went into a joint venture with Philip's white goods sector in order to gain a foothold in the European market. They divorced in the 1990s when Philips pulled out of the white goods sector.

Don't know why: We still have a "pre-whirlpool" Philips built-in fridge in the shed cooling my beer...purchased in 1985 IIRC....seems to have lasted longer than your fridge

PS. The old TVs weren't Dutch; They used to be made in the UK. Don't forget Mullard tubes was part of Philips. Whom also manufactured semiconductors in the UK. So if an old Philips telly went up the spout, it was probably more the fault of some socialist gobshyte who couldn't hold a soldering iron properly (probably poisoned by the lead fumes). .