It's pointless stating what one 'could' have done, it's not like I was going to sit there without TV for 5 years while saving the money I wasn't spending on bulbs for a better unit.
Besides, some of the flat panels have pretty horrible track records too. How many times this year am I going to hear about another y-sus board going out, or a power supply getting taken out by a bulging capacitor? My Mitsu had no bad caps on it, all the important ones were actually Nichicons which surprised me a little.
I have an update:
I actually did the shameful thing, and called the TV repair guy. Yeah yeah, I know. For $50 they stuck it on their bench, and confirmed what I already knew: the main board is toast, but interestingly it seems to have been caused by the DMD board shorting out so I need both. Mitsu say they have both parts available, $300 for the main board and DMD for around $100. I'm hoping the repair place tells me the same, so this can be resolved for around $500. The 50 I paid to have it picked up applies to the final bill as well, so hopefully this will be resolved soon without a lot of bitching about money. They were surprised I actually wanted it fixed, but it's been a good runner for me and I can't see giving it up if I can get 5 more years out of it. How many flat screens are still around after 10 years?