I think the "flat screen televisions last only two years" cliche has been repeated over and over so often it is now believed as truth, and is now all but worn out. The early FPs may have lasted only two years or less, but today's flat screens can and should last much longer than that, especially when one considers that very large flat screens are very expensive--over $1k for 40-50-inch sets. The 70-inch ones go for $4k+, a large enough sum of money that most people can only afford to spend once (if that much) on a television. The smaller sets tend to last the longest. I see posts to Insignia's support forum from people who own mostly larger sets, 50 inches and up; very rarely do I see posts for service advice on sets 19 inches or less. My own Insignia 19" FP is just out of warranty, is in daily use for a couple hours each day (it isn't on eight to ten hours a day as some FPs are), and still works every bit as well as the day I bought it.
The brand name on the set may have some bearing on the TV's longevity. Polaroid, Craig, et al. flat screens may have very cheap electronics, cheap capacitors that will swell and bulge after a year or even less, but Panasonic and other well-known brands, including Vizio, should last somewhat longer than just two years. However, FPs are more sensitive than older SS and tube CRT sets to power surges, lightning strikes and the like, so perhaps some of the two-year life span reports are legitimate, coming from people whose FPs have been damaged or even destroyed by such (these sets are probably not protected by surge protectors
, but plugged directly into AC outlets, which can and often does shorten the life of the set). I know someone who has several 52-inch flat screen TVs in her house, all of them well over two years old; every one of her sets are still working quite well, the last I heard. There are large FPs in use in stores, offices, doctors' waiting rooms, etc. that are on eight hours a day up to six or seven days a week; one doctor I see regularly has a large-screen Vizio set in his waiting room (used for patient information, not program viewing), installed just less than a year ago, and the last I saw it, it was working fine.