[JCFitz]

One big design problem I've seen with plasmas especially is their use of COF(chip on film) ics.The actual drive ics for the plasma panel are mounted on the ribbon cables going to the panel.If one should fail they are not replaceable and the panel must be replaced.Usually causes vertical lines or horizontal lines in the picture.If they short they can shut the whole set down.None of the boards in Plasmas are component level repairable making them expensive to repair and have to get the propietary boards from the manufacturer.A lot of times they'll only sell the parts to a factory authorized repair center.Same with the boards in LCDs.The lamp is expensive in the DLPs and LCD projectors and short lived.Depending on use and on-off cylces I've seen a year or so on average.A lot fail long before a year is up.They advertise 2 years.Also Plasmas are power hogs.Look at the wattage rating on a Plasma.Some of them exceed the wattage of an old tube type color console.