I think my last big TV had me add a 4 year warranty. I know folk don't like to add such but it is cheaper than OOW (out of warranty) costs.
As to the gov, that varies with each country. For your country try google'ing consumer protection in (your country.)
Two year old Sony KDL70W850B that cost over $2600. Last December, it began shutting itself on and off rapidly. Over $300 to replace power module board. In mid May, that board failed again after 5 1/2 months and I am looking at another repair bill over $300. Sony will not admit that they have a poor design and refuse any help. Is there any government agencies that I can contact about this? ps never buy a Sony product.
. Without some sort of extended warranty or lemon policy from a retail seller, there just isn't anything else you can do. At this point it obviously makes little sense to plunk another $300 into the same HDTV that isn't stable- since there is still no warranty from that point forward. If you could downsize your screen size requirement, HDTVs in the 60" range can be bought for much better prices with more features (~$1K).
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