"Whale Friendly" Display Options?

[6L6X4]

I'm a big fan of the show "Whale Wars." I can't wait for the new season to start considering this youtube preview of what has been happening since the last season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfj5CpZ6zYY

I don't wish to start a debate regarding the morality of whaling, but I personally don't want to support the economies of nations that engage in it.

What, if any, are my options regarding my next purchase of a display from a non whaling nation? Japan and Korea are out, but what about Philips? The current Dutch government opposes the practice of whaling and of course I'll have to check into where their displays are manufactured, but are they considered any good? As good as Panny, Sammy and Sony?

Thanks!

 

[6L6X4]

Bump.

C'mon... Nobody has any love or hate for Philips displays?

 

[Ito]

Gunna go ahead and say that's a darn weird reason not to buy a display because the countries that the company is in supports whaling. I'm not "pro" or "anti." I'm not saying you shouldn't be anti-whaling either, by all means be as anti-whaling as possible. But remember you are supporting a company for a quality display, not because they are against whaling. I mean if this purchase related to whaling more directly, like if Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic all hoped aboard the whaling boat industry (pun intended) but I just feel like the conection is too little to really have it effect your purchase.

 

[6L6X4]

A lot of people make purchasing decisions while considering the social ramifications of their purchasing power. Surely you've heard of people who won't shop at Wally World based on principle. I guess you could say I am putting my money where my values are.

I do feel strongly enough about whaling not to support economies that engage in it. But in considering your reply it occurred to me that concurrent with my purchasing decisions, I should politely notify the companies I won't be buying from as to why. I think if Panny, Sammy and Sony et al get this message from enough consumers they might put pressure on the whalers to cease and desist. This goes for Toyota, Honda and the Korean car makers too!

But regardless of my reasons... Are their any happy (or not) Philips display owners here? And, is Philips my only "whale friendly" option?

Thanks.

 

[Ares]

Philips/Magnavox no longer makes Plasma TV's but they still make LCD's I did some research and found a list of people with complaints about Philips/Magnavox TV's here is a link.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/home_electronics/philips.html

P.S. Philips will cease selling TV's to the U.S. just found this out so sorry for the error in the above info.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/technology/09philips.html

 

[bandphan]

Good for your morales, bad for you HT experience. The outsourcing of components may kill you on this one.

 

[6L6X4]

P.S. Philips will cease selling TV's to the U.S. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/technology/09philips.html

Well, there goes my plans. I'm SOL now.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[AVRat]

What about Vizio?

 

[Shock]

A lot of people make purchasing decisions while considering the social ramifications of their purchasing power. Surely you've heard of people who won't shop at Wally World based on principle.

Yes but you're saying if that was you, you wouldn't buy anything made in the US because Wal-Mart is an American company.

Might as well throw out nearly every single electronic you have in your house if you actually think that way.

When those whaling ships are called "Panasonic Whale Killer 3500" then what you say would actually make some sort of sense. I don't support whaling, but give me a break, your reasoning just doesn't hold credibility.

Make sure you don't own anything from any of these companies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Japan

I'll give you a hint, if you are wearing something with a zipper, well it most likely came from Japan.

 

[6L6X4]

What about Vizio?

Hmmm... That's an interesting suggestion. I see they are headquartered in Irvine, CA. Anyone know where the products are manufactured? Are they rebranded Asian products? I'll check into them, thanks AVRat.
----------------------------------------------------

BTW, I'm not seeking input on whether or not my reasoning seems sound. I've already made my decision and am seeking options and constructive comments and I appreciate the constructive comments so far. Thanks.

 

[SopRage]

Wow. Seriously?

 

[Shock]

The only American owned company I know of is Vizio, although their panels are either totally made overseas, or are made using asian electronics.

P.S. My post was very constructive, it's intent was to show your reasoning to be pretty ridiculous. A decision based on and idea that makes no sense is an awful decision, even though you may not think so.

 

[6L6X4]

I suppose my position would seem ridiculous to someone with no social conscience and who is only myopically concerned with what affects themselves.

Frankly, I wear the ridicule of such a person as a badge of honor.

Thanks to those who recommended Vizio. I actually walked by a few Vizio sets this morning and really admired their aesthetics. I'm definitely going to research their products. AFAIK, *China is not involved in whaling so it's okay with me if Vizio's product is manufactured there.

(*Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)

 

[mike c]

I suppose my position would seem ridiculous to someone with no social conscience and who is only myopically concerned with what affects themselves.

Frankly, I wear the ridicule of such a person as a badge of honor.

Thanks to those who recommended Vizio. I actually walked by a few Vizio sets this morning and really admired their aesthetics. I'm definitely going to research their products. AFAIK, *China is not involved in whaling so it's okay with me if Vizio's product is manufactured there.

(*Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)

your cause is admirable. and the will to actually do something active is even more admirable. but it is equally myopical to think that sony/panasonic/sharp actually participate or support whaling. the world is more gray than black and white.

if i had an equally admirable cause say like "i don't like nukes", and then if i were to blacklist the americans/chinese/russians/n.koreans that would mean i don't get the pleasure of the company of you guys.

Spoiler

above is just an example. i like nukes.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Not China!!

I suppose my position would seem ridiculous to someone with no social conscience and who is only myopically concerned with what affects themselves.

Frankly, I wear the ridicule of such a person as a badge of honor.

Thanks to those who recommended Vizio. I actually walked by a few Vizio sets this morning and really admired their aesthetics. I'm definitely going to research their products. AFAIK, *China is not involved in whaling so it's okay with me if Vizio's product is manufactured there.

(*Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)

Um, China may not be active in supporting whaling, but China is the number one consumer of blackmarket endangered species. Ancient Chinese beliefs have animal parts as imbued with "magical" properties that are passed on when consumed. So by eating the flesh of a tiger, the consumer is provided with the strength of the tiger.

I'm not trying to poke fun at you, but to point out the drawbacks to a social conscience. With the global market, almost anything electronic you buy is going to have some china content and probably have designs from Korea and Japan. It's just the way the world is these days.

You could look at it from the perspective that Visio is a US based company that farms out it's manufacturing. By buying a Visio unit, the profit from that unit will mainly stay in the US and benefit the shareholders and US employees of the firm. Yes it is manufactured overseas, but more of the money stays here for better or worse.

The economic reality is it is too costly to build your own factory to solely make your own electronics like plasma or LCD tvs. So you do joint ventures or rent out your capacity to other companies so you can spread the capital cost of the tooling across many more units. It's that or build your own factory and try to sell people on a $10,000 42 inch HDTV.

 

[6L6X4]

From the outset of this thread, I asked for purchasing options for displays that didn't come from Japan or Korea. I wasn't seeking a critique of my reasoning. True, I did state my rationale, but that was only because someone was bound to ask why I wasn't interested in Panny, Sammy and Sony et al.

...but it is equally myopical to think that sony/panasonic/sharp actually participate or support whaling. the world is more gray than black and white...

You are certainly right about things not being black and white. While Panny, Sammy and Sony are not in the whaling business, the whole culture consumes whale meat that is being harvested under the guise of "research" which is just a transparent circumvention of the international moratorium on whaling.

To repeat what I said earlier about my personal boycott:

I think if Panny, Sammy and Sony et al get this message from enough consumers they might put pressure on the whalers to cease and desist.

Boycotts can have an effect and in this case I hope other people follow my lead (although it was not my intent to use this thread to further that aim.)

My objective of finding a "Whale Friendly" display manufacturer has been met and I don't think it would be productive for me to continue posting in this thread.

Thanks to all for the Vizio recs.

 

[mike c]

From the outset of this thread, I asked for purchasing options for displays that didn't come from Japan or Korea. I wasn't seeking a critique of my reasoning. True, I did state my rationale, but that was only because someone was bound to ask why I wasn't interested in Panny, Sammy and Sony et al.



You are certainly right about things not being black and white. While Panny, Sammy and Sony are not in the whaling business, the whole culture consumes whale meat that is being harvested under the guise of "research" which is just a transparent circumvention of the international moratorium on whaling.

To repeat what I said earlier about my personal boycott:



Boycotts can have an effect and in this case I hope other people follow my lead (although it was not my intent to use this thread to further that aim.)

My objective of finding a "Whale Friendly" display manufacturer has been met and I don't think it would be productive for me to continue posting in this thread.

Thanks to all for the Vizio recs.

it is your right to choose things based on your beliefs/causes.

but to say the bolded part above is just another misconception. way back, i've always thought all japanese eat sushi/sashimi all the time. apparently, not all do (and most are vegetarians).

this will be my last post in this thread because in the end, you decide.

good luck!

 

[Midwesthonky]

I suppose my position would seem ridiculous to someone with no social conscience and who is only myopically concerned with what affects themselves.

Frankly, I wear the ridicule of such a person as a badge of honor.

Thanks to those who recommended Vizio. I actually walked by a few Vizio sets this morning and really admired their aesthetics. I'm definitely going to research their products. AFAIK, *China is not involved in whaling so it's okay with me if Vizio's product is manufactured there.

(*Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)

Oh yeah, I do do the social conscience thing in my own way. I don't shop at Wally World because they don't sell US goods anymore. I bought an Oppo blue ray player because it kicked ***...I mean it's a US built player that does use foreign content. I generally do not drink bottled water unless I'm traveling or one of the kids is screaming about being thirsty.

I turn lights off in the house and won't turn them on late at night - which also means I have ripped off the toe nail from my big toe three times due to impacts with furniture in the dark. Man does that freak the wife out!! Doesn't hurt that much anymore, just bleeds a lot.

I think it's good to have some social conscience and do what you can. But sometimes we do have to be realistic about what we can do because of the global realities unless we are willing to cut ourselves off completely and buy no TV or other electronics at all. I applaud your enthusiam. Do some research and decide how much you can accept.

 

[Ares]

From the outset of this thread, I asked for purchasing options for displays that didn't come from Japan or Korea. I wasn't seeking a critique of my reasoning. True, I did state my rationale, but that was only because someone was bound to ask why I wasn't interested in Panny, Sammy and Sony et al.



You are certainly right about things not being black and white. While Panny, Sammy and Sony are not in the whaling business, the whole culture consumes whale meat that is being harvested under the guise of "research" which is just a transparent circumvention of the international moratorium on whaling.

To repeat what I said earlier about my personal boycott:



Boycotts can have an effect and in this case I hope other people follow my lead (although it was not my intent to use this thread to further that aim.)

My objective of finding a "Whale Friendly" display manufacturer has been met and I don't think it would be productive for me to continue posting in this thread.

Thanks to all for the Vizio recs.

I understand your concern, but the way things are right now you can buy a Vizio and it might have a panel from Sony,Samsung,Toshiba,Sharp or Phillips since so many companies share panels. but I did a little digging an found an article that might help you best of luck.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120820684382013977.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

 

[Shock]

I suppose my position would seem ridiculous to someone with no social conscience and who is only myopically concerned with what affects themselves.

Frankly, I wear the ridicule of such a person as a badge of honor.

Thanks to those who recommended Vizio. I actually walked by a few Vizio sets this morning and really admired their aesthetics. I'm definitely going to research their products. AFAIK, *China is not involved in whaling so it's okay with me if Vizio's product is manufactured there.

(*Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)

The funny thing is you know nothing about me, well except I make a whole lot of sense.

I was going to make a nice long post about why you had to resort to personal insults instead of trying to validate your reasoning to not buy a Japanese display. However it's really not worth my time.