Everyone knows you get what you pay for. And that old adage certainly applies to HDTVs.

The HD Guru did some research on off-brand HDTVs (AOC, Apex, Coby, Digital Lifestyle, Dynex, and Element to name a few) and found with the cheap price comes a flimsy warranty.

Even if you get a TV with a warranty, often there’s no local repair service, forcing you to pay for a shipping carton and freight charges to obtain a warranty repair, says the HD Guru.

Here are some of the worst offenders:

Corian USA’s Digital LifeStyle HDTVs

According to its CSR, Corian stopped selling LifeStyle HDTVs. The Corion rep added it no longer honors the warranty and provides no parts or service on its HDTVs.

AOC offers a one year parts and labor warranty, but you have to ship it to California and pay the return freight.

The cost of a carton, shipping and insurance for its 42” LCD (using a UPS store shipping from NY to AOC in Freemont, Ca) is about $181.00. The cost of its latest model 42” HDTV at Target today is $699.99, making freight and box over 25% of the replacement cost!

The manufacturers with the better warranties are:

Curtis Mathes - One year parts/labor, provides replacement set and pays all shipping

Honeywell - 3 years labor, 5 years parts

Click here to read the HD Guru’s entire report.

Related article: The Pros and Cons of Cheap LCD TVs