This is an article that I was pointed to on a listserve for technicians. It is a good read for those getting ready to buy a new set. It points out information that has become common knowledge to techs, and a large reason for the demise of many shops and anger of many consumers. The rest of the story is that even some of the name brand companies are not supporting some products or are only supporting them for board level repair. I have a Magnavox 26" LCD in the shop right now that Philips supplies no parts for at all.
We see sets all the time for which we simply cannot get the parts, and are very hard to fix if the problem is a generic part, because we can't get schematics or any other service literature. Others are essentially unrepairable because of the cost of parts. A recent conversation on the matter with a sales rep form one of the companies that has been best about support over the years, Mitsubishi, resulted in him telling me that we should simply sell everyone an extended warranty. Others may be faced with outrageous repair costs.
http://hdguru.com/?p=107