Toshiba 40RF350U 40" LCD TV

Within 17 months of purchase, my Toshiba Regza (a $1,500 television set) is unusable. About 1/3 of the screen is covered with multicolored vertical lines. The authorized repair center wants $2,000 in total to fix the TV set (it requires an $1,800 part). Toshiba customer service tells me I am out of luck because the product is out of warranty. They were not particularly nice, helpful, understanding, or at all interested in learning more about what is an obvious design defect in an allegedly high-end product. It is obviously within Toshiba's discretion to service out of warranty products which have such profound failures within such a short period of time. I will never buy another Toshiba product and will share my negative experience with as broad an audience as is possible.