I had a 27" sony TV that the tube died on (and they say extended warranty's don't pay off), and working in CE repair, Sony is not the quality it used to be, 5-10 years ago, I would say get a Sony, now, I would not, almost all of their product lines have gone to crap (The only thing I can think of is their small (27" and smaller) tube TV's, and their desktop computer lines (their laptops have had battery issues for YEARS) The digital camera's have lens' issues, the camcorders have head problems, the DVD camcorders just break. Their home audio recievers the amps will die on them (and there not a "clean" sound.) The DVD players have laser issues. Now I have a sony reciever, sony camcorder, sony laptop, sony DVD player, and sony CD Changer. All of these products have worked great for me, however, with the exception of the laptop (battery issues) they are also all older. The DVD player is from 1996, and still works great, and the reciever and camcorder are from 1999. (Camcorder is a D8) The reciever itself has actually been repaired twice (amp died) and is starting to sound "weak" so its on the replacement list, as is the laptop.
One thing to note: ALL BRANDS WILL HAVE ISSUES, this is just my experience with Sony. I have had plenty of other issues with other brands, etc, and there will always be that "lemon" model.
The Sony products do seem to break more often, and easier, and as plywodstatebum said, they are the most repaired electronics on the market, and I see a high percentage of sony products defective or broken.
A neighbor of mine purchased one of their LCD TV's, and the picture does not look as good as my, or sharp as my RPTV. (Some colors are washed out, others too bright, and the black/contrast level is terrible)