Sick of buying stuff that stops working

I have had the same GHD for 7 or 8 years now and it's as good as new. Most people report theirs die as soon as the warranty is up. I have wondered if my unplugging it after every use could have something to do with it? Most girls leave those appliances plugged in all the time.
Computers fry after so many start-ups. Just put your computer into sleep mode when you're done, and only restart when necessary. For laptops, just close them without powering off.
My friend and I always notice our iPhones' performance going down the drain around the same time. It's always shortly before a new model comes out.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
The age old argument then becomes...

Is it better to buy the best quality you can so you don't have to keep purchasing a replacement over and over?

I personally think you have to go extreme on this, either buy dirt cheap and think of it as disposable from the off or buy the best possible quality and get something permanant.

I bought a secondhand magimix a while ago as I got sick of "cheap" food processors breaking all the time.

It's built to last and only cost me £15, It's at least 20 years old and will most likely outlive me.

a reply to: nonspecific

I just bought a microphone to do voice over work with. I decided not to go cheap or middle of the road on it. The way I figure, I'd be upgrading several times over to get the mic I just bought and have spent more money and created lower quality work in the meantime.

There's no way I can afford a $3,200 Neumann U87 microphone -- but I *can* afford an open box display model of another microphone that beat that $3,200 microphone in a blind listening test -- smart shopping. That mic though, even used was still $$$.

I did procurement for a while and you'd be surprised at how much money people waste buying "middle of the road" quality products.

I agree, either go cheap and disposable -- or expensive and quality.

Nokia is crap. I have a Razor from 2000 that works like a charm and it is an actual phone not a computer for games.

a reply to: makemap

Nokia used to be good in the mid to late 90's...those candy-bar phones like this were dependable as all get-out!

Good old Nokia 5110:



Anyone remember those phones? You could change the face plate to a ton of neat ones...you could even replace the antenna to a flashy light up one, as well as a light up battery. When your phone went off, it was like having a rave in your pocket.

OP if you have a crappy old phone and are buying off-brand products, of course you're going to have trouble.

Planned obsolescence doesn't make sense unless the company has a monopoly. You buy something and it craps out too fast, you quit purchasing from that company and word of mouth/reviews (online now) are going to dissuade consumers from purchasing the product.

There's a big difference between crappy products that you should expect to crap out (anything Black and Decker) and what you're talking about. It's expected (or should be) that when you pay $45 for a drill it's not going to be to the same standard as a $200 drill.

You get what you pay for. If I am buying something I weigh how much I'm going to use it. The jigsaw I may use 5 times, I don't want to pay much, but I'll go a step above the lowest tier. The laptop I use daily, I don't mind shelling out the cash to buy Apple.

You get what you pay for, and a part of that is how long the product will last. With certain things, like computers and cell phones, something else is going to come along very soon that's faster, but if you avoid eMachines and don't need to be cutting edge buying a GOOD laptop is going to save you money in the long run.

Look at cars. Back in the day it was a bad idea to buy a used car with 200k miles, and that high mileage limit shrinks as you go back in time. I'm not at all worried about my car getting 200k+ miles. Cars are built better now, they last longer, they're safer, they're more economical, they make more power, they handle better, they are better in every conceivable way, but some idiots still think "plastic fenders" make them unsafe and are too dumb to use a diagnostic tool (makes it easier) and claim new cars are worse than the cars they can actually work on. The cars are better, the people that complain are obsolete and really just morons. Lets race, take your cherry numbers matching 1969 Camaro and let's race. I'll whip your ass in the 1/4, and straight kill you if there are any corners in my 4 door sedan.