Re: It seems things are cheaper now but also cheaply made, am I paraniod?

"NN" <davidlaska@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1156631263.872826.244960@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maxwell McHamster wrote:
NN wrote:

I always wondered why I run into people who have some machine or
electronics that seem to last forever. What was worst that I never had
a story like that nor could I find a particular brand to buy and have a
story one day.

The old story - you get what you pay for, still holds up!

Examples:

For 15 years ago I bought A Philips "el-saver" light bulb,
you know...those new "fluorescent" tungsten-lamp-replacement-bulbs
that uses neon tubes rather than those tungsten lamps.

This one still works, and I've used it everywhere. Cost me
a pretty penny back then. They used to cost about 30 dollars
just for the "bulb" but for 15 years (and still going strong)
this is a bargain.

People don't understand "quality" today - they only understand
"price - what does it cost today?" nevermind if it works only
a year...just so they get it "half-price!"

Same with video (although most use DVD-recorders today)
I used to pay 1200-2000 dollars for a nice home S-VHS recorder
(usually from some fancy brand like Panasonic) - worked for 10-12
years easy..

Today? Purchased some crappy 200-300 dollar S-vhs recorder from JVC
that looks like a re-born ghetto blaster (more ghetto than blaster)
plastic-form-factor-all-in-one-idiot-design....last 1-2 year and
gets worn out.

Piece of JUNK!

Of course - there are exceptions -
I bought a UNITED DVD player that can
literally take ANY format and ANY region.
Cost me 60 bucks or so...lasted over 4 years...and is
still going strong, so there are no rules without
exceptions.

But yeah - the old rule still goes...you really
DO get what you pay for. Don't ever get fooled into
believing anything else.

MaxWell McHamster - yours in technology as always.

Relying on name brands is no longer a good guide because as you said,
they are cheap models also.

another example is these new lighters that have a blue flame (sorta
like a little torch). I bought one many years ago and used it for a
year, lost it and found it a year later in the dirt and used it another
two years. Now they last a month at best. I looked for the
difference and the good one was made in Japan while the junk was made
in china. There was one major part that was different, while the
Japanese one use all brass for the burner assembly with filters at two
points, the chinese ones use a
non metal flexible tube and a screen.


My parents bought a dryer back in the late 60s. It was "only" a 120 volt
dryer but it does the job quite well. It has had to have 3 belts replaced
since bought - one due to the lid bracket coming loose and cutting it. The
pulley was also replaced as well as the pig tail (thanks to a bad outlet). A
total of say $40 in parts. They paid about $100 for it then. It STILL works
like new. Oh yeah, they didn't have much money - bought it on a "Scratch and
Dent" sale.......... They sure got their monies worth. You "might" think the
electric bill is higher - but the total bill complete with the dryer used 2
days a week and TVs on all night - not to mention many other uses of
electric - $38 per month. The clothes get dried in "A" cycle with no
problem.

Our Fire Station bought a $5300 or so dollar Big Screen Tv. Within the first
month, it had to be repaired. DO YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR? NOT ALWAYS. Lets
go another route....... Air Jordan Tennis Shoes. They go roughly $70 a pair.
I can buy 7 pairs of cheap shoes for that price, and get almost as much wear
out of one pair as one pair of the Air Jordans. NAME is NOT always
"Everything"... Sometimes - you are paying FOR the name - NOT the quality.

In my own opinion, MOST items today ARE JUNK - regardless of price OR name.

L.


.

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