I grew up with $20 walmart blenders, and hated anything that required a blender.
Recently bought a ninja and there is no going back. I’ll never use a crappy blender again.
Anything else like that?
Helmets
Boots.
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
A cute little passage from Terry Pratchett, but it holds very true if you ever need boots.
Paying for quality boot work, especially the kind that can be re-soled, is worth it for anyone who has to wear boots with any regularity.
When I first got a job that needed boots I was using an old secondhand pair. It was hell. Eventually I saved up for a quality pair and was totally worth it. I’ve not underspent on boots since.
As for suggestions as to what brand to go with these days for that… I’m less sure on that because I’m researching new brands myself since Red Wings are a joke compared to what they used to be. Danner still seems pretty all right these days.
I second boots. I went through 3 cheap pairs of hiking boots (between £40 - £70) all promising the world and dry feet. In the end, sacked it off and bought all leather boots with a vibram sole. Requires maintenance of waxing them but they’ve had many miles in them now and just as good as day 1.
Generally, don’t skimp on anything that goes between you and the ground. Shoes, mattresses, tyres… your future you will hate you for cheaping out on those.
You don’t truly appreciate a good pair a boots till you park a 2 ton pallet jack on your toes and laugh it off.
Safety boots with steelcap? That’s another category though. Don’t want to use them for a walk.
That hasn’t stopped me. Just think of it as training weights.
I always walk my dog after I finish work in my steel capped work boots. The times that I actually do walk in my sneakers is so weird, like I’m not used to not having weights on my feet while I walk.
For most things, imo, there’s a middle ground. I don’t think that getting the super-high end version of anything is worth it unless you truly use it enough to justify it, like for work or a serious hobby. But the cheapest option is usually junk that will do a poor job and won’t last; if anything you’d save money by spending a little more for something decent, even if it’s not world-class.
That’s why I went ahead and got one of those 49" Samsung displays. I use it probably 300 days a year and I’ll likely keep it for 10 years like my old ones. I could have saved money but this was a luxury that I can easily justify by how often I use it.
Condoms.
- highly reputed Oxymeter in medical establishment (do not buy inaccurate smartwatches, Apple is 20x ripoff and still subpar)
- Victorinox for Swiss army knife
- Victorinox or Leatherman for multitool
- reputed branded batteries (Maxell, Duracell, Sanyo, Sony, Eneloop et al)
- reputed battery/device chargers
- PSU/SMPS and UPS for computer (APC, Emerson, Schneider and other brands)
- reputed brand watches (Casio, Citizen, Seiko have affordable BIFL options)
- ThinkPad for laptop (user repairability, third party parts, open schematics)
- Levis for jeans, they are almost BIFL
- a good weighing machine for kitchen/home use
- a good mixer grinder WITH safety lock (atleast 750W)
- quality stationery pen, mechanical pencil, leads, eraser and other items (Uni, Pentel, Sakura, Staedtler et al, refer to JetPens website)
I picked up a thinkpad last month and I’m happy with it except for: battery life. Thing gets less than 3 hours of usage. That kind of blows.
If using Linux, try TLP and PowerTOP. It sounds horrific there exist now ThinkPads with 3 hour battery.
I’ve had the same Casio watch for 16 years now, just had to change the battery once. Sturdy and precise.
Well, almost. A while ago it set itself to be three hours off, and I can’t figure out how to get it back to my timezone. I follow the steps in the manual to have it re-set itself, but it’s still three hours off.
I don’t understand where it gets that time from
Get it inspected by a watchmaker. Easiest way and should not cost much. The gears might have some issue.
For batteries eneloop are good, but so are Ikea batteries. The ones Made in Japan are basically eneloop clones for a nice discount.
I am from India, so IKEA is a less common occurrence for us, although it is here in some places. My comment was meant more as general guideline, as you can straight up look whatever I wrote, and get easily without confusion. The rebadged Eneloops at IKEA probably still is a mystery to most.
I’d take issue with the “only,” but setting that aside: musical instruments. Guitars, for example. You can find perfectly serviceable guitars for cheap and they’ll be playable with a decent setup, and you can obviously find deals. But in general, if you try your $100-$200 Fender acoustic guitar or mandolin and then go to a guitar shop and try out a high-end Martin, for example, there’s a world of difference.
I’m saying this mainly from bass perspective. But generally you have to get lucky in the cheap department to get decently good instrument. When you shift to like $500 range it gets better and for “normal use” $1000 is good enough (normal = not professional, just hobby player). Most things above $1500 are usually just waste of money to show off.
(All calculations including pre-owned prices.)
That used to be really true when I was a kid in the 79’s, but not so much today. Back then, a quality guitar cost way more than the cheap stuff and the cheap stuff was rubbish.
Nowadays, with CNC machines everywhere, there are lots of modestly priced guitars that are very playable. The junk that we used to have to settle with back in the day only exists in the realm of “toy” instruments that almost aren’t intended to be played.
Seriously, $300 can get you a very playable instrument, especially in electric guitars.
Now that more devices are on USB-C, but the standard isn’t labeled well, it’s worth getting a good cable/charge block that will regulate power appropriately.
Adam Savage had the team that does CT Scans of various products and you really can start justify why some good charging cables cost $100.
I probably wouldn’t spend that kind of money but I’m willing to spend more on one really good one that I can use in many devices.
Adam Savage had the team that does CT Scans of various products
Link?
Sorry! Just saw this.
Here you go! It’s a really good watch. https://youtu.be/AD5aAd8Oy84?si=1-XoqmDITOpMVlkt
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/AD5aAd8Oy84?si=1-XoqmDITOpMVlkt
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
For a little more than $100, you can get a Chromebook, which will come with a USB-C PD cable. And now you also have a Chromebook.
This is no joke. I had a cheap usb-c cable catch fire when plugged into my laptop.
This is so hard to specify because it really depends on a lot of factors. It’s usually more like there are specific models that are really worth getting, or pricepoints or brands depending.
Like, I don’t think cordless drill/drivers that are sub $100 are really worth it if you’re ever going to do more than screw into pre drilled or pre made screw holes. But a Bosch (blue), Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, etc are all pretty good. They’re just usually over $100.
You’re right about blenders - I never had a use for Oster blenders, but a BlendTec in 2008 changed my life (well, not really, but did do things that I have uses for at least).
Ohh, pressure cookers - I don’t want to risk it exploding, so I avoid the $70 and under crowd. Actually, I went Kunh Rikon which is pretty expensive, but also really hard to screw up (like 6 layers of safeties), and easy to get refurb parts for seals and such.
Lots of safety equipment - there’s all sorts of … “fake” in that it won’t actually work stuff at super cheap prices. I’m thinking like laser safety glasses or chain saw safety pants. Mid range is def worth it there.
Dishwashers IMHO. I’ve used cheap ones before and they clean poorly and are extremely loud. Depending on your house, you won’t want to be in the next room to them. OTOH, Bosch higher end ones, like the 800 series, cost a pretty penny, but are darn near silent and actually live up to the washing claims - shit just comes clean in them. I’m usually surprised in a good way. Oh, and that third tray for silverware - I’m never going back to the basket (though lots of brands have that now).
Stand Mixers - especially if you want to get into bread or attachments for grinding things. I strongly recommend the Bosch Universal Plus. That thing is like a power tool for the kitchen. We’ve abused it for over 10 years and it’s not slowing down. I know many people online who have had them for 30 years.
Vacuums - look into Sebo.
Definitely dishwashers. When we were poor students moving out of the dorms into our first real apartment, we cheaped out on as much as we could but shelled out more than 1k on a proper good Miele one. Got one with less features but better energy and water efficiency and it just does its job and does it well. Every time I am at someone else’s place and they have to prewash their dishes I feel more validated in this choice.
Niche musical instruments. A “cheap” hurdy gurdy can cost up to 2000 dollars and still sound like a bag of cats in a washing machine.
Some new recent models that are relatively cheap and sound okay exist now, but you really need to do your research.
I’m now really interested on how does it sound to have a bag of cats in a washing machine but there’s some ethical problems…
BearMcCreary used a Hurdy Gurdy to make the music for the TV show “Black Sails”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLXgOnIwdo
Might give you an idea how hard this instrument is to master.
Maybe not the expensive expensive versions but good headphones and earphones make a massive difference.
Anything that separates you from the ground for long periods of time. Shoes, tires, mattresses, computer chairs, couches, etc…
Custom building a computer? Don’t cheap out on the power supply or you might end up with a smoke machine
Mattress and shoes.
Both of which you use multiple hours each day, and can really break your body if they aren’t ergonomic.
The cheap ones also break often, costing you more money in the long run.
I understand the importance of getting a good mattress, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out whether a mattress actually is any good, expensive or not, without sleeping on it for a while. The whole industry feels like a giant scam.
I bought of pair of real, honest to goodness birkenstock sandals. They were stupid expensive compared to the shoes I normally buy.
…now I almost never wear any other shoe. They fit, they’re comfortable, the straps dont cut into my feet now that they’re broken in, and I can take them to the store to get resoled for way cheaper than if I had continued my pattern of buying cheap sandals and running them into the ground every few months.
Depends on your definition of “expensive”, but in general, (semi-automatic) espresso machine under $450 is probably not worth getting. Most of the time, Areopress ($30) or moka pot will make better coffee than anything under this price rage.
