Informed consumer or gadget snob?

Amp34 said:
This.

I always have to bite my tongue when someone blabbers on about their "bargain" they bought, similar to the gadget (or whatever) I bought for 5 times the amount. Problem is it's probably less than half as good as what I bought.

Things like TV's and monitors are prime examples. You CAN tell the difference between a cheap TV and a decent TV, there really is a reason one is 2-3 times more.

The one that really gets me at the moment (because I end up having to use them) are gardening products, things like forks and more specifically secateurs, shears and saws. They go on about these bargains they got for £5 from Tesco or something. I gulp, hold my tongue and think "maybe it'll be different this time"... Get given them, try using them and spend the next hour trying to use some piece of ****, trying not to break them...

Oh yes, you get what you pay for...:p So yeah when I buy something I make sure it's a good version, even if I only use it rarely and could "get away" with something much cheaper...
Click to expand...

I know exaaaactly what you mean. People ask why I spent £400 on a monitor, then I look at theirs and I see exactly why I spent £400. Oversaturated colours, unclear text, awful, awful viewing angles, poor connectivity, poor menus, poor styling...

Then they ask why I spent so much on headphones and a sound card, and I listen to their music and see why. Muddy, over-bassy, no positioning, poor clarity...

Why did I spend so much on my phone? Then I compare to their sub-£200 smartphone and see why.. mine actually gets through menus without having to wait, I can multitask, I don't have to punch a plastic screen to touch things, I enjoy more tactile buttons, multitouch...

"Why did you spend £1500 on a computer, OMG you're crazy, a £500 one would work just the same, like mine - damn computer, why does nothing ever work?!"...

Likewise however, I won't spend money where it doesn't gain anything. I don't own an expensive MP3 player, but if I was to get one, there's no way I'd go for an iPod. I'm not paying that much money for an apple logo and gimmicky games, I'd like good sound quality, so I'd probably go for a Cowon or some such.
 
Coming from the guy who has pre-ordered 2 x Playstation Move controllers and recharger pack, even though there are no decent games and I hardly game any more, yeah I suppose I do spend money on gadgets I don't really need.

Oh, and I'll be upgrading my iPhone from 3GS to 4 in about two weeks, even though I don't really need to.
 
Im just starting to get like this. I was bargin hunter but that was because i was a student and had to buy the cheap end of stuff. Now that im on a decent wage, when i look to buy things i dont even look at the cheap stuff now. Prime example, is i am after a new set of headphones to replace the £20 tat i brought from argos and iam not even considering anything less then £50 now. God dam life is getting expensive.
 
When I started renovating the house I set aside a hefty chunk for tools, blew the lot on dewalt drills, saws etc etc even bought a £400 second fix paslode. I'm like you I like decent stuff. Anouther example, I can't draw to well but need to for uni course so bought a wacom intuos4 in the hope it would force me to use it.
 
kinger88 said:
Im just starting to get like this. I was bargin hunter but that was because i was a student and had to buy the cheap end of stuff. Now that im on a decent wage, when i look to buy things i dont even look at the cheap stuff now. Prime example, is i am after a new set of headphones to replace the £20 tat i brought from argos and iam not even considering anything less then £50 now. God dam life is getting expensive.
Click to expand...

Even as a student I still buy decent kit. I stand by the theory that you should either buy quality or nothing at all. Buy tat and you normally end up buying the quality thing after because you realise how crap the tat is, or it breaks...

That does mean I have a long list of expensive items I need to buy (£70 Bag, £250 tent, £100 camera filter etc) but at least when I get them they last for ever and do their job properly.

Unlike cheap paint brushes which just shed everywhere (for example)... :p
 
I'm the same as you Streeteh. I'd rather own one very good item than five mediocre items that I know I won't be happy with.

I also have an expensive torch and an expensive set of power tools (that don't get a huge amount of use these days). However, I can't say I could be any happier with them. I love them and look forward to every time I use them. Cheap 'just about does the job' would not feel like that or do the job as well.

Besides, a lot of the time if you buy cheap you buy twice. Been burned by that one plenty of times.
 
i do the exact same, mid-high end pc for surfing the net, £400 DSLR for occasional photographs, £200 mitre saw which i've used three times, £40 razor when a disposable would do (that and i only shave once a week) etc etc.

whenever I buy anything I weigh up the pros and cons for a month or more and then when I eventually decide it's something I need(/want) I'm still left with a hollow feeling that I've bought something I don't really need or get any real use out of! lol.
 
I seem to vary depending on what I'm buying.

All my AV stuff is Samsung, because it matches. I won the TV through a work incentive so it made sense to get a home cinema that matched.

Mobile is a Samsung which was very much an informed decision.

Tools are very random. Some premium, some extreme budget - depending on what I'm going to use them for and how long I want them to last, and how often I'll be using them.

Fridge freezer is a generic and relatively cheap Beko, that was chosen for it's dimensions and energy rating over it's actual quality.

Washing machine is a Bosch because I know they are excellent quality and very reliable, for not THAT much more than other makes.
 
Isn't that just buying the best you can afford really? Or buying to what you perceive to be the best value?

I'm just as guilty of it I suppose. My thing, however, is getting an idea in my head and not being able to shake it. Case in point - I own a G10 plasma with Freesat. It bugged me that I couldn't use the function, so managed to get a dish from my sister to use it.

Now, I want to buy a telly for my bedroom to replace the current 32" that has Freesat, even though I should really look to get a Freeview HD TV or just upgrade the box in the room to HD.

I have a gigabit capable NAS storage box. It's purely for storage/backups, but because it's gigabit, I feel the need to buy a gigabit router (or at the very least a switch!) just so it's running to capacity. I have to juggle the desire to buy with wanting £60 for other things...
 
Scubascorpion said:
I see the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy **** we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact.

;)

Can't say I'm any better, I prefer clothes from House of Fraser instead of TK Maxx, prefer my shopping from Waitrose rather than tesco. I feel like the extra cost is somehow reflected in the quality but I doubt it actually is if its analysed.
I detest buying cheap ****
Click to expand...

couldn't agree more, however i like tesco rather then Waitrose, and don't buy jewellery/expensive clothing, expensive items that aren't meant to last. my laptop i want best i can get as i want it to last, my tv not so much
 
Streeteh said:
It's just dawned on me that i have... well i'm not going to say problem as that's too strong a word, i'm going to say 'issue'.

I like to own 'good' things. By this i don't mean necessarily luxurious items, more that i like to own an item that is considered above average for a specific task, even if my personal hobbies don't lie toward its intended use. I tend to just stick to one of each item, i'm not particularly well off and i'm not a 'collector', i just like to have it 'just in case'.

Examples would be, today i just bought a flashlight for £40. I don't need a £40 flashlight, i just disliked the idea of buying a £12 one as 'i might need a good flashlight in the future!'. I shave with a Merkur razor instead of a disposable, to be fair i did get shaving rash with the generic brands and it has helped, but i don't need a £30 razor in the big picture of life. I own one of every peripheral for my PS3, not that i use them all. I have a mid-level leatherman, not that i do much DIY. I own a fairly decent cordless drill, but i use it once a year. I buy blu-rays instead of DVDs when i can. I own CX-300II headphones when i only use them for the occasional jog. I have good rechargeable batteries, when cheap ones would be fine. I wear a watch that cost £120, when one that cost £20 would do the job just as well. I have a blackberry when a cheaper phone would be just fine i'm sure.

Its strange, i don't need these items, but i buy them as i might. I also don't spend too much, for example i didn't buy a flashlight that cost £100, i didn't get a watch that cost £300. I don't believe in owning the best, i just believe in owning something that's 'better'. Not to gain a misplaced sense of superiority, not in the delusion that i need that item, purely because i know i'm getting something 'good'. I also only shop for a specific use, for example i cannot see a specific use that i'd make of an ipad, so i cannot justify buying one. I can see me using a torch however, so i managed to justify that to myself. I also research meticulously, i do not buy based on what one guy on a shop floor has told me is good, for example i use a £4 HDMI cable as i know it will provide just as good a picture as a £100 one would. I also price hunt and will always buy at the cheapest price i can find. Anything i buy (within reason) has to be researched, and has to be better than the bog standard.

I guess i'm just rambling, maybe there's a point in there somewhere. Does anyone else 'consume' in the same manner as me?

Am i an informed consumer or am i a gadget snob?
Click to expand...

Bret Easton Ellis said:
I live in the American Gardens Building on W. 81st Street on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman. I'm 27 years old. I believe in taking care of myself, and a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine.

In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.

There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there ...
Click to expand...

But you're not as rich :)
 
PardonTheWait said:
Most people on here will be the same, we're geeky. We look into things, it's in our nature.

If I get something new, that I'm not familiar with, I'll get just slightly obsessive about it for a week or so, then when I think I know what I need, I'll buy it, and then probably never read about it again in a lot of cases, but I have a good example of whatever it is I bought.
Click to expand...

haha I do exactly the same. I research like mad because I just have to know what I'm buying.
 
I think Im the same when it comes to always buying quality, eg I'd rather spend £600 on the best 32" TV rather than getting a 50" crap one.
 
one quality flashlight or three cheap ones and a spare set of batteries?

Now do you keep your one flashlight in the house in case of a power cut or in the car in case you need to change a tyre in the dark?

sometimes its just having the right item at the right time and not the quality that matters.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom