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?
Anything that separates you from the ground. So a bed, shoes, your health…
For most things in life I generally follow Adam Savage’s advice: “Buy cheap tools until you know what you really need from that tool, then buy the best version you can afford.”
However, when it comes to things that are related to safety or protect you from harm the more expensive/high quality they get, that advice goes out the window. Case in point, PC PSUs. You probably don’t want your newly built PC to burst in flames because you skimped on it to buy a poorly rated PSU.
I sometimes buy pretty new (1-2yr old) premade computers from foreign exchange students at the end of a school year. They often sell them for the cost of just the GPU, sometimes lower. The number of garbage PSUs I’ve had to swap out is ridiculous. People buy like $3k+ computers and are content with $80 PSUs it’s amazing. I’ve had them pop on me after only a couple months use. Meanwhile the PSU in my current machine was a major purchase for me back in 2010 and thing still runs every upgrade I throw at it.
It’s almost always better to not buy a cheap sex toy. There’s no regulation of the industry and many materials in cheaper toys are just straight up dangerous. Here’s an article (it’s NSFW, there are pictures) that goes over what materials are and aren’t safe.
Like thinking you’re wearing a 100% silicon butt plus to an MRI….
For the unaware: A patient wore a buttplug into an MRI, because it was marketed as 100% silicone. It had a metal core. It was rocketed up into their abdomen. The patient survived with serious injuries.
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 believe in the adage of, “If it sits between you and the ground, don’t skimp”.
Shoes, socks, desk chairs, lounge chairs, sofas, car( seat)s, mattresses…
You spend too much time in or on all of these things to be uncomfortable.
I also see posted here the Adam Savage advice of buying cheap tools first, and then upgrade after you better understand your needs. I also think that’s great advice you can apply to most things. Just not the above things.
Kitchen knives, definitely. A good knife is a fucking godsend.
Quality underwear (once you’re an adult).
A good office chair (not necessarily one of those expensive as fuck mesh ones - I hate those… But something quality).
Also, I’d distinguish between pointlessly expensive and quality.
Idiots buy expensive gaming chairs. They feel like you’re sitting on plywood. I don’t care how many colors it has im going to be sitting on it for hours a day.
Put that into a good office chair, where they put research into making sure you’re comfortable for that entire time
You can get open box, unused steelcase chairs on eBay for cheaper than “gaming” chairs, BTW. There’s no reason to buy those abominations.
Escorts
Anything that separates you from the ground for long periods of time. Shoes, tires, mattresses, computer chairs, couches, etc…
Maybe not the expensive expensive versions but good headphones and earphones make a massive difference.
Helmets
Custom building a computer? Don’t cheap out on the power supply or you might end up with a smoke machine
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.
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.
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.
