I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren't worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.
Medicine. The house brands and generics are the exact same, tested the same, made the same.
Buying operating systems is not worth it. Just use Linux.
- Removed Snap
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But seriously stop buying Microsoft's shit. Even indirectly, don't buy Windows pre-installed computers unless you have a very specific reason for it.
Not 100% compatible with everything i use. I understand that advice works for most though. Or I’ve been told that at least.
What isn't it compatible with? All these people making baseless complaints about Linux driving me crazy. Most people are just too lazy to Google an error code. I'm convinced there are hidden Windows shills in the fediverse like undercover Russian spys.
Seriously people act like googling an error is the end of the world AND windows never ever makes a user troubleshoot. Like dude windows constantly fucks up and you gotta figure shit out
Lol, are you serious? Any Adobe software, Microsoft Office, plenty of games (especially those that rely on anticheat software). That's everything that comes to mind right away, there's definitely more than that when it comes to specialized software. And no need to reply with "but there are good alternatives/use an older version", this is software that is required for work and it's industry standard for a reason.
In my last couple of jobs I've found that most of the software required for work is either available as a web app or runs just fine on Linux. There have only been a handful of users needing Windows to do their jobs. It all depends on what your role is.
Industry standard so you can use Windows on a work computer and be free to use Linux at home.
I've been doing that for more than half a decade now, but the point still stands: the claim that Linux is compatible with everything is just not true, and while there are plenty of people for whom it will work perfectly fine, there are also lots of situations in which it is not a feasible solution.
I do not see myself forced to use Windows at home because I really am not. I can use alternative software, not play games with anticheat rootkits and pirate DRM media. I agree that there are tradeoffs, but I am under no threat of losing the roof over my head, so I think it to be very much feasible. Though the point of my comment was to point out (pun intended) that separating work and personal computing is actually a good thing for many reasons, one of which that you can probably use Linux.
It's a good thing users never have to troubleshoot windows then
No, buying used chromebooks from sketchy Craigslist ads with the pickup location being a van down by the river is actually cheaper and easier.
Does not run Creo. Does not run DCS. Does not run Destiny 2. These are most of what I do that needs a useful computer versus just a ipad or something. Therefore, a Linux PC would only be useful for blender and firefox. Only being able to use 40% of programs means a Linux PC is basically e waste already.
Lame and takes effort. Honestly, I already have several windows keys (ebay hardware moment).
Jusz that win7 keys are worthless now and you'd need win10 keys
I even have keys from windows 11 computers. I don't use any of them (but also don't really want to share, as that could encourage Windows use), so it doesn't really matter.
I also tend to take friends old junk computers, and most people go through the upgrade of 7->10.
Linux is not free. I already work full time job, and unlike maintaining and endlessly diagnosing countless issues that I don't experience on Windows, my actual job gives me a paycheck every week.
Issues like what? Did you ever try Linux recently or are you just repeating the same years-old info? Or do you just have an nvidia card lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An4X9E9vyn8
"So Linux is free and doesn't waste any more time than the alternative" at 8:13.
Linux will install faster than Windows, installing applications will be faster than Windows (because of the builtin graphical app manager, which unlike the Microsoft Store has most everything you want), and most of those burn all your time common bugs are fixed now. I have a computer running Fedora Silverblue, which I've done less than an hour of configuration with, and it's had no issues playing videogames, doing blender, web browsing, or any of the other normal things.
Just installed Ubuntu to a laptop I recently acquired. First time using Linux. The learning curve is real and immediate.
Water. At least here in Denmark. Bottled water is less regulated than tap water.
Dogs, rescues are just as doglike and mostly free compared to the Hapsburg simulator known as breeding
I own and train hunting dogs for upland and waterfowl hunting. I've also done breeding in my younger days. Bloodlines absolutely matter. A puppy from National Champion bloodlines has a far, far better chance of being very good at his job. This goes for ANY working breed that is actually expected to work at their job in real life. And they cost a LOT of money to buy, train, and maintain. But these aren't foo-foo dogs bred strictly for looks either.
If all you need is a popcorn and movie and sleep on the bed pet, then it doesn't probably matter very much. Find a nice rescue - they need a home and love too.
This goes for ANY working breed that is actually expected to work at their job in real life. And they cost a LOT of money to buy, train, and maintain.
TBH it depends on the work - up until the surge in demand from the pandemic, Border Collies were super cheap in the UK because it was mostly farmers selling the extra pups they didn't need. I'd imagine other areas have a local working breed that's similar. That said, they are now more expensive than rescues, and require a particularly high energy lifestyle so aren't suitable pets for most people. Most people just need something kinda friend shaped, which rescues have plenty of.
That is an issue more with owners who don't know better or are just lazy and poor at training rather than the dogs themselves. All dogs do better with activity, but even Border collies, (Long ago and far away I owned, trained and worked a pair), don't work all day long every day. Most days they might do 30 minutes of actual work. The rest of their time is spent lounging in the sun or shade. So it's less about energy and more about training. The one thing a working breed from a proper bloodline has over a lot of rescues is tractability. No matter how "high powered" they might be, if they are not willing to easily do your bidding, even at a long distances, they are worthless. Tractability means as much or more than drive.
Again, don't get me wrong. Rescues deserve and need a loving home as much as you or me. I have a rescue dog myself. His only requirement is to do tippytaps for his kibble, soak up butt rubs, (because who among us does not love a good butt rub), and keep my feet warm over the winter. But he came from a harsh place and was a very stubborn and willful dog to work with. It took me nearly 2 years of training effort to get to the lovable house pet he has become. And I'm a very highly and experienced trainer - more so than the vast majority.
Your dog is a reflection of its owner/handler/trainer.
I personally do not find expensive wine and liquor worth it. That obviously don't mean all cheap wines are good, but I find the percentage of bad wine I had at $50 - $70 range is pretty much the same as wine around or under $20.
I find the best way is to research online before you buy or go for couple known-good brands. Most of the results actually tend to be on the cheaper side (around $20 for wine, around $35 for liquor).
I can't tell the difference between wine at all. Whiskey and beer I can definitely tell the difference between cheap and good stuff, but once you hit the 80$+ range it all blends together.
grape wine sucks
there's more complexity in Shaoxing cooking wine than grape wine
also the best beer I've ever had was some artisanal non-alcoholic one, I've been trying to find it for 10 years but never succeeded
IMHO, there are two price bands for wine: under-$10, and over. I have an unsophisticated palette, but I can tell a cheap wine from a not-cheap one. I can't tell a not-cheap one from an expensive one, though. Some really expensive wines taste like crap to me, worse than the mid-range ones. That's the only time I can pick out on expensive wine: it might taste bad, but it doesn't taste cheap.
For both wine and liquor I find that presentation will impress people way more than price. Get a cool looking decanter and you're basically set as far as the average wine drinker goes - as for liquor, I have a Crystal Head Vodka bottle that I rinse out and pour whatever I'm drinking into, which is a lot cheaper than buying another Crystal Head lmao.
Tools and sports equipment especially if it's something niche.
People shit on harbor freight but if you need a new tool or something for a hobby it's probably not something you're going to use often if youve already soent any significant tiem doing that hobby.
Buy the cheapest version of it and of you use it enough to either break it or figure out what parts of the design you don't like it's a good sign spending a little extra on a better version isn't a waste.
Especially getting into a new hobby avoiding the urge to buy expensive shit right at the beginning because you think it'll make you better at the thing.
Buy the cheapest version of it and of you use it enough to either break it or figure out what parts of the design you don't like it's a good sign spending a little extra on a better version isn't a waste.
Agree'd, albeit with the caveat that if it's about screws, you wanna spend at least some money on the part that actually connects with the screws, so, the bits. Doesn't really matter all that much if your harbour freight e-motor on your drill burns out, if you fuck up all the screws on whatever you're working on with shit bits that's gonna be a hassle.
But even then, that's like "pay more than the $0 free offer on alibaba" territory of spending. After that, the dimensions and tolerances are fine, it's just gonna be longevity.
Good point I'd put hardware like screws and nails themselves in the same category of stuff it's worth not getting the cheapest version of.
I came here to say this too. Lots of people buy expensive tools that they only use a couple of times. I respect the buy it for life mindset, but at that level of usage anything you can get your hands on will last.
Unless its like a jackstand harbor freight is fine for most one off things
Yea probably should have included the caveat tools but nothing that would benconsidered a safety device.
I'm also not buying fall prevention anything for as cheap as possible.
If you're drilling six holes a year, a cheap-ass power drill is going to work just as fine for you as the expensive one intended for professional use.
Not sure if that's true for table tennis. Like yeah if you're just barely starting out sure get the $10 paddle but pretty soon (maybe even within a month or two) you're gonna want a better paddle if you want to be at all serious about it.
I don’t think this is much of an issue for anyone here but… expensive wrist watches. I am a reformed watch guy. My $11 Casio F-91W keeps better time than my FIL’s $6,000 Omega. Quartz and batteries were a real game changer when it comes to watches. I really like having a watch but there is no reason for anyone to spend real money on a watch that doesn’t use quartz.
If you want/need a watch, to me the sweet spot are those Casio G-Shock squares. Totally bullet proof, can last a lifetime, and you can spend as little as $35 or up to about $150 if you want solar and atomic time. But spending any more than that and you’re really just buying jewelry, not something to keep time.
For a lot of people, buying a watch IS buying jewelry. However, I do agree with the rest of your comment.
I bought an amaztech stratos fitness watch, worth every penny if you use it for running. Tracks your run distance/time via gps, streams music via bluetooth and doesn't require a phone, heartbeat monitor, etc. But otherwise I agree, quartz timekeeping is the way to go.
Phones
You don't really need an 8-core CPU and 12 gigs of RAM for making calls and browsing the web, which is what 95% of people use their phones for. Not even buying such phone for the sake of longevity is worth it since most manufacturers drop support for their phones after 5 years at most.
Can't exactly say the same for Samsung phones though. I used to have their cheaper midrangers and after like 2 years they'd get horrendously slow in day-to-day tasks. I got an older flagship for roughly the same price as a new midranger by them recently and I hope it'll last longer.
The Galaxy A5x series is excellent value. It's not the absolute cheapest but for ~$300 there's nothing it does wrong. I've used a Galaxy A52 (older 4g version) for the last 2 years without any issues. Before that I stuck to Umidigi phones in the ~$120-$150 range which were all great except for the cameras.
Over Christmas I won a Pixel 8 Pro giveaway but except for in the lowest lighting conditions the difference is insignificant to my eye. I actually really miss some of the Samsung software features (namely secure folder and free-form windows).
Having a cheaper phone is also freeing to treat them less gently. I often found myself taking photos I might not otherwise due to the fact all my prior phones were so cheap. I'm not about to hold my Pixel 8 Pro out over a cliff, but for the Umidigi phones and Galaxy A52 that was no problem when traveling.
Most stuff on a bicycle for the average person unless it's carbon, plastics or electronics. Including safety stuff. Some caveat if you wanna huck yourself off a mountain or do like 100kph descents on your roadbikes.
But for the most stuff? The cheap shit works absolutely fine because at it's core it's bits of formed metal with threads attached connected by steel wires. Very hard to fuck any of that up to the point it becomes dangerous. I keep seeing parts being rated as SAFETY LEVEL 5 E-BIKE READY as if the metal rod that is my handlebar usually disintegrates once I hit the ludicrous speed of [checks notes] 25kph. Your $2 Alibaba Special V-Brakes are, at worst, gonna have garbage springs so it doesn't return to not-braking great, but you're not gonna like snap them in half even if you were a gorilla riding a bicycle.
I'll add the caveat that any bicycle sold at Walmart is complete garbage and will probably break on you
My walmart bike's downtube failed as I was riding it up a small incline. Not even at a weld, just right in the middle.
Didn't even know that was a part that could fail.
Had to replace the tires because the treads wore through once so it probably got more use than walmart bikes are built for.
Eh, I can't fault it too much considering tires usually last over a thousand miles and most people buying a walmart bike aren't riding thousands of miles.
I don't agree with the general sentiment though, riding a well-maintained aluminum frame bike after thousands of miles on a slow ass walmart bike is such a different experience.
as if the metal rod that is my handlebar usually disintegrates once I hit the ludicrous speed of [checks notes] 25kph.
I would agree but I once dated a girl who somehow snapped a whole-ass bike in half riding into a street sign.
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salt
table salt, iodized salt, himalayan... they're all the same for me. I don't think my taste buds are adapted to the subtle differences so cheaper ones are better.
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show-off jewelry, wallet, purses
showing off jewelry is an invitation to be mugged (again, imo. ymmv) so the cheaper ones are the better options.
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coffee
if only you're fine with cheaper ways to wake yourself.
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wax-based lip balm
anything beeswax is good. then again ymmv since people can be allergic
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pure or as-is things like land, electricity, internet, water, oxygen cans, gas/ heating, alcohol (disinfectant)
About salt, afaik there is no difference in taste, only in texture (by grain size) and color.
There certainly is a difference between regular and himalayan salt, with the latter tasting more, like...uhm...cavey? In a good way. The point of iodized salt is not the taste but the actual iodine, which supports your thyroid gland and other parts of the body.
Internet service may vary greatly in quality; also, for all pure and as-us things it's the source that may matter. I'd pay a little extra for more green options (as in solar electricity, properly treated water, etc. etc.).
Thanks for the input on the salt, I'll try it again and see what I am missing on the cavey sensation.
You have a good point with electric sources being a differentiator. This is like with watered bottles saying their water comes from a natural spring in a mountain.
Here's another viewpoint to that, if you will: maybe you are paying a mark up for the source (or the assurance of such source, depending on the marketing) and the pure commodity itself doesn't have to be marked up for it.
As for internet, I think quality happens because businesses tier it to be. And, of course, with pure internet you have to pay for what amount you have used. I still don't think you need to go full bells and whistles as it is more reasonable to just pay what you used. I understand though that some areas don't have much choice on this.
Salt isn't so much a case of different flavours but of different uses. Like how you'd use rock salt on an icy path, it's better to use maldon salt to garnish a salad and you'd chuck fine sea salt on a soup base. If you think MSG tastes like table salt, though, it's time to hand your tongue in at the front desk. You can also get smoked salt and that kind of carry on.
you have a good point with "use" as a differentiator.
this is similar to buying non-potable water vs potable, with pretty much the potable water being more expensive.
I think it's within reasonable bounds because the extra cost comes from the added iodine or the minute minerals in maldon to add the extra taste.
Maldon is a sea salt, the extra cost comes from the extraction method rather than adding anything. I don't think it tastes noticeably different, but the large crystals stop it from clumping together and gives you better distribution when sprinkling it over stuff.
something so salty it's called maldon
this dimension isn't real
I love my speckled ax coffee beans, but if you didn't go down the rabbit hole of a good grinder and coffee machine then expensive coffee is not worth it.
NGL, I've never had an issue with cheap/expensive coffee at all, as long as it's real coffee rather than instant. I use a pour-over or aeropress rather than machine (or make cold brew), but I've never even had a cheap bag of preground coffee that was bad enough call it worse than an expensive one, rather than a different.
Ok, but everyone's pallet is different and some can taste the difference between a fresh roast and a sale one. Personally, I can taste the difference in coffee when I have a bag that's opened for over a few weeks, but not sure if it matters how recent the roasting was done.
I spend $$ on coffee more to support a roasting business that is small and makes a fresh batch to order. It's also nice that the bean sourcing is better for the workers, so I hope.
I find the aeropress makes a really great cup considering how quick it is to brew.
Personally, I can taste the difference in coffee when I have a bag that's opened for over a few weeks, but not sure if it matters how recent the roasting was done.
Sorry, yeah, this is more what I meant - as long as the coffee is relatively fresh (my house goes through about a bag a week, so it never gets time to sit and go stale) the price doesn't seem to get you a better/worse cup of coffee.
Of course, my aunt got me an expensive bag of coffee for christmas that apparently makes really good cold brew, so it's sat in the freezer for now waiting for better weather, so I might change my mind in a couple of months. Gonna stick with Lidl own brand beans for now though.Nice, I use Lidl beans before, let me check if they have a light roast.
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On phones; while you don't need a flagship model if you are privacy conscious it is worth seeking out a platform that will work well with degooglified OSes; ironically the Pixel is one of the best thanks to GrapheneOS.
Snack foods. Store brand Cheetos taste the same for half the price
If you're Canadian then nothing compares to Hawkins Cheezies, but thankfully they're also dirt cheap
Electric toothbrushes. Don't get the cheapest one either, get a mid range one from a good brand but the top end models of the good brands are just scams, they just look a bit nicer and have some shitty "AI powered" app you'll never use.
I've learned this the hard way. Got two nice, different Panasonics in a row only to have both fail after a relatively short time period ("relatively short" kinda varies for me since I think things that happened five years ago happened "the other day" these days). After the second failure, I just got the cheapest of the Panasonics, and it's outlasted both of the previous ones already and does just as good a job.
the top end models of the good brands are just scams, they just look a bit nicer and have some shitty “AI powered” app you’ll never use.
This is literally a scam.
There was an article a while back which I can't find right now, a few of those product designers were saying that past $100-$150 they really weren't sure what benefits could be added so they just throw a bunch of useless whiz bang shit in that serves no useful purpose but they sell it for $300 or whatever and enough people buy it to make it worth building another SKU.In most cases the super top end one has the same motor as the midrange or low-midrange one, and takes the same brush heads, which means it does exactly the same thing. Buy that one for $85 and be done with it.
I've been using a sonicare for years now. I think it was expensive but it's lasted forever and does a great job.
I use sonicare too it's great but you don't really need the top end models, the tech inside is the same as the lower-mid end models it's just some marketing bullshit.
