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Review broken products instead of new ones

buyforlife.com

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Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#41

Post by astura »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #23
1-6 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right but if a company can convince consumers that they've done it once, they're surely able to do it again. Unfortunately, technology changes too quickly for that to work in many cases.

I’ve also seen companies with quality brands milk it for all it’s worth. Newer products get made with 1/4 the quality while trading on the reputation they built with their previous higher quality products. Craftsman was a good example of this. They use to have high quality tools with lifetime warranties. Now, that warranty is gone and they don’t seem much different than any other low end manufacturer. Anyone have oth…

Pyrex. The new stuff you buy now is a different product made out of a different material than the original glass cookwear they sold. The new stuff has much poorer thermal shock resistance.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/pyrex-glass-is...

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#42

Post by throwawayboise »

Answerawake wrote: post #6
hubraumhugo wrote: post #2

For most people, the majority of positive reviews are noise on any product and they evaluate them by reading negative reviews. For once, let's turn it all upside down: We should build a collection about how things break - review broken and worn-out products to teach how to identify cheap products (where are the stress points, what manufacturing techniques exist to alleviate those). Then compare those with used produc…

Interesting idea but is your site curated for some items or just 100% autogenerated/crowd sourced? For example, you have listed the Thinkpad X220 which is a 10 year old laptop. Furthermore I also noticed the Magic mouse and is that really considered buy it for life(in terms of repairable)? Speaking as someone who has purchased and accidentally destroyed multiple Magic Keyboards by liquid spills, I love their products…

Maybe I'm taking ths site name too literally, but I would think that computers, along with most electronics, are just one of those things that would never be a "buy it for life" purchase.

I actually do have a Casio calculator from High School (30+ years ago) that I still use, but no other computing devices that are more than 10 years old. Even if they still work, there just isn't much practical you can do with them.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#43

Post by ryandrake »

jonah wrote: post #22
MichaelApproved wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoyed AvE channel at first. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone interested in equipment tear downs. He uses his own colorful language to describe things. If it’s not appealing to you (I eventually grew tired of it) I’d still suggest you look past it and watch a few dozen of his videos anyway. Lots of good insight on the manufacturing industry/process that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Picture a Canadian who's spent his career doing technical (equipment repair) work in mining and other heavy industry. He has a pretty deep knowledge of many things though.

He did a great and hilarious teardown of that failed Juicero product that came out a year or so ago [1], noting how ridiculously overengineered and expensive it is to produce.

1: https://youtu.be/_Cp-BGQfpHQ

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#44

Post by throwawayboise »

1-6 wrote: post #31
MichaelApproved wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve also seen companies with quality brands milk it for all it’s worth. Newer products get made with 1/4 the quality while trading on the reputation they built with their previous higher quality products. Craftsman was a good example of this. They use to have high quality tools with lifetime warranties. Now, that warranty is gone and they don’t seem much different than any other low end manufacturer. Anyone have oth…

Yup, the Made in USA Craftsman has long been gone since it's been sold to China. MAC and Snap-on still maintain their quality but I don't run an auto repair shop to justify my purchase. I try to look for the Made in Taiwan Craftsman tools as a compromise or pay extra to buy German steel. I like the concept of Buy it for Life but sometimes you just need something once (like a Harbor Freight tool).

The Harbor Freight hand tools I've bought are really pretty decent. Wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers. I'm not a pro mechanic but I do a lot of my own auto maintenance. HF hand tools are least as good as current Craftsman, probably better IMO.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#45

Post by throwawayboise »

8bitsrule wrote: post #38

The idea has some attractive features. This implementation (by whom? affiliated with whom?) would have to be around for quite a while and visible without a log-in before I'd bother. Especially considering all the filters I had to forego to even see it.

I'd like some more details on how they are going to prevent the bogus, gamed product reviews that predominate on any other review site. Amazon hasn't cracked that nut (not that they have much to gain by doing so).

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#46

Post by ryandrake »

jfim wrote: post #39
gwbas1c wrote: post #28

I hope someday stores like Amazon will rate based on expected lifespan. I just had a receiver die. It was 8.5 years old, not really outdated... But those kinds of things should last a lot longer!

> I just had a receiver die. It was 8.5 years old, not really outdated... But those kinds of things should last a lot longer! If it's just a capacitor that failed, it might be repairable for a few dollars. Electrolytic capacitors unfortunately have a finite lifetime, which gets worse with higher temperatures.

I’ve done this a few times, and kept my receiver running long after the first “pop”. Sometimes we are talking like less than $5 worth of capacitors from Digi-Key too. If you can solder you can replace them.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#47

Post by adrianN »

notatoad wrote: post #37
jonah wrote: post #18

Speaking of useful reviews, I'm a fan of AvE's BOLTRs[1]. Takes tools apart and analyses materials, construction, and estimated failure points. (Beware some NSFW language though.) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvgS71fU12Mbx-w18Chu_... [1] - Arduino vs. Evil - Bored of Lame Tool Reviews

AvE is fun to watch, and full of cool insights into the underappreciated details of tools. but you've got to take his reviews with a few grains of salt. He's coming at it from the perspective of somebody who buys tools to use in heavy industry. If you're buying a cordless drill to hang pictures or maybe build a desk or a fence once a decade, the things he derides as being "not very skookum" will likely last you a lif…

My heuristic is to first buy the cheap version of a tool. If I use it enough to break it, I then buy a more skookum version.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#48

Post by throwawayboise »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #40

Speaking of repairing, learning a little bit about electronics and soldering has greatly improved my ability to fix various electronics. Usually it’s something small like a bad cap or mosfet. I really believe they should teach basic electronic repair in school. A tiny bit goes a long way.

I had a unit on electronics as part of my HS physics courses. Can't recall if it was first year or second year.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#49

Post by ryandrake »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #40

Speaking of repairing, learning a little bit about electronics and soldering has greatly improved my ability to fix various electronics. Usually it’s something small like a bad cap or mosfet. I really believe they should teach basic electronic repair in school. A tiny bit goes a long way.

YouTube is great for this. Search for: [model number] fix DIY. Your failure is probably the most common failure listed on YouTube. Confirm the diagnosis, order the $5-$20 worth of parts and start soldering!

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#50

Post by jim-jim-jim »

IgorPartola wrote: post #15
ktpsns wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it meaningful that all items (currently) displayed at https://www.buyforlife.com/ are typical outdoor use, high-quality, representative for a certain kind of living. This kind of living has pros and cons, but I guess not everybody wants to live like that. For instance, some people would prefer to have some shitty but portable kitchenware instead of expensive, bulky and representative "professional" units. This…

You pinpointed what I’ve been feeling. There are things I want to buy for life. Things like (most) tools, camping equipment, or things I don’t expect to improve over time. But there is a large number of products that I don’t plan to hold onto because they are imperfect either because state of the art hasn’t advanced enough or because I can’t afford the better version yet. For example: Boots. I can afford the boots I…

Pleated trousers are cool again though. If anything, flat fronted slim fit chinos are what's dated.
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