These days, it is quite common to see advertisements selling cheap equipment at incredibly low prices, coming from China. Well, at one time, when our trusted B&D (30 years old, brought back from UK) was with my son's friend. I was tempted by the cheap price and bought a Pro Tool at around Rm60. It even looked like a hammer drill meant for tough jobs. It worked well under normal circumstances, until I needed to drill a metal piece (a catch to receive a sliding gate) because the original welding gave way and the top would leave a gap of an inch each time the gate is opened.
Initially, I did not understand the reason why the welded part is held by a fairly big nut and screw driven into the concrete pillar. Then I realize that it was important to hold on the gate after closing, so that it is not easy to push aside the gate.
The first time I tried, I did not think about the reliability of the drill, thinking they are about the same. So I took along the Pro Tool. After just a few seconds of attempted drilling of the thick metal, the catch that holds on to the drill bit actually splitted into two parts!
On another day, I decided to ask my friend if he has a drill that I can borrow. He said yes. I went over and to my great disappointment, it was exactly the same model as my broken one! I wouldn't want to attempt using it. At least now, he is warned not to use it for tough jobs, and it is still useful. SP said it was a good job I did not borrow from him earlier ie. before I brought along my own Pro Tool and found it to be wanting.
On Thursay morning, I was eager to try out with my B&D. With a bit of effort, I managed to drill a hole through the metal, and with a change of a different type of drill bit, drilled the concrete pillar. Then I use a specially selected brass screw with washer to turn it into the plugged hole. Within 10 minutes I managed to do it and probably saved at least Rm50 if I were to call someone else. It meant a lot to me, in terms of personal satisfaction, but more important it cleared one item from my urgent 'to do' list, and made me feel good that it was a good start for the day, as proven by the dinner event later in the day.
The moral of this story is that it is better to buy a trusted brand than to go for a cheap alternative. I have similar experience with my Pearl Forum Series drums kit. Though made in Taiwan instead of Japan, the standard must have been high. Even when I bought it more than 10 years ago, I thought I had made a mistake, because the cheaper brand with an additional cymbal and stand, costed less than Rm1,200 instead of Rm1725! But recently, as my friend discovered, the butterfly nut and screw for the tom tom lost its grip because it was made of softer metal. Cantonese would call it, 'yat fun chin, yat fun foh' or simply translated as 'you get what you pay for'.
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unfortunately my old man - 'yat fun chin, yat fun foh' doesn't apply to all things in life. if you check out my latest purchase, GBP25 for a 1992 almost brand new Peugeot Reynolds 531, for example. It's my new 'old' bike to work, and it works so well, i've ditched my previous old bike
ReplyDeleteZardoz, what you have bought seems to me, a known quality brand (for cars)and I am assuming they make bikes as well. Instead of refuting what I have mentioned, you have in fact re-inforced my statement in Chinese which meant to differentiate quality of products (the prices of which are generally determined by costs of production) and to advise that we buy based on quality (which may or may not be expensive depending on cost of labour for eg.) rather than low price (likely to be inferior, but with exceptions).
ReplyDeleteEspecially with used products (as in your eg.), one can get real value for money because some people literally throw out old usable stuff (or at least willing to get rid of at first offer) and those who got them for free or cheap can sell at very low prices in the flea market.
Thanks for your comment, but sorry, I still stand by my statement.