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.

  • r00ty@kbin.life
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    10 months ago

    Yeah it’s why I qualified it with the “too good to be true” prices and names you don’t recognise. The odds are far greater that a brand name you’ve never heard of undercutting at more than half the price of a brand you do recognise is very likely cutting corners somewhere and stamping invalid certifications. With electronics that can end pretty badly.

    Not writing off all Chinese companies. Just the ones that have a new name every month and are selling at too good to be true prices. I think they’re suffering the same as Japanese electronics did in the 80s. There were enough bad examples to make people assume it was the same for all (you’ll see it in movies of the era, with people referring to “jap-crap”). But as we know, some very big companies today rose from that situation to be extremely trusted today. I suspect over time the same will be true in China.

    • TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      The big reason for that kind of bashing for Japanese electronics in 80s and Chinese since a few decades stems from xenophobia in West, and their hatred towards them creating cheaper and/or more resilient, better goods.

      Japan became an electronics pioneer back then, and many of us know what USA did to Toshiba in late 80s, crippling them forever. Same story with French company Alstom because they were crapping on GE, and recently, Huawei because they crapped on Apple, Google and Samsung (SK is US vassal). Japan no longer competes in goods territory that USA makes, and Japan is also a US vassal state, so they are left alone, but now China has already surpassed USA economically, and by next year militarily, so I doubt it will ever end. China ensures democratisation of goods and the near-abolition of fat capitalist margins with cheap mass goods.

      • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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        10 months ago

        Huawei has also been found to have back doors in their 5G towers. Now, I’m not saying western companies don’t have back doors, but since I live in a western country (which has also likely suffered from political interference by China) I’d rather not be tracked by yet another nation more than I already am.

          • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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            10 months ago

            There were numerous articles in 2020 and earlier talking about vulnerabilities in their products, including hard-coded encryption keys. Vehement denial isn’t a good look with such flagrant and obvious failures. I have yet to see any announcements or articles saying this has changed. Until I do, I will assume Huawei doesn’t have anything substantial to add to the discussion.

            • TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              US propaganda on Huawei has been unsubstantiated to date. There is zero evidence on the “evils” of Huawei. It was all about 5G race, and NATO countries got salty Huawei and ZTE shat all over the 4G monopoly of West, and that West could no longer leech money off off patent royalties like Qualcomm does in USA on smartphone SoCs. China holds like 70%+ patents on 5G.