Consumerism, the environment and the economy

mbga9pgf

You see, we have a Dyson, and the one occasion it broke down, I was amazed at the simplicity of repairing it. They really had thought through repairs when they designed it, which I thought this thread was about?

I have to admit, it was a close call between Dyson and Henry though. the cleaners at work have them. Good enough for them, good enough for me!]

Big thing about Dysons is cleaning the air element and regularly emptying the hoover. I personally love mine, they cant make everyone happy!

Just got a decent FULL set of heinkels knives, minus one veg peeler and fish boner, total 50 quid, list price over 500 quid. They again will hopefully last a lifetime. most had very minor problems such as slight marking on the blade (polished out using metal polish cloth and a little toothpaste), the rest were perfect.

drc

I don't really like modern design. Apart from the fact that many things are not very durable, they also look cheap and badly made.

baileysbattlebus

mbga9pgf wrote: »

You see, we have a Dyson, and the one occasion it broke down, I was amazed at the simplicity of repairing it. They really had thought through repairs when they designed it, which I thought this thread was about?

I have to admit, it was a close call between Dyson and Henry though. the cleaners at work have them. Good enough for them, good enough for me!]

Big thing about Dysons is cleaning the air element and regularly emptying the hoover. I personally love mine, they cant make everyone happy!

Just got a decent FULL set of heinkels knives, minus one veg peeler and fish boner, total 50 quid, list price over 500 quid. They again will hopefully last a lifetime. most had very minor problems such as slight marking on the blade (polished out using metal polish cloth and a little toothpaste), the rest were perfect.

I have to agree with the Dyson - I have a Dyson Animal and have had it for 6 years - it has had a new hose and some other bit replaced - I like it - and the fact you buy just about any part you need - it's a good modular build. And spares are easy to come by and fit.

Also have Kenwood chef - bought over 30 years ago when we got married - cost a lot at the time - but worth every penny - it has never gone wrong and gets used regularly.

Have a Kenwood handheld mixer - over 30 years old too - never gone wrong - and a Moulinex electric mincer/grater same age - never gone wrong either.

Knife wise, I don't have a set of knives - I just use what I think suits me best for the job I want to do - the most used knife I have is a 6" Global - I have a cheap paring knife (picked up in France years ago for a couple of francs), a cheap bread knife and the others are a mixture of Victorinox and Sabatier (bought in the US as they are much cheaper than here) - I also have a decent steel - which OH uses to keep the knives sharp - I've never got to grips with it properly.

treliac

We had a Dyson which only lasted a couple of years, if that! The two previous Electroluxes (IIRC) didn't fare much better.

So DH decided that vacuum cleaners are short-term disposable items and we'd buy the cheapest we could find and expect to change it after a year or two.

We've had this Goblin thingy for about 5 years now ..... still going strong!

Snooze

stonethrower wrote: »

While I agree with most of what you say I have to disagree with a dyson hoover I got 1 for my mum ant it was the most over priced (hyped) piece of rubbish. She changed it for a good old henry hoover has it 5 years now and no problems

I agree. Everyone seems to bang on about Dyson's but I actually think these people have never actually owned one and are just jumping on the 'my mate says Dyson's are God so I'm gonna say it too' bandwagon. I can also testify from having owned one that they are the biggest pile of !!!! to have ever grace this planet. My best mate also fell for the 'Dyson's are God' rubbish last year despite me telling him he'd regret it, but he's another of the 'must have all the latest tech' brigade and bought one anyway. I could fill a book writing about the problems he's had with it and he's now in the process of trying to get a refund from the company who sold him it and has bought a Miele upon my recommendation instead.

Like others on this thread I am not one for all the latest tech either. I'm still using the same dull grey Nokia 3310i that I got on Orange contract about 10 years ago when they first came out. It's rather battered and bruised now, and is on it's 4th replacement battery, but it just works and does all I need it to do, ie. make and receive calls and texts, and wake me up in the morning. I've had a good amount of all the latest phones when you get one by default when you renew your contract for another year, but they're just like mini computers now, with silly menus and tiny buttons and basically you need the instruction manual to figure out how to answer a call when it rings and requires a 7 day course to figure out how to send a 2 line text. :rolleyes: I'm far from being a technophobe and can figure most stuff out with needing help or the instructions, but the simple truth is that I can't be arsed with the hassle when all I want to do is ask my mate what time we are meeting. My trusty 3310 serves that purpose perfectly, so why change?

My main PC wouldn't be out of place on the Ark. Okay, not quite ZX81 territory but it's not even a Pent 1. I don't have 300 tabs open on browsers, I don't play games on it and I don't have any requirement to download the entire internet like most people, so why upgrade to the latest spec PCs that have processors and memory large enough to run a small country? Granted, running anything Adobe will turn it into a gibbering mess , but it does the job I need it to do (just).

TVs are another 'gripe' of mine. I would quite happily shell out considerable amounts of cash for a latest spec TV if they actually had a decent picture but they don't. The response rate (read motion blur) is still way lacking in terms of picture quality vs. an old Sony Wega CRT. I can watch a footie match on my Sony and enjoy the crisp picture as the cameras pan around. Try to do the same on any LCD or plasma and all you get is a blurred picture when the cameras are panning as the processors can't keep up. And it's not just down to the quality of the transmission or receiving equipment either (before someone argues that), because you get the same motion blur when watching a DVD if there's a lot of action in it.

Old stuff just works. :T

R

mbga9pgf

You need a Sony Bravia 200 Hz LCD Flatscreen!

abaxas

How about a recycling tax?

You could employ 10,000's of people doing the work via this and even disposable things would be 'green'.

mbga9pgf

Anyone see that show the other day revealing how much of our "recycled" goods actually get recycled? Absolutely shocking. Post Credit Crunch, wholesale commodity prices fell through the floor, killing the market in recyclables. Its all being stacked in third world countries as we chat!

mbga9pgf

abaxas wrote: »

How about a recycling tax?

You could employ 10,000's of people doing the work via this and even disposable things would be 'green'.

My, rather right wing idea, would be to get the prison populations to do it. Depending on the crime will depend upon how nasty it is. Oh, if you refuse, the TV and internet access get pulled from your wing. Be interesting to see how many would refuse.

We need more F*cking stick and less carrot when it comes to "rehabilitation" of the UK prisoner population... Who will commit crime knowing they will spend their entire stint picking though used condoms and tampons? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

kabayiri

abaxas wrote: »

How about a recycling tax?

You could employ 10,000's of people doing the work via this and even disposable things would be 'green'.

I'm with this, but taxes seem so negative, and people just try and find a way round them.

How about a sales tax, with some kind of rebate on disposal. The longer you retain the item the better the rebate, to encourage long life and repair.

The dyson argument is well worn. Personally, I like them, some people don't. That's true of most products I suspect.

I've just had a new Worcester Bosch boiler installed. A quality product, manufactured in this country. We can still make good things here, we just have to believe in these products. Good for the environment too.