Buying tips
These days I am more concerned with bangs-per-buck rather than the latest, greatest technology. This kit is so disposable nowadays and the technology changes so quickly that I think you need to adopt a completely different purchase strategy. This is my strategy for consumer durables such as digital cameras and computers…
- Do some research and actually handle one if you can – looking for design faults and things that might snap off or generally annoy you.
- Figure out what specification you really need.
- Shop around and buy it as cheaply as you can – obviously choosing a supplier that will actually deliver AND honour the warranty.
- Often you find that your local supplier will match or come very close to a price you see on line. Obviously you need to provide some evidence.
- Use it like crazy. Don’t just put it in a cupboard and “worship” it. It’s already worth 20% less than you paid for it before you even take it out of the box.
- Induce any manufacturing defects (i.e.wear it out) before the warranty is up, so you can get a free, new replacement.
- Use the replacement one like crazy – see point 4.
- Plan to buy a new one at the end of an approximate two to four year cycle.
- Ensure you recycle or freecycle the old one!