25-11-2013, 09:07 AM
(This post was last modified: 25-11-2013, 09:13 AM by Radio Fixer.)
Well you have said a lot of this before David about items not being made in the country of origin and I would guess that we all knew that. But what matter is the specification and inspection standards that are set in the 'home' country by the company concerned.
I know a lot about windsurfing kit and its certainly true for that ... mostly now made in a few countries and mainly China but there can be vast differences. Take sails, some can be a flat piece of film with the batten pockets sewn on along with other bits with a minimal stitching. Others with graded film (lighter at the top where you don't need the strength) with superior sewing. Top end are sails that are built on Kevlar skeletons with exotic materials filling the spaces and superb construction. Very light, easy handling and some of those are good from experience for 10 years.
To me its the same with appliances and I base my judgement on what we and friends have had in the past. Bosch has always been good for us and the fact that if it does conk there will be spares and an engineer available is the assurance I want. Also, I think if you compare the so called 'high end' products, even in store, you can find detail which shows up a better build and that sells it to me.
Often the £s difference between a cheaper brand and say German designed and 'speced' machine is very little spread over typically 10 years. If it goes wrong after that we just change it anyway.
As for cars buy Honda ... amazingly reliable and good for 10 years easy with minimal spares ... had a few.
Gary
I know a lot about windsurfing kit and its certainly true for that ... mostly now made in a few countries and mainly China but there can be vast differences. Take sails, some can be a flat piece of film with the batten pockets sewn on along with other bits with a minimal stitching. Others with graded film (lighter at the top where you don't need the strength) with superior sewing. Top end are sails that are built on Kevlar skeletons with exotic materials filling the spaces and superb construction. Very light, easy handling and some of those are good from experience for 10 years.
To me its the same with appliances and I base my judgement on what we and friends have had in the past. Bosch has always been good for us and the fact that if it does conk there will be spares and an engineer available is the assurance I want. Also, I think if you compare the so called 'high end' products, even in store, you can find detail which shows up a better build and that sells it to me.
Often the £s difference between a cheaper brand and say German designed and 'speced' machine is very little spread over typically 10 years. If it goes wrong after that we just change it anyway.
As for cars buy Honda ... amazingly reliable and good for 10 years easy with minimal spares ... had a few.
Gary
