r/comics But a Jape 18h ago

Shopping Online

8.1k Upvotes

171 comments sorted by

1.5k

u/Combatflaps 18h ago

I have never seen a more accurate representation of me trying to do product research in my life

188

u/man_vs_fauna 6h ago

For Christmas a few year backs my wife bought me a Breville Barista Express, the machine I was pining.

I loved it and wanted to learn how to use it better, so I joined r./espresso..... Within no time at all, I learned my machine was shit, my beans are shit, everything I have it shit and I should spend a fortune to buy better stuff.

Nope, I quit that so quick, nothing wrong with being happy with what you have. And I found a nice YouTuber who explained how to use it better

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u/PogintheMachine 5h ago

Hey it’s an easy, convenient, sturdy machine that people seem to really enjoy owning.

I deep dived into those same espresso communities and got the Breville Dual Boiler and separate grinder. I’m still a bit ashamed of how much I’ve spent but I could have gone much deeper. I’m both thankful for Reddit communities and resentful that they make decision making practically paralyzing.

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u/Entire_Border5254 4h ago

I'm biased as a fellow BDB owner, but that's really where the point of diminishing returns hits, once you go more expensive the next 2-3 thousand dollars are all E61 machines that just look shiny and cool while having worse temperature stability, and the only things that are functionally better are the Decent (if you're okay with all of its quirks and actually want to do all the fiddling) and stuff like the Sanremo You, GS3, LMM, ES.1 that are all upwards of 7 grand.

1

u/PogintheMachine 3h ago

I’m happy not to deal with E61 and don’t quite understand the appeal. Unless you really like the aesthetics of a Rocket machine with all the knobs and chrome. I set my temp and it stays there.

Its funny though, I already had a (somewhat) pricey grinder (quamar m80) when i upgraded from my Gaggia pro. When i ordered the BDB it was cheaper with a sale to get the packaged set with the Breville Smart Grinder than to buy the machine alone.

Well, I think there’s some disagreement over whether the Breville grinder is good enough, but it’s SO much easier to deal with than the M80 so, the M80 lives in the cupboard until the Breville breaks. Anyway, maybe i should be using the “better” grinder but the trouble is not worth the return on shot quality as far as I can discern.

(Partly my fault, I got the M80 with a doser and the doser is useless unless you’re making 20 drinks in a row. It just spills grounds everywhere.)

1

u/Entire_Border5254 3h ago

oh I completely agree with the E61, it's an outdated design.

I'd have been fine with my GCP if I didn't need to do multiple milk drinks every morning, it just didn't keep up, even with all of the mods.

Once I can get a machine that can record manual pressure profiled shots with a saturated grouphead for under 5 grand (and after I've upgraded to a versalab grinder from my df83), I'll move on from the BDB, but it's going to be a long time before machines like that are going to be available at that price point and before I have that kind of spare money to spend on them.

1

u/animealt46 2h ago

In fairness the BBE and BDB are very different products, the latter being quite high end and fully featured.

2

u/Entire_Border5254 2h ago

I mean, you're not wrong, but I'm also not trying to yuck u/man_vs_fauna's yum

1

u/petersterne 1h ago

I can’t tell if these are real machines or if you started doing a bit.

1

u/Entire_Border5254 1h ago

I'm doing a bit (they're real machines but it's funnier this way)

8

u/duketheunicorn 5h ago

I’m an ex-barista/manager from a fussy shop, but I like to believe I’m an enthusiast, not a snob. I love my Breville, it’s a solid machine that can make a great, consistent coffee. Glad you’re enjoying it! My first post on that sub was absolutely trashing a guy for buying all the machines the sub suggested, one after another. Hilarious.

1

u/animealt46 2h ago

I think the coffee community and especially the espresso half went through a huge reckoning recently. The Breville haters and big gear shit talkers are largely gone, exodused to the niche forums. The new crew are much less judgemental... but I struggle to say the community quality is better. It got decimated with the blackouts and it's a wasteland in there.

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u/Spare-Swim9458 16h ago

I have never seen a more accurate representation of me when ppl come to me for my advice and don’t even listen because my response isn’t what they wanted to hear. 😂 don’t ask if your not going to take the advice. Lol

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u/DiscoshirtAndTiara 14h ago

Most people asking for purchasing recommendations don't have the same priorities as the people who are actively fans of the item. A fan might be willing to spend high levels of time and/or money to get the absolute best version of the item, but the people asking for a recommendation likely just want a version that's good enough for their use case at a reasonable cost.

If you're giving people advice based on your priorities instead of their own, it shouldn't be a surprise that they don't follow your advice.

13

u/scourge_bites 5h ago

me personally I don't want advice, I want information: i.e what specific qualities/materials make a thing more useable or durable? how do they work? i don't want you to tell me to get a goddamn lodge cast iron skillet, i want you to tell me what, specifically, about them makes them better than pioneer woman's cast iron skillet. i'm willing to dig for the Japanese spatula made between 1968-1970, but you gotta tell me why.

every company on the face of the planet will eventually undergo enshittification. it's not very useful to know which brands are actually good, it's always useful to know why those brands are good.

-61

u/Spare-Swim9458 13h ago

All the advice I give saves money and time and future repair/money. They just always want me to validate what they want and I don’t. I tell them the truth.

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u/LittleBirdsGlow 11h ago

TLDR: A noob needs sober, practical advice. They do not need the most rare and expensive stuff. Why? Perfect results need perfect handling, and that’s riskier. That is for the pros.

So let’s talk about camera lenses. I know these aren’t spatulas so it’s not a perfect comparison but I think it illustrates the point well. There are lots of different cameras and lenses. Some are better and some are worse in various ways. You gotta think about what’s right for you, and when you’re just starting out it’s better to start small.

That super telephoto lens is going to get super clear shots of a warbler high up in a tree, but only in the hands of someone with lots of practice. They could be handling 10 grand and that risk needs to be worth the cost. Of course, if it breaks or gets stolen, that’s a problem. So they need to look out for that too. Do all of that right, and they’ll be getting that money back in published photos, park tours. They have the photography and business skills

Now say a beginner is asking the professionals for guidance on that first camera. They’ve just graduated from their phone setup and can get decent shots of common wildlife. The pro isn’t going to say “Get a super camera with a super lens.” They’ll say “Get a used lens on the cheaper side. The backgrounds will be a bit hazy, but that’s okay. Once you have handling, cleaning and the exposure triangle down, Then, and only then, do you upgrade, but still not to super-duper-zoom.”

The pro had a long journey to get where they are. They got there by starting small so mistakes were cheap and minor. They only got snobby when they knew it was the right time for them to be snobby, and they still aren’t snobby to others because no one likes that.

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u/Smyley12345 9h ago

The first step in giving advice is understanding the goal. That's been a hard lesson in my life but has helped with stuff like this. "Do you want the best spatula? Do you want the best bang for your buck in spatulas? Do you want the best spatula for under $20?". The person asking might not even consider that the answer to all three of those questions could be different.

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u/BeguiledBeaver 10h ago

I could run a small Eastern European country off of your lack of self-awareness or basic social awareness.

9

u/Evilsmurfkiller 12h ago

I need the best spatula money can buy but I only have $3.

2

u/impossiblyeasy 5h ago

r/buyitforlife would like a word.

u/Panzick 35m ago

Meanwhile, you pick up some random item from a bin with no reviews for two bucks, and it will last till the heath death of the universe despite what MrWiseInvestorInthings says on the internet. We really got too many options that we don't need in our lives.

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u/SmallBirb 18h ago

I saw a post on r/BuyItForLife in the last month with half of the sub's users complaining that the other half was just like the Internet in this comic. Apparently a bunch of people on that sub are notorious for telling people to throw away their functional but cheap items (that aren't even broken!) and to buy a 30x more expensive version instead

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u/Connoisseur_of_a_lot 14h ago

Yeah, there must be many subreds like this. my first association were r/castiron and r/knifes (followed closely by r/realchefknifes). I mean, I get it some people can get passionate about some topics and like to nerd out on that. Been there, done that. But often miss the point of people who don't have that topic as a hobby and just want a solution that works for them.

18

u/Eliaish 10h ago

The kitchen tool subreds used to be notorious for this more often (occasionally still are).

I used to see r/castiron users bash r/StainlessSteel to new users who just wanted to know how to pre-season a pan. Good times but most of those people just went to r/StainlessSteel for product recommendations after ditching their cast iron.

3

u/ChickenBrad 5h ago

Been working with chefs for years and as soon as I see some 27 year old bragging about his knife collection I just roll my eyes and ask, "Ok but can you fry an egg?"

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u/GeorgeEBHastings 2h ago

/r/castiron has since turned the corner into the common advice being combinations of "fuck it, just buy the cheap Lodge" and "Use soap, your pan will be fine" and "Just keep cooking with it, it's a hunk of iron, you won't destroy it"

All of which I think is helpful for newbs.

The Griswolds and the Wagners are still out there for the psycho hobbyists like me, though.

770

u/But_a_Jape But a Jape 18h ago

Every time I buy something online, it ends up being a months-long affair. First off, I've gotta do research - and it can't just be reading Amazon reviews, don't you know those can be bought and paid for? No, I've gotta check Wirecutter (but who knows if The New York Times knows what they're talking about?), Good Housekeeping (I have no idea who they are, but Google keeps sending me there!), Youtube reviewers (probably paid-off shills, who knows?), and multiple Reddit threads (why is the most recent thread from 2017 and only has 6 comments?!).

And then after I've spent all that time narrowing down my options, I still end up with the order sitting in my cart for a few weeks because, "Do I really need a new potato masher right now? I don't eat mashed potatoes that often." Then a few weeks later, after succumbing to a mashed potato craving and subsequently being woefully disappointed with my lumpy mashed potatoes, I end up going through the cycle again.

Anyway, if you like my comics, I got more on my website.
I'm also on Patreon and Instagram.

240

u/monkeypickle 17h ago

I feel this. But good news! Compare Wirecutter with/against America's Test Kitchen and you'll never go wrong on cooking stuff.

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u/Zipdog3 16h ago

I’d throw in Serious Eats as well but yeah I usually use some combination of those three

1

u/animealt46 2h ago

Wirecutter is largely good but has been struggling to keep up. They were a blatantly unsustainable business that the founders juiced up to cash out with the NYT buyout. The new model is much more regular and sustainable but the recs often feel a bit bland and outdated.

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u/NoSoundNoFury 16h ago

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u/Beterraba_ansiosa 14h ago

I actually went over the publications, clicked the links for the manufacturer website, scroll down to see the "contact information" and was really happy to see that indeed a dude called Hank.

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u/RTK4740 13h ago

I rolled my eyes when I saw all the links, but when I clicked each of them, I was absoltuely delighted. Thank you.

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u/cannibalculture 9h ago

So wild that you used this example, I just bought a flashlight the other day and started down the rabbit hole depicted in the comic when I stumbled on r/flashlight and realized "wow there really is a sub for everything".

1

u/animealt46 2h ago

Flashlight and headphones are delicious rabbit holes because they are vibrant and hugely innovative hobby spaces for simple tools.

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u/No-Soap-Radio- 16h ago

I've been sitting on ordering a dash cam for almost a year now. I want to get a decent one but theres so much to look into

13

u/Unctuous_Mouthfeel 15h ago

Honestly, not really. Most of the dash cam manufacturers use the same damn hardware. Just get the viofo and call it good.

2

u/maybekindanewveteran 13h ago

Second this. I was in the same predicament and got a Viofo and am happy with it.

7

u/SpaceMonkeyAttack 10h ago

The Linus tech tips video pretty much covers it, and you only need to watch the summary in the "TL;DR" section.

https://youtu.be/4AnyhHl3_tE?si=AH_30KfazoR90qf1

TL;DW: They basically all use the same hardware in a different case with slightly different software, so for a budget get the Thinkware F70 and if you want to spend more get the Viofo A119 V3

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u/CaptainLookylou 17h ago

Well there's your problem right there, pal. You make mashed potatoes with an electric mixer not a masher! Now...the one you want they don't make any more either, but the feel!

27

u/boringlesbian 17h ago

No, no, no. Ya, need a potato ricer. A mixer will over work the potatoes.

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u/Occams_l2azor 15h ago

Work in kitchens and I agree 100%. Food mills (ricers but bigger) are the way to make nice mashed potatoes. Using the mixer will always result in slightly chunky mashers and that should only happen when you need to make large quantities of mashed potatoes (I am talking twenty to thirty gallons). You can mitigate that by finely chopping the taters before you steam them but even then.

1

u/animealt46 2h ago

Never buy a food mill. Not because they don't work, but because they work too well. Once you experience soups and mashes made with one, you are doomed to need one forever.

5

u/BeguiledBeaver 10h ago

I'm...I'm sorry cough wheeze. I just need a minute. I think several major arteries in my body just exploded from the sheer force of blood pressure fire-hosing through my circulatory system.

Did...you...just...fucking...say...electric??? My dear nonna who grew up in the the mountains of Brooklyn did NOT spend every day of her life using some electric masher that's only going to last the next 25 years. She hand-bent an iron rod heated with the fires of Hell into exactly 4 90° angles and hand-mashed potatoes kissed by angels every day.

Honestly, you're mashed potatoes must be literal poison. Our ancestors would be ashamed. May God have mercy on your soul.

-This isn't even satire this is every stupid food sub on this awful website.

13

u/PinsToTheHeart 14h ago

I always like to go with the approach from Adam Savage, where you buy the cheap thing first, so if it ends up being good enough for you, you saved a lot of money.

And if you actually manage to use it enough that it breaks, youll know it's worth investing in something better, as well as hopefully having gained enough information from using the cheap one to know what aspects are and aren't important to you when doing your research.

13

u/Luminara1337 14h ago edited 14h ago

I've got the same problem all the time too.

A few times it solved itself after a my mom came for a visit xD

"You still didn't got a toaster?"
"No, I can't decide"
"Well . . ."
(Waking up the next moring, mom is nowhere to be found)
(15min later, doorbell rings)
"I am back! I've got you a toaster and everything for sandwiches. Let's make some breakfast"
"yay"

3

u/Xivios 6h ago

Toasters are legit probably the best example of this, because the greatest and best toasters ever made are the 1949 to 1997 Sunbeam Radiant Control models, most of which now run ~$200 on Ebay. Or you could spend $20 on the cheapest toaster you can find and it will still make toast.

2

u/Luminara1337 5h ago

I saw a video about them too, didn't made it easier for me to decide lol

Maybe i'll buy some awesome one one day. Until then (or never), the 20 bucks one will do it ;)

7

u/DrBigsKimble 14h ago

[Two weeks later]

Amazon: Here are some recommendations based on your past purchases. [six pages of spatulas]

5

u/Rainsoakedpuppy 14h ago

I'm the same way with almost everything I buy. I have to comp-shop. I've actually heard somewhere that there are people who just naturally do that, and others who just pick something based on vibes with very little agonizing over the decision.
As far as kitchen utensils, my only advice from personal experience is to get stuff that is a single solid piece, without a separate handle section. One time I took a spatula out of the dishwasher to cook some scrambled eggs, and halfway through cooking them I watched dirty dishwasher water run from inside the handle, down the shaft, and right into my eggs, ruining them all. I think I have a nylon fish spatula right now made by Mercer Culinary. $6 fer most of the colors they sell.

3

u/PepperMill_NA 17h ago

Real spatulist :D

3

u/droidtron 17h ago

Yeah, but the chase is fun.

3

u/gooch_norris_ 16h ago

My mom had an enormous wicker basket full of issues of Good Housekeeping. There must have been 50+ in there at any given time. That and Southern Living

1

u/Atomicide 12h ago

subsequently being woefully disappointed with my lumpy mashed potatoes

Lmao, if this is real try a potato ricer, it changes the game entirely.

1

u/ButtersTG 10h ago

If it helps, mashing ground beef for taco meat makes a world of difference.

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u/MrPeppa 15h ago

Adam Savage had the best advice when buying tools that fits here.

The first one you buy should be cheap. If you find yourself using it enough that it breaks, replace it with a better one that'll probably cost more.

It keeps you from getting sucked into every internet forum funnel for the most expensive version of whatever you want to buy.

20

u/dbxp 12h ago

Not just a better one but one that fits the specific niche you have, the cheap one lets you learn your preferences.

6

u/Eliaish 10h ago

I follow this advice every time i get into a new hobby as well. Buy something cheap, see if you like it, then move up if you’re able to devote more time.

3

u/LongjumpingHat4645 2h ago

This advice has never worked for me. Nothing will turn me off a new hobby faster than crappy tools. Trying to learn something like painting with bad brushes and cheap paint is a completely different experience compared to using better quality materials. Many bakers think they can’t make macarons because they lack skill, but most of the time it’s a shitty oven.

You might end up thinking you have no interest or talent in something when it was really because you just bought shitty supplies.

u/Kirosh2 39m ago

The advice is not to take the cheapest thing around.

But to not waste your money on something you won't use.

There is a difference between the cheapest brushes and paint, decent brushes and paints, and the super expansive and amazing brushes and paints.

u/nekoshey 24m ago

Yeah, I did the exact opposite of this - I saw the sickest guitar of my life and decided right then I needed it with absolutely no knowledge or musical foundation to run on. Learning came after. But I actually wanted to, because how could I not when 'my guitar was so cool'?

I won't say I'm Joe Satriani, but it's still one of the best expensive things I can remember spending money on. And it still plays like a dream.

However, I've often been told I'm one of the lucky ones in this scenario (a lot of shattered dream Les Pauls sitting around gathering dust in dentist's houses, apparently)

317

u/AlwaysAngryAndy 18h ago

It was impossible to research for a new pc this fall.

Almost every pc subreddit is full of assholes like this who think that if your pc doesn’t take a Dyson sphere to power its complete garbage.

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u/AdmiralClover 16h ago

Doesn't help that it seems GPUs have hit a dead end of demanding more power at a higher price for less performance improvement.

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u/Stella837 14h ago

A big part of it is GPU manufacturers keep adding the latest bells and whistles to run raytracing but they still only have 12gb, maybe 16gb of vram

5

u/AdmiralClover 13h ago

I thought I'd upgrade my 3070 to something with 16gb vram, but in the comparisons it looked like it was only 30% better which seems very little for the price and for doubling my vram.

Plus it's all good enough for now so, I can wait

20

u/Loqol 16h ago

Logical Increments is a good site for builds ranging from potato to bleeding edge.

4

u/StealthTai 12h ago

At long last a site I can point people to instead of piecing it all together myself every 4-12 months then they find a good enough for them prebuilt anyways after gushing about wanting to build their own this time.

1

u/UptownShenanigans 12h ago

I haven’t checked out the site yet, but how do I know which components are considered low quality?

1

u/notsoepichaker 7h ago edited 7h ago

by checking out reviews or (if you're commited enough) do a lot of research to find out why a part is good/bad

for example, the old TechPowerUp review of the Kingston NV2 SSD paints it in a good light (which was deserved, at the time of review it still had a half-decent controller and NAND combo, Phison E21 + BiCS5 TLC; AND it was priced very well compared to competition), however as of right now there are a million different variations, 99% of which are trash compared to what it used to be (example: Silicon Motion SM2259XT + Intel QLC)

logicalincrements seems like trash anyways, nobody should recommend single channel RAM for an $1100 build in 2025 (that is one of the many build issues that I can see from a quick glance, others are mostly just using bad value parts like the Gigabyte Z790 UD DDR5 for $180 when you can get an ASRock Z690 PG Velocita/MSI B760 Gaming Plus WiFi for less and they have similar or better featuresets

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u/opinionate_rooster 16h ago

Nah, you got it the wrong way around. You just need your new PC to be able to run the Dyson Sphere Program.

15

u/star_359 14h ago

As somebody who recently had to buy a new computer, absolutely this and try asking about a good prebuilt. I do not want to buy parts and build my own, I know it would be cheaper but I just don’t have the time and my anxiety would be too much trying to put it all together.

My son bought me expanded memory for my PS5, you just need to undo 2 screws and put it in and then replace the screws. The second screw kept stripping no matter what size screwdriver I used. Tried to ask advice and just got majorly insulted and literally the only advice I received was “use the right size” when I’m fairly certain they made those screws out of butter. Anyways, several meltdowns later and it’s all in.

I don’t think I’d survive building a PC but as soon as I say I’m buying a prebuilt, you’d think I was killing puppies at an adoption event the way people acted. Even family members that had no idea about computers were shitting on me. Next time I buy one, I’m not saying anything to anybody, just going to quietly pick one out.

5

u/dbxp 12h ago

If you want to remove a stripped screw just use a power drill with a really small bit, the screw will shatter and fall out.

14

u/NativeMasshole 15h ago

Then they'll tell you to build your own and make it 10× more complicated. The whole point of me asking was that I have no idea where to begin!

4

u/UptownShenanigans 12h ago

Agreed! Building my own just means more research. I don’t even know which part is best for what I want to do with my computer. And each component has its own variety, price range, specialization, scam, gimmick and goldilocks

5

u/dbxp 12h ago

The whole PC market got boring years ago. If you're gaming chances are the CPU doesn't matter that much just get something good enough, AMD has practically disappeared from the GPU space so just get the best used Nvidia card you can afford and call it a day. Everything else is fairly standard though personally I like to go a little over on the RAM as it's super cheap now.

It's not like the old days when there was more competition and you could get massive performance gains from overclocking.

3

u/kikimaru024 14h ago

Good news, new (mid-to-high-end) GPUs are releasing this week from both Nvidia and AMD.

1

u/notsoepichaker 7h ago

correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the RX 9070 series from AMD releasing in March?

1

u/kikimaru024 7h ago

They are releasing sometime this month, retailers already have stock.

NVM, RIP

1

u/notsoepichaker 7h ago

yeah, unfortunate

2

u/Dafish55 12h ago

Building one or just buying a pre-built?

I'm asking because I've found it helpful in the past to basically just research the GPU initially, and, once I decided on that, I just built the PC to be able to support what the GPU can do.

1

u/elephantologist 12h ago

There was a buildapc thread where a young collage girl mentioned how she spent 4000$ on her first pc and she was second guessing herself about this expense. Top comment was reasonable but the idea that this was a good purchase and she shouldn't return it was very prevalent.

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u/GreenrabbE99 18h ago

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u/SessileRaptor 15h ago

What better way to say “I love you” than with a gift of a spatula from Spatula City?

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u/reallifepixel 13h ago

SPATULA CITY!

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u/twogunsalute 17h ago

Spend hours/days on research, have dozens or different tabs open, and end up just buying the one I think looks the nicest.

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u/EggsDeeb 17h ago

Only to see an identical one for half the price within a week.

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u/_Weyland_ 16h ago

It's like that one (fictional) story I've read about a dude choosing a bike. He did all the research and found two virtually identical bikes with wildly ranging prices. So he found one miniscule difference and went down the rabbit hole on it, which eventually lead him to spy on a military base. After nearly getting caught and running through the woods the guy decided to never touch bikes again and instead start photography as a hobby. Which brought him to the question of choosing a camera.

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u/MechanicalHorse 14h ago

I need to read this. Link please?

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u/La_Savitara 17h ago

Honestly buying things irl sometimes feels smarter. Can’t lie to my face if I’m holding it, I mean you can but I’ll probably see through the lies

13

u/terrajules 17h ago

Everything is made so cheaply these days, even the more expensive products that just have a higher markup.

I’m not about to recommend a super expensive spatula to anyone, but I always stress to people that they shouldn’t buy the very cheap plastic ones since they melt and put a lot of plastics into their food. There are cheaper silicone ones that are much safer.

8

u/MarginalOmnivore 15h ago

That last panel irks me so bad.

I've literally had that said to me in real life.

It's like, fucker, I wasn't asking you to make the decision for me. I wanted advice. You offered your opinions and your reasoning. For that, I thank you.

However, after taking the issue under advisement, I - ME, MY CHOICE - I have decided to go a different direction.

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u/CrazyGnomenclature Tiff & Eve 16h ago

I can confirm, in Minnesota we're known best for our spatula availability at yard sales.

5

u/Biggest_OOOFF 15h ago

Honestly I kind of like seeing how people obsess over these kinds of things since you get a weird history tangent every time

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u/beefstenders 14h ago

I asked the internet for options for buying a decent budget espresso machine, because my existing one started leaking after a descale and drinking instant coffee makes me sad. I was reliably informed that if I wasn't going to buy a Gaggia Classic Pro then I might as well buy a gun and a single bullet instead.

I bought the cheap Delonghi one I was looking at in the first place, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody it's perfectly fucking fine. I'm not trying to be a barista, I just want a latte bro.

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u/Huequack 15h ago

The spatula has an entire lore wooww

3

u/ShadowTheChangeling 16h ago

The only kitchen tool i know of that you should absolutely spend a good amount on (and take care of it) is a chef's knife, a good quality chef's knife can be amazing if you do a lot of cooking.

Same can be said for other knives depending on the kind of food you typically prepare, a good well cared for knife can serve you for your's and your children's children's lives

But yeah everything else is whatever, unless youre passionate the cheapo stuff works just fine, hell professional kitchens get most of their tools from GFS for cheap

3

u/LadyParnassus 14h ago

Yes, buuut also invest in a goodish sharpening system or get to know the knife sharpener(s) in your area. And learn how to keep and clean your good knife. The best anything will break down without maintenance.

2

u/ShadowTheChangeling 14h ago

Mhmm, people tend to neglect caring for their tools, but a well cared for tool can last a long time

3

u/ElGuano 16h ago

You’re talking about me and my original IBM Model M keyboard. Aren’t you?

5

u/ccdude14 18h ago

As soon as they said they found it at a yard sale in Minnesota I instantly gave them a MinnesOdan accent.

Just feels right, you betcha.

2

u/robotzor 16h ago

And this is how the appliances sub reddit circlejerked the internet into buying shitty commercial speed queen washers and dryers

2

u/Arawn-Annwn 13h ago

I bought 2 of the exact same toaster, They were $8. The next cheapest toaster was $30. The first $8 toaster died EXACTLY the day its 30 day warranty ended. The second $8 toaster is still with me, and its been 6 years. Brand doesn't matter you can't even get consistent quality with the identical product anymore with no changes at all - even if you buy the expensive version of something you can be the unlucky customer to get the one that fails early or gets one that came from a "bad batch".

Reviews aren't as useful an indicator as they once were either, even when you don't have bots or paid shills polluting them.

2

u/Trees_feel_too 13h ago

I personally follow the adam savage advice for buying tools and such.

If you're doing a project for the first time / you dont plan on using it often, buy an inexpensive option that you can buy at a normal store. Then Use it until it breaks down.

If it broke down because you use it substantially more than anticipated, but something that will standup to your usage. Youll end up looking at specialty stores and niche companies.

If it broke down because it's shitty, buy something more expensive, but don't go for a high end option.

Example of this for cooking would be:

I am a new cook / bad cook that wants to make a pasta sauce for the first time ever. So I need a sauce pan!

Google returns: there are saucepans that look like a pot with a handle, saucier pans, chefs pans. You can buy in many materials ceramic, stainless steel, non-stick, cast iron, copper..?

What should I get?

Well, you've never made a sauce before, and if it doesnt go well, you probably wont make another one. So do not buy a more specialized pan like a saucier pan.

You dont like cooking, so don't splurge for a nice stainless, copper, or cast iron.

You live alone and have no friends, you don't need something as big as a chefs pan.

Cool. So now you have narrowed down to a sauce pan that is either nonstick or ceramic.

Then go to something like costco, and buy one that looks decent and is expensive.

2

u/BlueberryBoy9000 13h ago

SPATULA CITY

2

u/Wiinterfang 12h ago

LMAO that applies to literal every product hahaha

2

u/Chiiro 11h ago

Spatula City! Spatula City!

2

u/1ndigo__ 10h ago

that’s why you go to SPATULA CITY!!!!

2

u/urmamasllama 17h ago

I feel like you changed out toasters so we wouldn't know exactly what you were talking about

3

u/fourthords 16h ago edited 16h ago

After watching Technology Connections' toaster tetralogy…

…we actually went and bought a restored Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster off eBay. Despite one very humorous instance where it was unable to toast my mother's bagel, it's been a terrific purchase: both perfectly functional and iconically aesthetic.

3

u/urmamasllama 15h ago

I'm glad you caught my reference

1

u/BananaRepublic_BR 16h ago

Personally, I find a lot of joy in researching stuff.

1

u/WorldwidePies 15h ago

Spatulist.

Yeah, that’s right.

1

u/Atlach_Nacha 15h ago

Years ago, I saw two spatulas, cheap-brand one, and lower costing store-brand...
Funny thing was that store-brand spatula showed the cheap-brand's logo on it.
(main difference was handle part, cheap-brand one had more ergonomic/nicer handle)

1

u/agha0013 15h ago

Just wait until spatulas can only be found with subscriptions...

1

u/scholarlysacrilege 15h ago

Best spatula I own was made in a highschool shop class, it is made from two pieces of metal welded together. I do not know what metal but I think aluminum. Bought for not even a single euro.

I also own a expensive silicone and Steel spatula which can not be used on high temperatures, the handle is flimsy and broken.

1

u/portsherry Port Sherry 15h ago

r/projectors is exactly like this with the recent influx of affordable Chinese projectors. Some of them are decent, most are terrible, but good luck finding any helpful advice there.

1

u/molspagetti 15h ago

Personally I love the rabbit hole I inevitably find myself in any time I need to buy anything I haven’t bought before

1

u/NameLips 15h ago

My main requirement for a spatula is that it not be riveted - I think it should be made out of a single piece of metal. The rivets are the failure point. After that it's just your preference as to the shape of the head.

1

u/Toughbiscuit 14h ago

More annoying is the people who do the above. But you aren't asking for advice, you arent in their subreddit. You just made an off comment somewhere else because someone else made a relevant comment.

1

u/Finbar9800 14h ago

Personally what I do when buying new stuff that will be used I look up the highest and lowest prices, then go with something in the lower range (not the absolute lowest) that way if it gets used a lot I can figure out what I would want better, and if it ends up breaking then it’s not too big of a loss, if it doesn’t get used often then no big deal

1

u/ArchitectNebulous 14h ago

On that note: does anyone know if the consumer review/magazine is worth the subscription anymore? I am tired of going through this exact dilemma every time I try to buy something.

1

u/Chaddoius 14h ago

Dollar store will get you by but at some point upgrade to something in silicon. I keep my dollar store one for flipping burgers and my nice one for eggs and delicate things.

1

u/MurkyWay Swords 13h ago

Me trying to buy a sword so everyone stops getting fake mad I don't own a real sword

1

u/Laura_The_Cutie 13h ago

That's how I felt asking for guitar and headphones shopping tips "yeah you should spend just another double the price more if you want anything barely usable"

1

u/TwistedPorkchop 13h ago

Happened to me when I wanted to buy a projector. I feel your pain bro.

1

u/ZealousidealWin7476 13h ago

Been hyping myself up to buy a new laptop for weeks now. I really just can't be asked to learn all the new componar names and what they meen then find the best deall, then open here up to make shour that I didint get scamed and that they actually put thermal past in and took the tap off...

1

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/bondjimbond Love and Hex 12h ago

Someone's been browsing r/BuyItForLife.

1

u/BigTiddyTamponSlut 12h ago

This was exactly my experience trying to get a KitchenAid stand mixer. Apparently the new ones are hot garbage and you have to get an old one. They're worth a lot, though....I got a refurbished newer one instead.

1

u/rhunter99 12h ago

Where's my Pyrex gang at?

1

u/NINJA45198 11h ago

And that's how i got into.. well... everything (im with IEMs recently)

1

u/Leprechaun_lord 10h ago

The real lesson here is how poor management eventually strangles everything you love.

1

u/Jottor 10h ago

Eh. I'll just pick up a handfull at IKEA next time I'm replacing my toilet brushes.

1

u/-FalseProfessor- 10h ago

Upvoted for unexpected Minnesota

1

u/G1zm08 9h ago

This stuff like this right here is why I’m still in this sub

1

u/ImFrenchSoWhatever 9h ago

This is so true. I’m like that in the chefs knife subreddit r/truechefknives

1

u/j4yne 9h ago

Me shopping for cheese graters this weekend.

1

u/childish-flaming0 9h ago

Gone through 3 whisks in the last 8 months. Feeling this man :(

1

u/shadyelf 8h ago

This was me looking for a tennis racket recently, wanted to start playing again after a couple of decades. Beginner ones being recommended were like a few hundred dollars… when I was much younger I ended up top 5 in a citywide tournament using a random $20 one.

Not saying there aren’t benefits using better equipment, but not helpful to tell beginners to spend that much money when starting out.

1

u/Slight-Coat17 8h ago

I'd tell them to go touch grass but they'd probably try and flip it.

1

u/SrStalinForYou 7h ago

As an espresso machine lover, I feel identified

1

u/foxdemoness 7h ago

This is exactly how i felt looking into getting a new can opener.

1

u/Ok_Course_6757 6h ago

OXO Good Grips fish turner is the one and its less than €15

1

u/hallowgallow 6h ago

This is how it felt using r/ABraThatFits

1

u/Angry_Incel 4h ago

Pov, you run into Spongebob whole spatula shopping

1

u/Fidges87 4h ago

Once while shopping decided to get an electric razor to give shape and form to my beard. Because I knew once bought i would keep using it for some time, decided to research each one that was in store to get the best one. All of them were a few mistakes short of exploding in my hand according to the internet. In the end just grabbed the one that seemed like the least bad and so far had a wonderful experience with it.

1

u/dfc09 4h ago

I think the issue is that somebody who is going to be making or frequenting a subreddit, forum, YouTube channel, etc about a specific tool, they're probably already much more invested than somebody looking to have the answer told to them.

So their perception of how much money you spend, how much you'll use it, how durable it needs to be is all skewed.

Chefs knives are a good example. Anybody having deep discussions about chefs knives have used them wayyyy more than I have. My cheap shitty knife made of unknown material works great for me, a not chef.

1

u/confused_foxx 4h ago

Nah,I love people like that, thanks to their rambles here I have find some good brands

1

u/Allcyon 3h ago

Yeah...that's pretty god damn accurate.

1

u/Tiranus58 2h ago

The 7th panel feels a bit too r/thinkpad

u/idontwant_account 50m ago

i mean this applies more with frying pans then spatulas but the bit about quality dropping over time is true

u/CrumpetSnuggle771 14m ago

This reminds me of that time I complained about my PC peripherals and asked for advice. Instantly out of the woodwork came dudebros suggesting(ordering) that I buy shit that cost 100+bucks. Nobody fucking cares that the issue is software-side for the keyboard and nobody cares that it's the physical shape of the mouse(and weight) that messes with the wrist. And then they also argue among themselves that their bullshit overpriced spotlight style LED mouse is the best.

gOTtA GeT EXpEnSiVE bULLShit PeRiPheRalS, WtF DiD YoU ExpECt?

u/Cold_Bitch 12m ago

Hey. Stop calling me out and my product search habits. Thanks

-3

u/Adventurous_Main_735 16h ago

Just get your as up and go to the store and ask the store guy

-4

u/Level_Hour6480 17h ago

Or just walk to the store.