Your best and worst ever purchases

[Mad Moose]

I'm about to place some unwanteds on ebay and so this set me thinking. Whats the one thing you ever bought that stands the test of time and what did you purchase that you wish you didn't.?

When I think about the accessibility and availabilty of music today I often cringe at just how much I paid for CD's (predominately) down the years.

However i did buy a Flat Screen 20in TV some years ago (5 or so) in Lidl I think. It was a very new concept with the DVD player loaded and at that time it was a snip I believe at €500. It doesn't seem that cheap for a little known 'Cello' brand but its still a cracking TV/DVD player and holds its place as the little used bedroom TV.

On the other hand I think I've made some poor impulse purchases. Sometimes clothes, music and technology. The clothes choices I put down to growing up and assumed fashion of the time.

On the expensive side I purchased a Sony Handycam which was a pretty impressive piece of technology at the time. Recordings went on a mini DVD which played on any DVD player and bar a few uses and tours this little beauty never got the use I expected and is now headed for Ebay.

There are many more I could mention. Made a terrible car choice in Monaghan and Sons, Galway, some 4 years ago which was roughly 5 years old at the time. Took it to England with me and got rid of it in Battersea at a very much devalued price and I had a not to happy garage on my case when they realised what they had actually bought in part exchange from me. I still drive the Honda I purchased from that Garage.

Over to you.

[osarusan]

The things I recall are both minor purchases.

Best - In Japan, despite the absolute scorn of my then girlfriend (now wife), I bought an iron which was on sale for 700 yen (about 4.50euro at the time), ignoring all her comments about getting extra when you spend extra.

The flimsy piece of junk lasted 6 years, and we only got rid of it when we moved back to Ireland. It was still working perfectly. Every time it was used (after the first year or so) I made a point of recalling the day it was bought to her, and the advice she gave me (tells you the kind of person I am).

Honourable mentions to Tom Waits' Closing Time and Bruce Springsteen's 1975-85 Live albums, and J.M Coetzee's novel Disgrace.

Worst - When we got back to Ireland I bought a Babyliss hair trimmer. The biggest piece of crap ever, didn't recharge, and the blades speed up or slow to a crawl for no reason. We're moving back to Japan in 2 months (goodbye Limerick FC), and I'm going to send it back to Babyliss telling them it was the biggest piece of crap I've ever bought.

[Spudulika]

I had to think long and hard about this, as worst always outweighs the best as they stick in the mind more. However I figured one big and one small would make sense.

Best - Big, my house in Croatia. I'd fallen for the town, picked up work and when I finished a contract in Saudi Arabia went there and had a place to live. It's been the best big buy because it's the most money I've ever spent though it's paid for itself now and I'll get back there in April and spend a month in the summer there with the family. The plan is to get there full-time again when the local economy recovers. Small - a tooth, sounds weird, but for 2 years I'd been short one front tooth thanks to an accidental reverse Glasgow kiss from one of our pack who was driven out of a ruck when I was trying to get the ball away. I became very self-conscious about the gap and finally woke up to the fact that I had to get over my fear of dentists (a horrible experience in Canada that saw a butcher crack my jaw when taking out a wisdom tooth with inadequate anesthetic). Great ever since.

Worst - Big - Cars always stick out, mainly because they are so vital, but I had one horrible experience that I always remember. I bought a Fiat Punto from my cousin (a mechanic) and it was something that I got a loan for, which was a big step as I was splitting time between Dundalk and Germany and planned on driving to Germany as it looked more likely I'd be full time there. Little things started to go wrong, the electrics for a start, and 400pounds to fix that on top of the 800pounds purchase price began to annoy me. Then the clutch started to act up, plus the brakes, and one day as I was driving my Dad home from work (on the Navan Road) the accelerator stuck, then went to the floor. I got the car out of gear and off the road and found the ignition had jammed, the engine promptly blew. I called my cousin and he laughed down the phone telling me - you bought it, you fix it. In total it cost me more than 1,500pounds and I never got an apology from my cousin, only laughs at family gatherings for not checking it out before I bought it. More fool me :-)

Small - A cot. Before anyone hammers me, it was beautiful, old wood, solid and I lovingly cleaned it down and varnished it with special baby safe varnish. It was for my eldest and I wanted to do something different and get her something that would just look night and be cute. However it was the start of a nightmare. It cost only 100euros (a brand new one would have been 20euros less) and I went to buy a mattress, I did, then found out that no mattress on the market was big enough. So we got the biggest then laid in some solid cushions to fill the gap, while waiting for a purpose made one to arrive from Zagreb. Then I noticed that the fixings weren't fixing, and our little one (9 months old) was able to undo the screws and drop them on the floor. It got worse where she then learned/figured out how to stand up on one end and look around the corner, and yes, one day she went flying out with a horrible thud. Then she figured out, after seeing me change the sheets and cushions, that she could do the same, and 3 times I came in to find her legs only visible as she attempted a Great Escape, and twice I found her from the waist up in the cot as she tried a different tack. The new mattress finally arrived, a month late, and it turned out they used cheap material which meant that the edges burst after 2 months and of course our little one figured out how to remove the innards. Now thinking of it, I don't know if it was the bed or her!

[Pauro 76]

Best: Easily my MacBook. I'm a sometime graphic designer and it's got me work, it's improved my work and it's given me the capacity to learn new things related to work.

Worst: Do mobile phone contracts count as a purchase? Signed up an 18 month contract a few years ago on 3 in the UK. Biggest bunch of cowboys, steer well clear.

[sligoman]

Best: Garth Brooks tickets.

Worst: Things that weren't Garth Brooks tickets.

[thischarmingman]

Worst: Do mobile phone contracts count as a purchase? Signed up an 18 month contract a few years ago on 3 in the UK. Biggest bunch of cowboys, steer well clear.

+1...

[Jofspring]

Best: Toss up between my iphone 4 and Macbook but the Macbook probably shades it. Was told it was crazy money to spend on it but it has lasted me longer than any other laptop I have had and is performing as good as it did on day one.

Worst: DVD recorder about 6 years ago. Took about 3 or 4 mins just to come on. Was tricky to get it to actually recorded anything, when it did it usually failed at some point. Soon after then SKy+ came out and there was no need for it anymore. Been sitting under the telly unused since. Actually what has happened me a few times is buying things on impulse and about two months later it is either half the price or a new version comes out with a better deal.
Clothes that i was convinced would fit me perfectly as i was too lazy to try on in the shop only to find out when i got home they didn't fit and never bothered to return them (think its a guy thing ha)

[shantykelly]

Best: First car (that I didn't crash within a week of getting it). Gave me the freedom to go where ever and when ever I wanted. Cue midnight runs to Malin Head, or 2am shopping trips to Asda in Strabane. Give me liberty or give me Translink.

Worst: Samsung mobile phone, D400 or something similar. First non-Nokia phone I got. Crap reception, crap camera, crap memory, basically crap. Straight back to Nokia after that, although I am contemplating an iPhone at the minute.

[Paddyfield]

BEST: Macbook. It is an awesome piece of machinery. Maybe we should open a Macbook thread?

WORST: When I was younger and sillier, I bought too many Tequila shots in an nightclub for myself and my friend. We mate complete tits out of ourselves and subsequently had a three day hangover. I don't know how I got home.

[sligoman]

WORST: When I was younger and sillier, I bought too many Tequila shots in an nightclub for myself and my friend. We mate complete tits out of ourselves and subsequently had a three day hangover. I don't know how I got home.Sounds like my night in Club K in Galway, just replace tequila with double vodka & red bull.

It was only a fiver for one, couldn't turn it down but paid for it the next morning :)

[SwanVsDalton]

Best - Return plane tickets to New York for Summer 06. Needless to say sobriety had no place in my life those months.

Worst - Remember when iPod's came out and there was a few holier-than-thou music snobs who'd say things like: 'Well, I like choosing my music before I go out the door...'. That was me (actually still is). So when everyone else was running round buying 30g iPod's and filling it with their whole music collection (5g), I decided to go out and buy some technology more suited to my needs......a mini-disc player. In 2004. What a terrible, terrible idea. Got a Creative Zen a few months later, put the MD away and never looked at it ever again.

[Jofspring]

BEST: Macbook. It is an awesome piece of machinery. Maybe we should open a Macbook thread?

Thats 3 Macbooks now in the best purchases. They are pricey and are missing some basic things like an SD card slot (in the basic mac anyway) but can't argue with the quality.

[Pauro 76]

Thats 3 Macbooks now in the best purchases. They are pricey and are missing some basic things like an SD card slot (in the basic mac anyway) but can't argue with the quality.

Maybe open a thread up in Technology? I've had mine three years and although it's the lower end model, it works flawlessly. Best ever purchase.

[DeLorean]

Best: Not sure, laser eye surgery maybe, although it was dear and the results aren't quite perfect. Still great not needing contacts or glasses though.

Honourable mention: A Samsung 42' Plasma. I got my house mates to chip in €75 each (€225 in total)as a kind of TV rental but it will ultimately be mine.

Worst: Bought one of those fitness balls. Only cost 20 bucks but I have got literally zero use out of it.

[stann]

Best: Easily my Bookmac. Kind of a clear plastic cover thing, keeps books dry in the rain. Top bit of kit.

[Jofspring]

Best: Easily my Bookmac. Kind of a clear plastic cover thing, keeps books dry in the rain. Top bit of kit.

Sounds quality. Would this bit of kit be big enough to fit a macbook? Don't want to get my best purchase wet and damaged y'know.

[Paddyfield]

I'm loving the Newspresso coffee machine I bought at Christmas.

Excellent coffee in less than 2 minutes.

[prince20]

Worst purchase: a season ticket for sporting fingal for the 2011 season :)

[stann]

Sounds quality. Would this bit of kit be big enough to fit a macbook? Don't want to get my best purchase wet and damaged y'know.
A Macbookmac? Liking the sound of that. :D
You're in so. Sounds like a word with this lot might be in order.
http://193.120.161.181/html/gws/includes/business/images/contentpage/dragon_den.jpg
Needn't bother wasting time on the blondie wan though, I'm beginning to think she hasn't two ha'pennies to rub together...

[Lev Yashin]

Best: My Guitar..was cheap as chips and sounds like it too. But i dont think i would have ever learned to play had i not bought my own(i was using my da's)

Worst: Jaybird bluetooth headphones. 70 euro of sh*te. charge them for hours only to have die 5 minutes into a run. And for the brief time they do actually workl the sound is rubbish.

[pauliek]

Best : Green adidas samba's

[dfx-]

A ticket to the final game, Bray v Rovers last season qualifies as best and worst...

[dochara]

Best: My 1978 Fender Telecaster. Spotted it for sale in the Irish Independent in 1982 and drove to Dublin that day (pre-M6!) to buy it.

Worst: A tube of glue that looked like Bostik in the local pound shop - never dried, never stuck. :(

[horton]

Best: About 6 odd years ago I bought myself a raincoat-type jumper thing that was completely padded(arms/shoulders/belly/back). I look like a huge bouncer-type guy with it on and its extremely cosy on when its freezing out. Only cost about 15 quid but definitely the best money I've ever spent.

Worst- my Blackberry. Considering the cost of the damn thing it can be a rubbish smartphone. I've had two and neither of them can play a video. Either files not supported, or sounds completely out of sync with whats on screen. My main bug with them is the keyboard light is very tempermental, with it refusing to work at all when its dark. It appears to be a common problem, and it's a nightmare trying to reply to something in the car when you can't see what button your hitting.