Once great brands ...... now junk.

smilerf

Toshiba used to make good laptops but my last one was terrible and I haven't really seen around in about 3 years

Aineoil

I haven't been impressed with Dyson. As vacuum cleaner it's not that great. I bought a hand held Dyson rechargeable vacuum cleaner

about 10 years ago - it was rubbish. Maybe the newer models are better?

Not that impressed with Bosch either. I had a Bosch washing machine and dishwasher that lasted for more than 15 years. Brilliant

return for the money spent at the time. Bought a Bosch clothes dryer that broke after year and a half. I have a Bosch dishwasher that's

roughly 6 years old. I'm not that impressed with it compared to my old Bosch dishwasher.

I bought a new Bosch washing machine last September and the salesman said it would last about 5 to 6 years. It looks like I'm

obsessed with Bosch appliances but I thought were very reliable at a relatively affordable price.

My mother swears by Miele. But there's no way I could afford the prices they charge.

JohnBoy26

Aineoil wrote: »

I haven't been impressed with Dyson. As vacuum cleaner it's not that great. I bought a hand held Dyson rechargeable vacuum cleaner

about 10 years ago - it was rubbish. Maybe the newer models are better?

Not that impressed with Bosch either. I had a Bosch washing machine and dishwasher that lasted for more than 15 years. Brilliant

return for the money spent at the time. Bought a Bosch clothes dryer that broke after year and a half. I have a Bosch dishwasher that's

roughly 6 years old. I'm not that impressed with it compared to my old Bosch dishwasher.

I bought a new Bosch washing machine last September and the salesman said it would last about 5 to 6 years. It looks like I'm

obsessed with Bosch appliances but I thought were very reliable at a relatively affordable price.

My mother swears by Miele. But there's no way I could afford the prices they charge.

No handheld battery powed cleaner is any good.

asteroids over berlin

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Akai is another once good brand that is chepo rebaged nowadays.

They have really stuck too high end audio equipment for dj'ing/production these days - they do sell some cheapo controllers still.

asteroids over berlin

AMKC wrote: »

Kodak. They made great camera,s but did not change quick enough to keep up with the times. A pity I had a lot of Kodak camera,s and still have one and its a great camera. I think Kodak should have made mobile phones.

JVC there was a great brand now its just a name on some Turkish made crap.

Nokia another great brand but again did not keep up with the times.

Saab great cars but then bought by a company that did not care about them and ruined them.

Kodak's were a classic but the fact the paper was so expensive would just not be profitable in this day and age, however......there are new old analogue editions out now, quite cheap but again the paper is around 30 euro for a pack of 8!!

Hande hoche!

Avatar MIA wrote: »

I remember studying as an accountant 15 years ago and reading how Mercedes strategy to start off with a desired margin and working backwards was criticised.

Something along the lines of cost plus pricing? That takes me back to my accounting class days too.

Aineoil

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

No handheld battery powed cleaner is any good.

You are right.

Avatar MIA

Hande hoche! wrote: »

Something along the lines of cost plus pricing? That takes me back to my accounting class days too.

It was more refined than that. They started with sales price, then came up with a desired margin and worked backwards from there. So, it encouraged cost cutting. It didn't end well.

JohnBoy26

asteroids over berlin wrote: »

They have really stuck too high end audio equipment for dj'ing/production these days - they do sell some cheapo controllers still.

Sorry I should of mentioned I was on about their tvs and vcrs etc

mailforkev

Not really a great brand but Michael Kors used to be for wealthy American women. Now tacky overpriced cheap Chinese watches and bags for people who don’t actually know what luxury is.

jack of all

"Clarks" shoes, onetime regarded as a good quality go-to brand for reasonably priced footwear- cheap and cheerful now. But, to be fair most footwear is now considered as a disposable consumable item, ie not repairable and not made to last, so cheap in price and quality.

Stanley, back in it's Sheffield days they made good quality tools for the trade. Now very little is made in Sheffield (some blades, edge tool steels still are, I believe). The tools they market now are made in Mexico and the Far East and I doubt they'll last like the originals. The "hand planes" they sell now are rubbish.

Nicholson once made fantastic metal working files and rasps, rubbish now.

"Pimpernell" used to make great quality table mats. Had a set of them that were used every day for nearly 10 years- made in England. The replacement set I bought were made in China and aren't a ptach on the originals.

Vise Grip made great "mole" wrenches when they were USA-made, now made elsewhere and very soft in comparison.

Bulldog, made top quality garden and builders' tools (shovels, rakes etc) in England. Made in India now I think and recent examples I've seen don't look to be of the same quality. I have old Bulldog tools that have seen 30 years use and not showing their age.

Avatar MIA

This is some depressing thread.

Without derailing the thread, what general brands do people consider good quality/value?

diomed

Dell Computers
My last Dell was four computers ago.

A2LUE42

Legoland. Surprised no one mentioned it already.

red sean

Avatar MIA wrote: »

This is some depressing thread.

Without derailing the thread, what general brands do people consider good quality/value?

Judging by this thread, NONE. :P

Avatar MIA

diomed wrote: »

Dell Computers
My last Dell was four computers ago.

Dell have pretty much diversified away from PC/laptop manufacture, and are now broken down across 7 different divisions. If anything it was good business sense for them to get out of PCs when they did.

Avatar MIA

red sean wrote: »

Judging by this thread, NONE. :P

Exactly - thread full of Victor Meldrews :pac:

I don't believe it! There must be some reputable brands out there.

Nekarsulm

Avatar MIA wrote: »

This is some depressing thread.

Without derailing the thread, what general brands do people consider good quality/value?

In hand tools, Teng make great sockets and wrenches.

Even the mighty Stihl have some of their saws built in China now. It was bad enough when they started making low end saws in Florida.
Their professional stuff is still mage in Germany though.

Fuji and Canon still make good compact cameras.

Power tools, the Blue range of Bosch are good, and most of the Hitachi stuff seems OK

red sean

Zanussi. Once advertised as "The appliance of science". Now complete crap!

jack of all

red sean wrote: »

Zanussi. Once advertised as "The appliance of science". Now complete crap!

We still have our original Zanussi washing machine, nearly 19 years old, used every day and still going strong. I know it's replacement won't last as long, unless we spend big!

AMKC

Black and Decker.

Used to be great but where are they now?

Motorolo although I am not sure they were ever any good. Had one of the phones and it drove be nuts. The operating system onn it was terrible.

DrumSteve

Coca Cola.

For trying to peddle a 1.75 ltr bottle as the same as a 2 ltr and charging the same price.

kurtainsider

Roberts radios.
Bought one in the early 2000's and it was expensive, heavy and very good. It's still going strong. Bought two more since. One was an internet radio that never gave a days satisfaction which I had replaced under warranty with an identical one which though much better is still a piece of crap.

The other one I bought was a clock radio which was so incredibly p*iss poor that I returned it for a refund.

BTW I'm not a returner by nature - it's just that Roberts went from a prestige brand to garbage.

Its owned these days by our own Glendimplex who, to my knowledge, are not steeped in a tradition of building radios.

It really is depressing that these outfits buy a quality brand name down on its luck, bring in absolute shi*te from China, stick on the once proud badge and fob it off on the unsuspecting punters.

screamer

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Exactly - thread full of Victor Meldrews :pac:

I don't believe it! There must be some reputable brands out there.

Siemens and Miele. Any brand that offer 5 year warranty with their product are pretty sure it's gonna last.

screamer

kurtainsider wrote: »

Roberts radios.
Bought one in the early 2000's and it was expensive, heavy and very good. It's still going strong. Bought two more since. One was an internet radio that never gave a days satisfaction which I had replaced under warranty with an identical one which though much better is still a piece of crap.

The other one I bought was a clock radio which was so incredibly p*iss poor that I returned it for a refund.

BTW I'm not a returner by nature - it's just that Roberts went from a prestige brand to garbage.

Its owned these days by our own Glendimplex who, to my knowledge, are not steeped in a tradition of building radios.

It really is depressing that these outfits buy a quality brand name down on its luck, bring in absolute shi*te from China, stick on the once proud badge and fob it off on the unsuspecting punters.

And still charge the same high prices for lowest quality crap. Move all the jobs to China and then expect the countries where they've left lots of unemployed people in their wake to continue supporting them by buying their crap.

kurtainsider

DrumSteve wrote: »

Coca Cola.

For trying to peddle a 1.75 ltr bottle as the same as a 2 ltr and charging the same price.

They're all at it. It's considered a legitimate business practice these days. If the shopper attempted to obtain 2 liters by palming off the price of 1.75l it would be considered theft. :mad:

screamer

kurtainsider wrote: »

They're all at it. It's considered a legitimate business practice these days. If the shopper attempted to obtain 2 liters by palming off the price of 1.75l it would be considered theft. :mad:

Wait till the sugar tax goes on.... it'll cost twice as much.

ongarite

Lots of complaining in this thread but the problem is the consumer won't pay for quality (expensive) goods anymore.

That 19 year Zanussi washing machine probably cost a lot more as % of take home pay than it does now.
Same for those Trinitron TVs and Bosch dishwashers, etc..

Companies are building a product to a price the consumer will pay and that price hasn't gone up with inflation over the last 10-15 years.
That washing machine might have cost 400 pounds/euro 19 years ago but would you pay 600 euro for it now?
Something has got to give and quality of components is it.

RDM_83 again

Bush and Alba, now cheap crap peddled by Argos
AEG used to be top notch but are now a brand of Electrolux and quality varies wildly
Technicolor, once a renowned film processing technique but now a manufacturer of rubbish broadband routers

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I don't know if you can get it on this side of the world but mexican coke cola is the product your looking for.
Places sell it in the US and Canada as a speciality product or in mexican restaurants, it comes in 400/500 mil ish size glass bottles and has a metric f-ckton of cane sugar in it so it's a way better drink.

Candy Lab in Dublin often stock it. Near the old Central Bank.

Bowlardo

cantdecide wrote: »

Volkswagen has to be the posterboy for junk that was once great. Overall, I still like much of what they do but the quality issues are just horrific and the bills when they go wrong as just astonishingly unjustifiable.

What year did it start to change?