As I have a few long haul flights planned, I bought some noise cancelling head phones. I have never found a place that demos them so just bought some online. WOW, they actually work really well. I used them with the kitchen extractor on full blast and they did a great job of cutting out the back ground noise.
I wish had bought them before.
Weber BBQs, again great BBQs annoyingly double the cost of them in the states.
Disappointing
Spiraliser= veg is not a replacement for pasta,
Rotaire washing line cover (buy the premium) is every level of good (plus the old fella that runs the company is great).
SONOS Play 1 kit is fantastic for non reference music.
Toro Loco (esp. Reserva) kicks the butt of many costlier wines for glugging plonk.
Anything made by Beco should be dragged into the garden and shot (done twice, literally)
Impressed:
My Billingham 445 bag. I use it as my hand luggage when travelling. In fact I just bought a 225 off of SC because it was so well priced.
Disappointed:
Those cheap watch repair kits off eBay...
I bought a job lot of underwear from an outlet store, they turned out to be a load of pants.
Great:
Sonos
Cheaney shoes
Edwin Jagger Chatsworth DE razors
Taylor's Rose shaving cream
Uniqlo selvedge jeans
Charles Tyrwhitt shirts
Vitamix blender
Global knives
Yard-o-Led pencils and pens
Henry Tomkins briefcases
Panasonic bread makers
Not great:
Fiskars reel mowers
TM Lewin shirts
Great - ceramic frying pan - seeing is believing
Great - Gillette sensor razor #triedthemall
Rubbish - George Foreman grill - bad cleaning etc
Rubbish - b&q own brand petrol mower - bought a £50 Honda fourth hand now instead #machine
Great
Cheaney, Loake 1880, ONI Denim, Tellason Denim, iPad, iPhone, Macbook Air, Brompton, Rapha
Let Downs
Brutus Trimfit, Fred Perry, Diesel Denim,
RIAC
I've been impressed with my Timex Camper, Belroy Card Sleeve and Fire TV Stick. All real bargains for under £30. I was not so impressed by the Alfie Boe version of Quadrophenia. The live show is good but the CD is crap.
Last edited by bonzo697; 21st July 2015 at 21:20.
Impressed:
Ipad
Iphone 6+
Crockett & Jones shoes
Charles Tyrwhitt shirts
Hackett clothing in general
George foreman grill
Louis Vuitton wallet
Any rolex i have owned
Duchamp socks
Nutribullet
Amazon kindle
Unimpressed:
Church shoes
Any washer / dryer
Android tablets (any of them)
Electronic magazines (still doesnt work IMO)
+1 Duchamp (socks, ties and cuff links), and iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and iMacsOriginally Posted by cyrusir
Great
Peppersmith Chewing Gum
Secrid Wallets
Grenson boots (thanks to TZ)
Bose QC3
Apple iMac
Rolex Sub 116610 LV (aka Hulk)
Lexus IS300h
Letdowns
Anything by Philips (TV, DVD, VCR, Toothbrush - everything I've bought from them went wrong - they won't get another chance)
Citroen BX - ever since I've had an irrational dislike of French cars, particularly Citroen
z
Le creuset pans ,excellent,McDonald's shite
Impressed: Herring Shoes, Crockett and Jones, The Cad and The Dandy suits, Tudor watches, Bladen tweed jackets, Volvo, Edwin Jagger razors and brushes, Cyril R Salter shaving cream, Feather razor blades, Burls titanium bikes, Kindle, Macbook, AEG washing machine (15 years used almost daily, never missed a beat), Weber BBQ, Thule roof bars, Leander cot bed (my boy is now 6 and has used since birth, great), Nintendo 3DS, Park tools
Unimpressed: BMW i3 (interior after 9 months rattles and squeeks like a 1980s Fiat), M&S shoes, TM Lewin suits, Krupps Nespresso machines (keep breaking), Bosch tools (keep breaking), Dyson vaccuum cleaners (keep breaking), Plum trampolines (fall to bits), Bush in car DVD players (cack), almost anything from Toys R Us except Lego, Bosch electric lawnmowers (keep breaking)
Great - ATC speakers
Padmore&Barnes wallabees
Paul Smith Cardholder
Aldi Jalapeño coleslaw
Not great - Seiko Solar Chrono
Bavaria Lager
Tivo box
Calvin Klein Boxers
Theres another thread with loads of recommendations , worth digging out if you can find it
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Impressive:
- my VW T4 Transporter van, still going strong after 20 years of use like a 4x4 (but without 4x4 system).
- Laquiole Extra pocket knife
- Leatherman
- Gransfors Bruks axes
- Original IBM Thinkpads (from before Lenovo bought them)
- My 1970s Edox Delfin handwound watch
- Olympus OM Zuiko camera lenses
- Metabo and Festo power tools
- Colt Mk2 hot-air balloon burners.
Generally, stuff that lasts more than a decade while doing what it's supposed to do.
Disappointing: anything that doesn't do the above. Which is most of the rubbish sold today.
Now that's something I've just got to try. Sounds like my idea of heaven!
Honda 125 mini bike - excellent for slow commuting.
120mpg / 60mph / OK with a passenger / and it fits inside the motorhome, where the 2-stroke scooter used to go.
great stuff:
Jambone Jawbone mini bluetooth speaker
Cheaney shoes
Samsung Notepro 12.2" tablet
Sony Z3 compact phone (amazing battery life)
Duolingo app (language learning app)
Disappointing:
Cordless strimmer
Ultrasonic metal cleaner
Impressive:
Feather AS-D2 razor: smooth, pain-free shave every time, I look forward to using it when I've been away and used a travel razor
Bose Soundlink mini: Great sound for such a little thing
Tempur pillow: Had cheap memory foam pillows in the past but this is great for my shoulder pains
Belstaff 90th Anniversary jacket: Sad maybe but I love it, the feel, the fit, everything.
iBasso DX90: Amazing sounding audio, just tried this side by side with my iphone and canopener app and its still streets ahead
Bugles paprika crisps: Not sure if they're available in the UK but once open that packet's gone.
Not so impressive:
Merkur vision: Bloomin' aggressive and too easy to slice.
Apple TV: great for some things but seems quite limited (probably just my technoignorance)
Impressive
Tumble and Hide wallet.
Edwin Jagger Razor.
Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shave Cream.
Netflix.
iPhone 6.
Not so impressive.
2005 Mini Cooper.
Good
Sky Plus box.How did we manage before.
Bad
Most BMW models and i have had plenty as company cars.
Hah! Gotta get me one of those.
Impressive:
Sonos - unlike Apple, it truly does "just work"
Bose Soundlink Mini - fantastic sound in a budget package
Modalo watch winder - Cheap, silent, good-looking
Sky NowTV - great value for money, should be even better after rumoured upgrade to 1080p
LG Washer/Dryer - Forced by space restriction and now don't see a need for seperates unless you have a massive family
Floid aftershave - that barber-shop smell from my childhood makes me smile every day
Disappointment:
9ct white gold wedding rings (we changed them within 4 weeks for 18ct white gold)
to add to mine
Disappointed with Beats by Dre, and Bose ear phones (forgot which ones a few years back now)
Impressed:
* Apple
* Rolex
* Dyson
* Anschütz (rifles)
* Remington (shotguns)
* Tempur
* Mountfield (mowers)
* De Walt (drills)
* Jaxon (hats)
* Michel Thomas (language courses)
* Leatherman
* Boker
* Kershaw
* Weber (grills)
* Aussie heat beads
* Stihl
* First Great Western (surprisingly)
* Rega
* Arcam
* Plex
* Adirondack chairs
* Stressless recliners
* Land Rover Defender
Great: macbook, ipad, 911 c4s, sinn, millican, rapha, henckel knives, john lewis divan aerobed, rha t10i headphones
Poor: exposure lights, jlc, synology, genesis croix de fer saddle/wheels, hilditch and key shirts
Impressive:
Omega
sonos (with the exception of the CR200 controller)
Chillblast computers
eureka coffee grinder
Miele washing machines
Weber BBQ
jaguar cars
DeWalt tools
Bosch professional tools
Primark (purely based upon cost and ignoring ethics or anything else)
Barut hotels
Not impressive :
Citroen Relay vans
Ryobi tools
M and S saucepans
Wickes brand in general
Most things that pretend to be top quality but are simply cheaply made and are poor value.
Sums it up for me. I'm impressed with these, all still working as well now as when they were made:
HMV 102 Portable Gramophone (1930s)
Avometer (1950s)
Smiths watches and clocks (1950s - 1960s)
Minox A and B cameras (1950s - 1960s)
Gillette razors (1950s - 1960s)
Chubb combination locks (1960s onwards)
Curta mechanical calculators (1940s - 1960s)
And I have never been disappointed by Lindt Chocolate!
Impressed:
Trickers shoes
Rolex
Ipad mini
Estwing hammers
Not impressed with:
Chinese made dr martens
HP computers
Impressed:
Hotpoint Iced Diamond fridge freezer, still going strong from late 1970s, made in Great Britain, when white goods were beige:
Not impressed:
Wesco Pushboy bin, pain in the backside to use, unless you have three arms:
Impressed:
Bin Buddy.
Sprinkle it in your dustbin, especially in this hot weather, and no more flies or maggots. Even smells good.
Not impressed:
Morrisons kitchen wipes.
They leave a strange white film all over the granite work tops.
I'll second that. I've bought literally thousands of pc's, macs, printers etc through work over the years.
HP stuff was unreliable and endless hassle, and the after sales was shocking. They just weren't interested.
A small order for about fifty of their machines slipped through the net a few months ago, and yet more problems with them supplying the wrong stuff that didn't work, and then trying to avoid taking any responsibility.
Never again.
impressed : dualit milk frother
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Great name, but sadly average quality. Totally agree.
Impressed:
Contigo travel mug, well worth the money.
Seiko monster.
Not: nearly every in car phone charger every bought.
Nook hd: has too many psychotic episodes.
Sony experia: stubborn slow unhelpful.
Good
Vespa 125 sprint - quick, reliable and well made
Kindle - my favourite gadget, flawless
Braun electric toothbrushes
Netflix - bargain of the century
My 6 year old Acer laptop
Loakes shoes
Asics Mexico 66 trainers
Brita water filter jug - a fraction of the price of bottled water for the same result
Olympus XA compact camera - faultless results from a 35 year old camera
Nikon FE - ditto
Ralph Lauren Polo classic button down oxford shirts, don't fade or shrink or wear out - even after a million washes
Levi 501s
Not good
Brand new Asus laptop
Ta for the tip, I'm going to get me one of them.
Should have got the Hailo equivalent with a foot pedal to open it.
Not impressed:
Wesco Pushboy bin, pain in the backside to use, unless you have three arms:
GREAT
Marantz PM44SE Amp and CD52MkII CD Player + Mission 760i speakers
Yamaha R1
Qualcast Panther Hand Powered Lawn Mower
501s
Panasonic Plasmas
NOT SO MUCH
Cheap light fittings and GU10 spotlight bulbs
Most mouse traps
Great thread this. I like things that still do the job today as well as a modern equivalent, but often with far more charm, so:
Yes:
vintage valve hifi amplifiers
many vintage watches, esp Rolex (my wife's early sixties Oyster Perpetual is worn in the shower daily and sea/swimming pool most weeks)
Not:
most vintage sports cars
Amongst newer things, I like:
my twelve yr-old Toyota Landcruiser
Aladdin Aveo flask with cafetiere and tea filter
Serengeti
iOS (it just works, nearly always)
Clic reading glasses (durable)
Oyster cards
Filson briefcase
Fuji X100S
Bose QC3 (fabulous)
Bialetti stove-top coffee-makers and Aeropress when away from home
Best wishes,
Martyn.
Impressed:
Uniqlo Oxford cotton button-down shirts
Uniqlo socks
Body Shop maca root shave cream
Grenson boots
Camper Portols
AKG Headphones
Pelikan fountain pens
Clairefontaine notebooks
Aeropress coffee makers
Most French cookware (if 'cookware' is a word)
Not so impressed:
Clarks shoes
M&S shirts
TM Lewin Shirts
Moleskine notebooks
The wife and I both have them, and they really are top notch.
Excellent:
Filco Majestouch 2 mechanical keyboard
Terrible:
CME 88 key weighted keyboard.
which ones? the cast iron or stainless steel?
need new pans.
I have both, and both are excellent, but the best Le Creuset pan I have is an almost wok shaped one in heavy aluminium with a non stick coating. It is a joy to cook with and cleans with zero effort.
Impressed: PC Specialist laptops, Omega, Charles Tyrwhitt shirts, Montblanc pens
Unimpressed: Mappin & Webb, TM Lewin shirts
Keeping watches out of it to save ruffling a few feathers...
Impressed
Dr. Martens shoes and boots, BMW, M&S shirts, John Rocha shirts, Wrigley's Extra chewing gum
Disappointed
Modern Jaguars, touch screens, Brabantia pedal bins, electric shavers
Last edited by markbannister; 24th July 2015 at 04:37.
Impressive
R.M. Williams boots.
Taylors Chantry knife sharpener.
Rose Bikes Pro-SL 3000 with Ultegra 6800 11speed.
F.T.F.A.
Not surprised by many of these, I have 4 pairs of made in England Loakes shoes now the earliest pair 7 years old, all still going strong with 2 pairs on their 3rd soles. TM Lewin shirts are indeed garbage, try Laine-Taylor instead. Many menswear specialists stock them and they seem to be very robust and usually fairly good value.
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