Cheap Doesn't Neccessarily Mean Better

Many people believe that buying CHEAP is always a good thing.  Well...not necessarily true.  While buying cheap is good,  QUALITY should also be a prerequisite to every purchase.  Now when I say quality I'm not only referring to the robustness of the product.  Part of the quality requirement is SUPPORT.

So how do you go about your decision analysis before you spend your hard earned cash?

First, know how much you are willing to spend.  If budget is not an issue, GOOD; but if you're tied to a number, you need to be realistic as to your requirements to fit the spending money that you have.  Otherwise, it would be a futile exercise to define your requirements only to find out that you can't afford to cover the premium.

Second, define your requirements. Once the budget issue is put aside, you can now think of what to expect from your product.  Before I finally decided on buying a new TV I toured the various appliance centers to get a feel of what's in the market and then defined my must requirements: LED (for its energy saving feature), at least 21" screen, with a USB port that can read a 1TB external HDD, play all video formats---all within my 10K budget.

Third, product brand.  The best way to measure quality is by it's brand.  However, if you're on a tight budget, going with a well known brand can be a show stopper.  As the saying goes, "beggars can't be choosers".  So the next best thing is to research.  Google it!  If you don't have the convenience of an internet connection, you can just go on a tour of a couple of appliance centers and you'll get to know that a couple of "unknown exteriors"  actually have branded interiors.  Changchong for instance uses Toshiba technology in terms of its display. 

Lastly, think ahead---think SUPPORT.  This is the part that is almost always forgotten to be considered by buyers.  No product is perfect and users tend to overplay a brand's product quality promise by abusing it to a fault.  So unless you're a McGyver who's a fix-it-all, make sure that the product's support services is within convenient reach. 

The longer the warranty the better.  Never choose a product with a parts and service warranty less than one year.  Small products are carry-in.  Big products are usually home serviced.  Looking beyond the warranty period---this is an important thing to consider.  

With TLC, a product can last the warranty period without being serviced.  So unless you will be changing products every warranty end, the WHO and WHERE of the service provider is of utmost importance.  Unfortunately, many brands outsource services so I guess you only get to find out about service quality when the unit breaks down.  Pray it doesn't---at least for a long, long, long, time.