gizmodo.com — we've made a list of things you can't afford to cheap out on, because doing so will bite you in the ass later. Still, since we like you, we're also sharing how to save a bit of money in the process, so the whole not-cheaping-out thing doesn't hurt as much.
Nov 26, 2008 View in Crawl 4
stevealfordNov 27, 2008
I'll probably get buried to oblivion by the "hardcore audiophiles," but I prefer the Sony High Performance ear buds. I've tried everything from Shure to Bose to Skull Candy and all things in between. For $40, you just can't beat the Sony ones. The silicon covers in different sizes let me find a comfortable fit (I have small ear canals, so one-size-fits all phones hurt) and since it's snug and silicon, it keeps ambient sound out better than noise-cancelling phones and also keeps the music in MY ears and not in the ears of people around me (I don't like to noise pollute and annoy others). They sound a lot better than most $150 phones I've used and when you go through at least one pair of buds a year, it only makes good "cents."
insaneoniNov 28, 2008
That's a really good list. It's too bad that so many people buy crap that the market tends to cater in that direction. While some of these things will get outdated (Ram, vid cards especially), a good set of headphones and a set of really nice glass will last you a lifetime.
zephikNov 28, 2008
I've actually heard pretty good things from some audiophiles concerning certain models of canal earbuds that are made by Sony. I forget which model(s) they were talking about though. I think some people are just naturally against brands like Sony, but for the people who aren't biased, Sony CAN be a pretty good brand at times.
zakool21Nov 28, 2008
I liked this writeup; it included a few of my favorite tech things: headphones and cameras. It baffles me, even more than the lenses, why people skimp on headphones. The quality does indeed go up when you spend more money, and the headphones last longer, too. As for the camera lenses, buying a pro-series lens from either Canon or Nikon is a much better idea, as they suggested. It also helps for this unmentioned reason: the resale value of the lenses is very high on the pro-series models (80%+) compared to the consumer models.
beauleyNov 28, 2008
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