Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society

   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society
  • Thread Starter
#41  
We bought a new Maytag in 2004 that lasted nearly 4 years.:mad: And then Sears wanted more to fix it than it cost originally.:shocked:
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #42  
I don't know. In fact, I'm not sure I understand the question. Of course our TVs are LCD high definition, not plasma, and with my vision, I can't see that the high definition is any better than non-high definition, so I think they cost more than they're worth.

Bird, are you sure you are receiving HDTV? The difference, especially for over the air broadcasts, is stunning on my TVs. Local news broadcasts are probably the most crystal clear. Now, I have to say that the difference on satellite TV is not as noticeable, but digital HDTV broadcast over the air is so good that my neigbor swears our TV is better than going to the movies. We have purchased Discovery Channel series on Blu-ray (Planet Earth, Life, Galapagos) and they are super. I know you indicated your vision is not the best, but I don't know how you would not see the difference, especially for sports and local broadcasting.
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #43  
Here's another thing I pointed out to my family this weekend...

In all of the stores around here, grocery, pharmacy, local or national chain, they have started selling these little glass jars of canned fruit for a dollar. One dollar. They have two generous servings in them. They are distributed by a U.S. company. Closer inspection reveals the fine print which says they are a product of China. Now, all safety, environmental, political, health concerns aside.... and even with free labor....

How in the heck can they grow, harvest, process, make the heavy glass jars and metal lids, package and ship from China to Indiana for one buck? :confused: The jars are extremely thick, heavy glass (leave the lead and cadmium comments out) and have to cost a bunch to make. I just cannot fathom how they can do it at a profit, even if the labor was free.


By the way, I won't let my kids eat the Chinese canned fruit, just because they are still growing and I don't want to take a chance on harming them if this fruit turns out like the Chinese contaminated toys, McDonald Shrek glasses, drywall, etc.... but they are tasty! :laughing:
How about all the gypsum board imported a few years back? Talk about outrageous shipping costs! And it was being sold for $2 a sheet here. And now it is poison, they have found. Scary thought that CHINA is in our food chain now. I also believe that all the uproar about lead paint in houses is bogus. I think that most lead poisoning in children nowadays, is coming from the chinese toys.
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #44  
I have my doubts about this for the reason listed below. The young folks are born into this practice, and the old folks have to live with the facts of life today. The government says Energy Star is good, and we have no choice in the matter. Green is good no matter what it costs us. So how did we get Wally World, VW, Honda, and outsourced job? We have met the enemy, and.... ;) FYI - I have a nice Gateway Pentium 120MHz computer here. Anybody want it? ...... Yep, I thought so.
Thankfully, I am raising my son to FIX. He is a natural tinkerer. Legos are his favorite....still. 12 and when he is bored/disciplined, he always builds with legos. It's when he tears down his other stuff and leaves it all over the shop, that I get upset.:laughing: But, I have been pounding away at : You get what you pay for. When I have something that goes caput, I show him what and why it failed. Kid tells me no new car in his future, he wants the 442 in the garage.:laughing: Maybe when he's 40.My favorite when someone buys a used appliance from me is when they ask the age and try to compare to new. I had an old a/c that was from the 70's. Had it priced dirt cheap. Guy said awful old. I pointed out, yea, and still going strong with no repairs to the system. Try that with the new throw in the closest and it may or may not work next year stuff they sell today. There is a reason they are so lightweight today. Cheap. I have a 70's built washer. How many ways are there to sling clothes thru water and vice versa? I'll stick with my $50 washer. I guess I'm a real recycler when I think about it.:D
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #45  
Depends on what you are looking for. I do energy testing on PC's. Depending on how you use a system, the lower power capabilities can really help. In a business, where there are many systems running, it can make a difference. At home, you probably will not notice so much(although the aggregate of thousands of systems using power on the grid would make a difference in overall usage).

The thing about Energy Star that I find kind of interesting, is nothing really turns off these days. For instance, if you turn your TV off, it only goes in to a standby/sleep state. It is still consuming power. For your remote to work, some minimal circuitry must be powered to detect the remote. Even the switch on the TV has to be sensed; it is not like the old days when the switch actually cut all power to the appliance.

That means, the dryer, washing machine, vcr, tv, microwave, dishwasher, ect ect ect all draw power, even when they are turned "off".

In most cases I would not replace something just for the power savings. But anything new these days, I would look for the lowest power ratings.

I wasn't even factoring in the residual power use. Makes point for older mechanical stuff= better. Back a few years, I didn't have much money. My weed trimmer quit. I tore it down and found a bent rod. New rod from hardware store was $30 shipped to me. Refurbed trimmer $69 . I had the $30, didn't have the $60 + tax. I bought the rod and fixed the trimmer. Still have the trimmer, and it still works. That was 15 yrs ago.
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #46  
Just went back and forth with the boss over a HP 4000 series office printer that needs a new fuser... she told me not to fix it... she was buying a new one because they don't cost much more than fixing...

She latter learned a similar replacement with multi-paper drawers could run close to a $1000 and I can fix this one with new rollers and fuser for less than $200...

I can see where people focusing on price can get into trouble if they don't take the application into account.

She told me to repair what we have.

We buy refurb HP4000 printers for $200.00 and keep the broken ones for parts.
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #47  
How about all the gypsum board imported a few years back? Talk about outrageous shipping costs! And it was being sold for $2 a sheet here. And now it is poison, they have found. Scary thought that CHINA is in our food chain now. I also believe that all the uproar about lead paint in houses is bogus. I think that most lead poisoning in children nowadays, is coming from the chinese toys.

Lead poisoning in children caused by lead house paint(good old American made house paint) is a well documented fact. :cool: Don't dismiss it if you live in an older home with flaking paint. This happens a lot in inner-city homes that have become rental units.
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #48  
our small town used to have several tv and electronic repair shops. All of 'em were full of tv's and various electronic gadgets in for repair or cleaning, etc.

I think most of the electronic shops have closed up due to repairs generally costing more than replacements on so many of our gadgets.

Allot of computer stuff is / was plug and play....but that is all going to smaller, sealed up units too.

Somthing doesnt sit right about our thow away society. :(
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society #49  
Any C.R.T. television or any tube type radio that would come on as soon as you pushed the switch consumed power even when it was "off". Remember when you would have to turn on a T.V. or radio and have it warm up? That was because the tubes were cold. In order to make them come on "instantly" they were fitted with circuitry that would keep the tubes warm so they could come up fast. It was marketed as instant on, no waiting and they cost more for that premium feature. That has been around since I can remember (back into the 60's). That was a time when utilities like gas and electric were pretty cheap and no one cared about a couple watts consumed here and there.

Growing up I lived in a house that my father designed and built himself. It had 17 floor to ceiling windows that were 4 x 8. Plus numerous other windows and glass doors. The roof was tongue and groove Douglas fir with tar and felt paper layers topped by pea gravel. No insulation to speak of... in Northern Indiana!!! :shocked:We had two gas furnaces that ran pretty much non-stop all winter long. In the early 80's my father had the roof insulated and more efficient furnaces put in. I asked him why the house was never insulated. He said when he built it in the 50's natural gas was just about free. No one could have seen that it would go up 1000% and more in price over the years.

So, just as no one worried about wasting electricity and natural gas 40 years ago, the next thing will be water. ;)
 
   / Another Example of Our "Disposable" Society
  • Thread Starter
#50  
Bird, are you sure you are receiving HDTV?

Nope, Jim, I'm not sure of anything.:D Both of our TVs are supposed to be HDTV. We have DirecTV satellite service and supposed to be a HDTV receiver in the living room and a non-HDTV receiver in the bedroom. They both have what I'd consider to be "good" pictures, but to say one is better than the other may or may not be true. So maybe it's just my old eyesight getting worse.:D
 

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