You get what you pay for?! A marketing hype or a reality?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Often the person "judging" is simply giving good advice in the wrong way. I was just outside talking to my Border Collie about this, and as you know, they're pretty smart.
He pointed out the BBQ. Let me tell you about my BBQ journey. I like to eat meat. A lot. So some years ago, I decided to buy a BBQ. I'm cheap when it comes to things like that, so I went to crappy tire and bought the season end floor model for $79. No assembly required!!
I took it home (had to buy a tank on the way home) and fired it up. Cooked me a burger that was delicious. It was the best BBQ burger in the history of burgers. Overall, a very successful BBQ. But as time passed, I realized I couldn't cook a lot of burgers, and it got to hot to cook fish, and it rusted up after a couple seasons. It was an eyesore. But it was mine, and could still cook a successful burger.
One day I was out shopping and came across a shiny stainless BBQ. $500!!! But it has 4 burner controls, radiant heating, side burners, digital displays, etc. And it looks nice!
I bought it, took it home (came with everything I needed including tank) and fired it up. Yup, another epic burger. It was delicious. Montreal steak spice really rocks a burger. It was no better than the old BBQ burger though. Equally successful at cooking burgers.
But, and here's the value added part. It can cook lots of burgers Like a dozen or more at a time. I can bake a salmon, or cook a roast. And I can boil corn on the side and keep it all warm until everything it done. It's shiny, did I mention that?? It's still shiny, and when I walk by and see it on my deck, I like it. I like that I have a nicer than crap $79 sale BBQ. It impresses my BBQ friends. It rocks, it rolls. It sings and dances. I love my BBQ. Best damn $500 I ever spent.
Now, this is the point where I got what I paid for. I paid for consumer satisfaction, that my BBQ, in addition to successfully cooking burgers, can do so much more. It makes me happy. 2 years later, I'm still happy. I still love my BBQ. I don't envy other BBQs and don't wish I had a better one. It's awesome.

So, if you come to Brad's BBQ forum, and ask which BBQ to buy, I'm going to tell you to avoid that crappy $79 BBQ. It's sh1t. The $500 is way better. It is. It can't cook that burger any better, but it's way better in so many other ways. So my advice is save for the BBQ you need, not settle for what you can afford right now. You won't like that advice, and you'll argue about it. But the advice comes from a Border Collie, and they're smarter than anything. You should listen. Unless you really need a burger now and are content not having all that other stuff. In the end though, you almost always get what you pay for, in some form or fashion. It's not about the burger, it's about the happy.

P.S. Rig says you're welcome.

not a real good argument for this discussion for one reason Brad, you are comparing a bargain basement priced to a medium priced bbq, in this range there is a huge difference that you found out like the case material and such, but when you start looking from mid range to high end a lot of the differences are name branding and gimmicks, hmm something like the fish industry.

think back 10 years ago to the debates between extruded and cell cast skimmer bodies, retailers were charging twice as much just because the body was cell cast, did it make a difference on performance nope, but they would have you think it would.

you mentioned having something do what you want it to do in form and function, this is a valid point that I agree whole heartedly with. if you are willing to pay more for a look then it is worth it to you and you get your moneys worth, if you are willing to pay more for special functions then it is worth it to you, but it doesn't mean you get what you pay for, it just means you were willing to pay more for a certain something, and most of the time that certain something has nothing to do with the success of your tank.

I have always been a function over form kind of guy who will have ugly equipment inside a nice stand.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Sure, go and wreck it.

[TimT]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

think back 10 years ago to the debates between extruded and cell cast skimmer bodies, retailers were charging twice as much just because the body was cell cast, did it make a difference on performance nope, but they would have you think it would.

If you don't consider durability and clarity aspects of performance then I would agree. There is a large difference in strength and thickness between cell cast and extruded tube. Extruded acrylic tube is thin and brittle and fractures easily. So if your willing to risk having the bottom of your skimmer blow out if it gets a big bump or break if it falls over then go for it. I however would rather have a skimmer that will last a long time, take abuse and not flood the place. It makes for less worry when sleeping or being away on holidays.

I bought one of those shiny new stainless barbeques at Costco for $109. It can't cook as many burgers or souvlaki as the $500 model and it has rusted out on the burner covers after 2 years. Shoulda spent the $500. I will agree with Brad on this one.

When it comes to fish the difference can be more subtle and devastating. Take for example Flame Angels. The cheap Christmas Islands ones used to be held in plastic cups in the lagoons. They had heat stress issues and were not that strong. Yes they were cheap and they looked like a Flame Angel so everyone buys them. They gleefully brag about how cheap their Flame Angel was until it dies shortly after or only lives 6 months. This gives the other Flame Angels from Hawaii, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu a bad reputation. These Flame angels are more money because there is far more care taken in collection and holding. You get what you pay for.

A friend of mine who used to be in the hobby once calculated the value of fish in his tank verses the amount of money he spent on fish. He purchased all the fish from the same store over a 1 year period. It was a 10 to 1 ratio but the fish were cheap at the store. He learned his lesson.

There is a reason why the German and Japanese LFS are some of the best in the world... you get what you pay for.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by TimT

If you don't consider durability and clarity aspects of performance then I would agree. There is a large difference in strength and thickness between cell cast and extruded tube. Extruded acrylic tube is thin and brittle and fractures easily. So if your willing to risk having the bottom of your skimmer blow out if it gets a big bump or break if it falls over then go for it. I however would rather have a skimmer that will last a long time, take abuse and not flood the place. It makes for less worry when sleeping or being away on holidays..

ahh here is the problem, most of the difference was hype from manufactures that were using cell cast, or LFS trying to charge even more, I know of several extruded going for over 20 years now, no yellowing, crazing, etc. there is truth to the slightly thicker and clearer, but skimmers reactors and such are very low if not zero pressure applications so no worry, as for bottom blowing out and such that is from pour gluing and prep not material, I have chunks of extruded I have abused pretty hard and I can tell you its not brittle.

Originally Posted by TimT

I bought one of those shiny new stainless barbeques at Costco for $109. It can't cook as many burgers or souvlaki as the $500 model and it has rusted out on the burner covers after 2 years. Shoulda spent the $500. I will agree with Brad on this one..

I agreed with him to so don't know what your point is in this one, once again there is a huge difference between bottom end and mid grade, but is there much difference between your 500 buck BBQ and my 2000.00 buck one aside from I can maybe cook a few more burgers and might be sear function that tell you the truth I never use... that was my point mid grade to high grade may not be worth the difference in money

Originally Posted by TimT

There is a reason why the German and Japanese LFS are some of the best in the world... you get what you pay for.

exactly and oh so often we don't get what we pay for in Canada.. we pay way to much for what were getting

Steve