Before the purchase - how do you find out about products durability?

[Quadophile]

When you are buying any particular electronic item how do you know if it will be a durable thing or not in the long run? This is especially important if the item in question is relatively expensive therefore you try to do a bit of research to find out. New equipments when introduced may have rave reviews about how good they are but rarely you can find out if it is durable. This is when you rely on a brand that you think is having a good reputation. Most people take brands for granted and buy blindly, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

Many of us who need to get the full potential from a certain product rely on our own experience or experience of those whose opinion we trust. I came across a very unusual review of a product from someone whom I have come to trust as I have had interaction with him on many occasions. I thought I should put a link here for the members to read the particular review. I would also suggest that you take a look at the comments section the link to which is given at the bottom of the review.

You thoughts and opinions on how you would go about selecting a product would be appreciated and may well contribute to a healthy debate on the thread.

A review about durability of a product.

 

[itsme]

I have found, the most reliable way to obtain the information you require regarding a purchase is this [I use this method] IE:

I required a Television a 37inch TUBE TYPE.

First I looked on the Internet, narrowed it down to four Phillips/Toshiba/Sony/Panasonic.I then telephoned each manufacturer, asking the obvious questions regarding the life span expectancy, Phillips told me 20,000 Hrs. Sony 26.000 Hrs.Panasonic 20.000Hrs

Toshiba 30.000 Hrs

I then asked each individual company if that was guaranteed, and would they put it in writing only one replied yes that company was no other than Toshiba.

Now I asked Toshiba [customer services] to recommend the following, 1 a video recorder, 2 a sound system consisting of CD player/tape/mini disk recorder.

This was his reply for each requested item information.

Sound >Sony.

Recording of video > Panasonic.

Vision >Toshiba.

Now that is the ultimate response to a question considering that, Toshiba manufacture all the items I enquired about.

That was some eight years ago and I have adhered to his truthful answer, have never ever regretted it.