Pay attention to tool improvements

[HeyBub]

The other night, while attempting to attach a bracket for an above-the-range microwave, I noticed my son having difficulty using/reading my 20-year old stud finder. So I went looking, on-line, for a replacement.

Holy Goblins, Batman! The first place I looked, Harbor Freight, had one for $9.99 (#92375). But, golly, it not only finds wood and metal studs, it locates power conduits! For added convenience, the device has an integrated LED flashlight and, I'm not making this up, a built-in 36" tape measure!

HF has another model, for $16.95, but I was afraid to check its vitals. The more expensive model may very well check for running water and have a built-in drain snake and 7-function multimeter!

Point is, your old standby tool may have evolved into a more handy helper.

[bob haller]

qualty of the new tool may not be great but will certinally be affordable

[trader4]

Yeah, that's the question. HF is good for some things, but how well a HF stud finder for $10 works, IDK? I'd rather have one that did one thing well, rather than one that does

6 things not so well.....

[George]

Its the old price vs value story. It may not work well but it sure had a great price...

[Bill Gill]

Well, I don't know that my experience is universal, but a lot of times I find that adding more functions to something just makes it harder to use. I am still a fan of buying tools that do one thing. I may need more tools, but they all do what they are supposed to do.

Bill

[hrhofmann]

Same goes for cellphones and much other electronic stuff nowadays.

[Doug]

above-the-range

Right. All in one printers comes to mind.

[DerbyDad03]

above-the-range

I'd certainly rather have an All-In-One printer than a printer, a copier and a scanner.

I scan documents for emailing a lot. I also make copies of all sorts of documents. With 2 daughters away at college, and my address listed as their primary address, I often have to send them documents. Scanning and emailing gets them to the girls the same day that arrive at my house.

Why would I want multiple machines with their multiple footprints, multiple ink needs, multiple cables, etc?

[bob haller]

Well when one breaks you still have the others to get by, but with multi functions so cheap it really doesnt matter:)

[DerbyDad03]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "get by". If any of the separate devices goes down, e.g. I can't get by using a scanner to print or a printer to copy, etc. I can only do what the remaining devices can do.

In any case, I've been lucky to have had my HP All-In-One never give me any problems. If I'm not mistaken, it's over 10 years old and still going strong. My guess is that I'm on borrowed time and should start investigating a replacement.

[Jon Danniken]

You wouldn't, obviously; an all-in-one "works for you".

For me, however, I rarely scan, and never copy, and if I ever *did* have to copy, I would scan a document then print it. Therefore, I have a decent laser printer (HP LaserJet 2100) and a good scanner (Epson 1240 Perfection).

The printer sits on the desk, and the scanner is under the desk in an awkward place and I plug it in to use it, but I use the thing so infrequently that it "works for me".

Jon