I'm a weekend warrior, who has over the years tried to purchase good quality power tools, albeit this has usually meant more expensive. .... Makita, Bosch, etc. Tools that would last. And they have.
Tended to avoid cheaper stuff as being not worth bothering with, unless I needed a tool straight away and my choice was limited. Then I would buy something cheap, hoping that it would last long enough to get the job at hand finished before it failed.
Was putting tools back where they belong today and suddenly realised that some of these "throwaway" tools are still going strong after a couple of years of heavy use. Not what I expected.
#1 About 3 years ago my faithful Bosh angle grinder died in the middle of a project that I had to finish. Went down to my local hardware store for another, but they were out of stock. All they had to offer was a Ryobi that was 1/3 of the price. I bought 3. Figured that should get me through the job, (grinding disc on one, wire wheel on the other, one for a spare.) Three years later, one of them is still in its box unopened, the other two still going strong!
#2 About 18 months ago, was in a tool store looking for a Makita saw and happened to see a rack of ridiculously cheap power tools that had been returned under warranty. One of them was a GMF compound sliding mitre saw with a faulty laser. $40.00 as is. At that price, I figured I could cut firewood with it.
Fixed the broken wire in the laser, tuned it up and used it in re-modelling the kitchen and constructing storage in the workshop. Fence is spot-on, cuts perfect 90 deg, - (haven't tried compound angles.) Can't fault it for my usage.
So, what's my point? Well, ....I still don't feel comfortable with the above tools. They're not something I would normally want to buy, - too cheap to be any good. I expect them to fail.
Based on my usage and totally satisfactory experience with them to date, that is illogical.
However, it seems I'd rather be several hundreds of dollars poorer but have the brand names I'm comfortable with.
I'm a marketer's dream. It's a worry. : )