When the cheaper choice is far superior

[The Controvert]

What cheap purchases are significantly better or more satisfying than the expensive counterpart?

My example: I enjoy the far cheaper Totino's Pizza and prefer it to the expensive brands.

[FuzzyOgre]

Electric Hair clippers. I buy a 16-20 dollar set from Walmart once a year instead of getting a good pair and replacing the blade.

[Dereknocue67]

My grocery store sells a superior tasting fat free store brand saltine as compared to Nabisco. Their store brand counterpart to Cheerios however, is pure unadulterated squirrel shit.

[Athena]

You can buy really thin "liner" gloves for running at sports stores for anywhere from $15-$25 a pair. I buy the little cotton gloves that come 3 or more to a pack for less than $1 a pair at Target. They seem to do the same thing.

[Leaffan]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

[Ludovic]

I'll have the Mountain Dew.

[dzero]

Stop and shop spinach and artichoke hummus. Mmmmm - esp. with Red Oval Farms, Stoned Wheat Thin crackers (you can leave them out for days without getting stale).

[Quercus]

(I'm posting this using Firefox)

[Leaffan]

(I'm posting this using Firefox)

You win. The thread can now be closed.

[Annie-Xmas]

Our local grocery offers the best baked goods at one half the price of fancy bakeries.

Which explains why all fancy bakeries that open in my town close soon after.

[Siam Sam]

In Thai cinemas, the seats toward the back cost more. (It's all assigned seating here.) But that puts you right in the midst of the unwashed masses, who like to chat about the movie and call their friends on the phones. We always sit WAY down front in the cheaper seats to get away from that. Ah, peace.

[DCnDC]

My example: I enjoy the far cheaper Totino's Pizza and prefer it to the expensive brands.

Man I used to live on those things. 2/$3.00, often on sale for a buck apiece.

[sachertorte]

I have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.

[MsWhatsit]

The cheap diaper wipes that come in bulk from Costco are better than any other diaper wipes I've ever tried, including expensive name-brand ones.

(Wow, I am so glad that I don't actually have to buy diaper wipes anymore. :D )

[Balthisar]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Is Clamato Canada-only? I'm from Michigan, but have lived for a year in Ontario, so I guess I just didn't notice.

Heck, even Wikipedia says that the country of origin is the USA.

[Tom Scud]

Giant (well, relatively speaking) plastic bags of spices from ethnic grocery stores instead of teeny-tiny McCormick's bottles.

[Shoeless]

I don't remember where I heard this and have no cite, but supposedly when Ralston-Purina sold the Chex brand to General Mills, they sold the name but kept the original formula. Ralston still makes store-brand "Chex" for a number of grocery chains, so if you buy the store brand that is actually closer to the original Chex than what you get if you buy brand-name Chex.

[Joey P]

I have yet to buy a set of $15+ windshield wipers that have lasted more then a year or so. But I always get a few years out of the $7.00 blades.

Sadly, I keep buying the more expensive ones.

[Leaffan]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Is Clamato Canada-only? I'm from Michigan, but have lived for a year in Ontario, so I guess I just didn't notice.

Heck, even Wikipedia says that the country of origin is the USA.

Good question. I know that the Bloody Caesar cocktail is way more popular in Canada than the U.S. I guess I assumed that the virgin drink would be the same. I'm unsure now!

[suranyi]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Clamato is readily available all over the U.S.

[ZipperJJ]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Clamato is readily available all over the U.S.

Highly consumed, tho, is another thing :)

[Yorikke]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Not at all. Every c-store I've worked at in California has sold it, or at least the non-spicy version. It's OK, less clammy than I expected.

Joe

[matt_mcl]

i have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.

Heresy!!

[Zsofia]

Clamato is readily available all over the U.S.

Highly consumed, tho, is another thing :)
Yeah, when I go to the grocery store I try not to "see" it because the concept makes me kind of vomity.

[Bosstone]

I can't help but think of Richard Jeni whenever I come across Clamato:...while we take a look at today’s product in the spotlight, and here it is, Clamato Juice! Clam and tomato mixed together and you drink it. And notice I say you drink it, 'cause I couldn’t think of a more disgusting, Addams Family combination of juice. Who the hell thought of that?! When’s the last time you had some tomato juice & went, "Boy that needs fish, put some fish in there! How can you bring it out plain?! Swizzle a mackerel around in there, for chrissake, what kind of a host are you?"

"Want some clamato?" No thanks I just had a big glass of flounder-apple, you sick psychopath. I just had some herring-prune, but thanks for the invite!

[lindsaybluth]

Before I switched to using 7th generation cleaning products, I found that Target brand wipes were far superior to Clorox or Lysol ones. Much more textured, wetter, thicker. I still don't know why that is. Every time I go home I have to bring my mom some Target wipes, since they don't have a Target.

Target brand kitchen trash can liners that have the odor-eaters thing in them are slightly better than the comparable Glad ones.

[ralph124c]

I like the cheaper brands of spaghetti sauce (e.g. Ragu) over the more expensive stuff (Emeril's, Rao's). I also find that some imported pasta is not as good as the cheap domestic stuff-I prefer store brand stuff ($0.75/lb) to the imported stuff (@ $2.00/lb).
For clothing: some low end brands are quite good-I've had good luck with H&M stuff.Old Navy jeans are OK, not quite as good as Levis.
For wines, Robert Mondavi is a great buy at $6.00/bottle-tastse as good as the >$15 stuff.

[Meatros]

Creatine.

You can get a tub of the stuff for dirt cheap.

Yet, Muscletech seems to feel they can rip off their customers...

[Sattua]

Chocolate. For several years I ate $7-a-bar French stuff. Then I discovered Hershey's Special Dark, which I like much much better. Woohoo!

[Amblydoper]

Kuhn Rikon peelers (http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/tools/tools.php3?id=36). They cost under $4, and are sharper and eaiser to use then any other peeler in existence When it gets dull, just throw it away and buy a new one. The cheapest offerings from target or walmart are around $8, and are crap.

[redtail23]

Chips.

I much prefer store house-brand potato chips to the national brands. So far, that's been true no matter what store/house brand it is.

The unknown label tortilla chips are always better than the national brands. I have had to change brands a few times, as the unknown label becomes known and their price goes up - but there's always a new unknown that's at least as good. One advantage of living down here!

The only one I haven't found a good knock-off for is Frito's. I've only ever once seen knock-off Frito's. I didn't notice much difference, but the SO swears they were awful. I may have to sneak in a blind taste test sometime.

(I don't eat Cheetos, so I've got no idea on those.)

[Tamex]

Clamato is readily available all over the U.S.

Highly consumed, tho, is another thing :)

Exactly. The "what?" is that there is a generic store-brand Clamato. I've seen Clamato, but I doubt they ever sell enough to consider needing another brand!

[Hampshire]

Ballpoint pens. The cheap Bics and Pentels I use are completely reliable and work great every time.
Whenver I try one of those big honkin fancy Montblanc, Cross, or Parker things they don't work work half the time or blob out ink that smudges.

[KneadToKnow]

The cheap diaper wipes that come in bulk from Costco are better than any other diaper wipes I've ever tried, including expensive name-brand ones.

(Wow, I am so glad that I don't actually have to buy diaper wipes anymore. :D )

Why are you wiping diapers?

[Magiver]

I don't like the $50 - $100 range of Champagnes. I've poured them down the drain before and that is a painful thing to do.

Do NOT like store brand corn syrup. Bleah.

[Taomist]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Except for me.

I am going 'Crap, forgot I have that in the fridge; bloody marys tonight!!' :D


Oh, and I like the cheapo cheese curls. They taste stale...which is perfect, since with regular *Cheetos* I have been known to leave them open for a day, so they'll get stale and chewy faster ;)

[MsWhatsit]

Why are you wiping diapers?

They're not going to wipe themselves, are they?

[elfkin477]

You can buy really thin "liner" gloves for running at sports stores for anywhere from $15-$25 a pair. I buy the little cotton gloves that come 3 or more to a pack for less than $1 a pair at Target. They seem to do the same thing. From what department in Target? I ended up ordering them online this winter because department stores don't seem to carry them.


Since one person has already been declared a hertic, I might as well say it. Paint Shop Pro X[insert 2 or 3 here] is a easier to use, vastly more intuitive product than Photo Shop for 1/6 the price, and you can get similar results with it.

[elfkin477]

You can buy really thin "liner" gloves for running at sports stores for anywhere from $15-$25 a pair. I buy the little cotton gloves that come 3 or more to a pack for less than $1 a pair at Target. They seem to do the same thing. From what department in Target? I ended up ordering them online this winter because department stores don't seem to carry them.


Since one person has already been declared a hertic, I might as well say it. Paint Shop Pro X[insert 2 or 3 here] is a easier to use, vastly more intuitive product than Photo Shop for 1/6 the price, and you can get similar results with it. Took too long to get this link edit the above, sorry. Take this image (http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e130/theevilwriter/cow/inappropriatecow4.jpg), for example. Besides the cow orginally being in color, it lacked the highlights at the top of its head to light it like the girl in the photo, and I was able to overlay the curtain to give the suggestion of the cow's bulk behind it though slight shadowing near the cow's back. I doubt you could do better with Photoshop.

[thelurkinghorror]

Is Clamato Canada-only? I'm from Michigan, but have lived for a year in Ontario, so I guess I just didn't notice.

Heck, even Wikipedia says that the country of origin is the USA.

Good question. I know that the Bloody Caesar cocktail is way more popular in Canada than the U.S. I guess I assumed that the virgin drink would be the same. I'm unsure now!

I think it's a Mexican thing. I see it more in Mexican neighborhoods, and the Michelada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelada) is pretty popular; Budweiser even makes their own version. Don't know if it's drunk straight.

Since one person has already been declared a hertic, I might as well say it. Paint Shop Pro X[insert 2 or 3 here] is a easier to use, vastly more intuitive product than Photo Shop for 1/6 the price, and you can get similar results with it.

Paint.NET does everything I want, and it's free. For those who want a more Photoshop-like environment, GIMP is also free. Both have tons of community support and plugins.


Generic cables are much, much better than Monster $100 cables, even if they have the power of voodoo to justify the price.

[gaffa]

Since one person has already been declared a hertic, I might as well say it. Paint Shop Pro X[insert 2 or 3 here] is a easier to use, vastly more intuitive product than Photo Shop for 1/6 the price, and you can get similar results with it.
No contradiction here. I'm a bit biased though, as the guy who wrote all the early versions of it, Jon Ort, is a friend of mine. He was actually headhunted by Adobe to work on Photoshop at one point, but they made the mistake of letting him look at the code. He said it was the nastiest looking pile of spaghetti code he ever saw.

[Siam Sam]

I have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.

i have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.

Heresy!!

I'm a heretic. Give me Log Cabin, Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth any day of the week.

[gaffa]

CostCo's "Kirkland" brand is often better quality than the name brand products they carry. Their paper towels are great.

[Magiver]

Since one person has already been declared a hertic, I might as well say it. Paint Shop Pro X[insert 2 or 3 here] is a easier to use, vastly more intuitive product than Photo Shop for 1/6 the price, and you can get similar results with it.
No contradiction here. I'm a bit biased though, as the guy who wrote all the early versions of it, Jon Ort, is a friend of mine. He was actually headhunted by Adobe to work on Photoshop at one point, but they made the mistake of letting him look at the code. He said it was the nastiest looking pile of spaghetti code he ever saw. Who ever wrote xnView should get a medal. It's so much faster than MS's picture viewer.

[flodnak]

Ikea's yellow batteries last at least as long as the big name brands. When we were still using incandescent bulbs, I'd say the same thing about their lightbulbs. I haven't been quite as happy with their CFLs.

Oh yeah, and their paper napkins rock. Cheaper than the ones in the supermarket but about a hundred times as sturdy.

[TheChileanBlob]

Winn-Dixie's store brand (Crackin' Good?) of chocolate toaster pastries (the only kind I like) are far superior to Pop-Tarts.

[septimus]

The example that occurs to me may seem silly.

Our 7-Elevens have three grades of playing cards; two expensive plastic brands and a cheaper paper brand (though it's nice coated paper). I've tried all three grades.

The paint fades so quickly on the plastic cards that they can be identified from their backs before long. After some dozens of playing hours, the paint on the fronts is so faded I have to squint to see what card it is! The paper cards work fine.

(Admittedly, I might need to switch to the plastic cards if I played with slobs who crunch up the cards.)

[Derleth]

Linux. I've used Windows and Mac OS X for extended periods and they go from actively interrupting my work-flow to, at best, being profoundly unhelpful and forcing me to do more by hand. Comparing Linux to proprietary Unix variants is even more hilariously unbalanced in Linux's favor; only the open source BSDs can manage a draw or, at best, a limited victory on the basis of specific features.

Emacs and vi. This is just barely even close to being fair, given that the commercial world has largely replaced text editors with notably inferior products known as 'word processors' and 'IDEs'. The closest comparisons are nowhere near as capable.

LaTeX doesn't seem to have any commercial competition. TeX owns the field of professional-grade automatic typesetting, and LaTeX makes TeX convenient on a day-to-day basis.

Firefox. Chrome. Konqueror. Opera. Personally, I pick Firefox, mainly for the extensions.

[hogarth]

I have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.

I'm a heretic. Give me Log Cabin, Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth any day of the week.
I feel the same way about Aunt Jemima (etc.), but that's just because I don't care for maple flavour; I don't buy syrup with fake maple flavour, either.

[Yarster]

When I needed new tires for my SUV, someone suggested a store that sold 'off brand' new tires, of which I was highly suspicious. The store, however, made a pretty reasonable pitch, which is "Michelin, BF Goodrich, Yokahama, etc. all advertise, and their prices reflect that. All tires sold in the U.S. are required to pass safety inspections, so short of specialty racing tires, and other soft rubber/unidirectional models, they really are all the same". Fast forward several years and my 'Nexan' brand tires, look exactly the same as every other tire out there, except they were 1/3 cheaper than every other brand and have actually lasted longer than other brands I have purchased in the past. Perhaps there would be some difference if I lived in an area with crappy weather and huge temperature fluctuations, but here in Southern California, we don't get any of that. Ergo, I will only ever buy this tire brand from now on.

[Hampshire]

Generic cables are much, much better than Monster $100 cables, even if they have the power of voodoo to justify the price.

I'd agree that many generic cables are just as good as the Monster $100 cables performance wise.
But I don't think that they are "better" in any way.
Given the choice of a generic cable for $10 or a Monster cable for $10 I'd take the Monster just for the aesthetic and build quality.

[Omar Little]

diaper wipes

Why are you wiping diapers?

They're not going to wipe themselves, are they?


Whooosh!!!!!!!!!

I've never wiped a diaper...wiped lots of ass, but never a diaper.

[lindsaybluth]

The cheapest place I've ever found for tires was Costco (when they have their every few month sale, I think it's buy 3 get 4th free or something). I got the same price quoted as my dad's buddy who owns a tire shop. Plus at Costco you get free rotations for the life of the tire. You really can't beat that.

[overlyverbose]

I second the Costco wipes (whatever your reason for using them). Also, once you get out of the newborn-type diapers, Kirkland diapers are far better than their brand counterparts.

And this is going to make me sound uncouth and sick, but their sushi is awesome. Sometimes I'll pick up a tray and my husband and I will make two meals of it.

[MsWhatsit]

Whooosh!!!!!!!!!

I've never wiped a diaper...wiped lots of ass, but never a diaper.

Right, exactly.

Have I just executed the coveted "Double Whoosh"? I'm going to have to wait to see my score from the Ukrainian judge.

[lindsaybluth]

Costco sushi, hmm....hey, if it's good enough for overly, I'm going to pick some up on Friday.

[Beadalin]

I'm a big bourbon fan, so I'm not endorsing this as a bourbon to drink, really. BUT, if you want a nice one for mixing, skip the Jack Daniel's and get Evan Williams. It's something like a third of the price and tastes much better. In blind taste tests among my friends and relatives, all of them have picked Evan Williams as the tastier option.

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

I'm a big bourbon fan, so I'm not endorsing this as a bourbon to drink, really. BUT, if you want a nice one for mixing, skip the Jack Daniel's and get Evan Williams. It's something like a third of the price and tastes much better. In blind taste tests among my friends and relatives, all of them have picked Evan Williams as the tastier option.

I there any difference on the intensity and duration of the hangover?


As for maple syrup, everyone I know prefers the fake commercial versions. The real stuff is too watery.

[Dante]

Kraft Dinner is vastly superior in every way to every other Mac n' Cheese option out there.

[thelurkinghorror]

I'm a big bourbon fan, so I'm not endorsing this as a bourbon to drink, really. BUT, if you want a nice one for mixing, skip the Jack Daniel's and get Evan Williams. It's something like a third of the price and tastes much better. In blind taste tests among my friends and relatives, all of them have picked Evan Williams as the tastier option.

I've never had that brand, but I'd hope it would be a better bourbon as Jack Daniel's is not bourbon, but Tennessee whiskey.

ETA: I am not a Rye connoisseur, but for mixing I've heard many dopers recommend Old Overholt. It's like $10 a bottle.

[Beadalin]

I've never had that brand, but I'd hope it would be a better bourbon as Jack Daniel's is not bourbon, but Tennessee whiskey.Right you are. I typed without checking first.

[silenus]

Even better than the Evan Williams is Old Weller Antique. It goes for around $13/bottle, and is 107 proof and delicious.

Cheap stick-proof cookware is just as good as the expensive stuff, and wears out at the same rate. Buying the cheap one and replacing it every year or so saves money in the long run.

[KneadToKnow]

Cheap stick-proof cookware is just as good as the expensive stuff, and wears out at the same rate. Buying the cheap one and replacing it every year or so saves money in the long run.

This is Alton's reasoning, too, and the reason I buy my nonstick skillets in the 3-pack from Costco for $20.

[It's Not Rocket Surgery!]

I find most Little Debbie products to be inferior knockoffs of other pastry brands (YMMV, of course), except their apple pies. Those are WAY better than Hostess, and about 50 cents cheaper.

[Johnny Angel]

Buying an old double-edge safety razor off of eBay and just replacing the blade every couple of shaves is vastly superior to buying multi-blade systems and a hell of a lot cheaper. Back in the day, they made a zillion of the goddamned things of stainless steel. Indestructible in any situation you want to be caught shaving in. For a long time, the market model was to make blades exclusive to razor brand, but the battle to foil makers of universal blades was ultimately lost, so they went to a system of replacing entire razors or entire razor heads, because there was no reason to replace the old, reliable kind.

As for Totino's frozen pizzas, here is the big feature that no other frozen pizza seems to have: it does not turn bitter if you accidentally burn it. You'll probably want to flake off the burnt parts from the bottom if the cooking goes wrong, but even if you don't it's still edible.

[Max Torque]

I find many of the cheap cereal-in-a-bag varieties are yummier than the boxed big-name brands. In particular, Apple Zings and Corn Bursts are superior to Apple Jacks and Corn Pops.

[gaffa]

This is Alton's reasoning, too, and the reason I buy my nonstick skillets in the 3-pack from Costco for $20.
The Tramontina ones? They may be inexpensive, but they are better quality than a lot of other choices. They are an eighth of an inch thick. I literally use my 10" pan every single day and it is in great shape after more than a year.

[Gatopescado]

When I needed new tires for my SUV, someone suggested a store that sold 'off brand' new tires......

Indeed! I go thru lots of tires, and have found that Kumho has the best value, hands-down. Handle better, last longer and come in more sizes then Michelins or other high-dollar tires at about a third of the price. Of course, I can pick em up at the Tire Rack distribution center, so I save even more.

[Tethered Kite]

I like Totino's pizza, also. Good fennel seasoning and it manages to be both crispy and juicy at the same time. You could do worse.

I can't say that they are "vastly superior" but I've discovered a number of my local grocery store's brands are equally as good as the brand name ones.

And recently I've discovered a brand of gummy worms which are less expensive and much more tasty than the well-known ones.

[KneadToKnow]

The Tramontina ones? They may be inexpensive, but they are better quality than a lot of other choices. They are an eighth of an inch thick. I literally use my 10" pan every single day and it is in great shape after more than a year.

The very ones, yup. My last batch of them seemed to last 3-4 years. Got my current set about a year ago, IIRC. Going strong, even though I occasionally resort to metal tongs to flip things.

[BrotherCadfael]

I have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.A not uncommon form of ignorance, unfortunately.

Actually, it's not unfortunate at all. It leaves all the more for those of us with taste.

[MichaelEmouse]

Buying an old double-edge safety razor off of eBay and just replacing the blade every couple of shaves is vastly superior to buying multi-blade systems and a hell of a lot cheaper. Back in the day, they made a zillion of the goddamned things of stainless steel. Indestructible in any situation you want to be caught shaving in. For a long time, the market model was to make blades exclusive to razor brand, but the battle to foil makers of universal blades was ultimately lost, so they went to a system of replacing entire razors or entire razor heads, because there was no reason to replace the old, reliable kind.





Despite their name, are double-edge safety razor as safe as current normal safety razors? I tried to go old school once with a straight razor and did not enjoy the experience especially since once you've started shaving your face and head, you have to finish.

Right now I'm using disposable Bics with one or two blades. If you dip the blade in 70% alcohol and store them in a dry place, they last about a dozen shaves and you get more time to enjoy that sweet spot where it's neither too sharp nor blunt.

[MsWhatsit]

I have a friend who prefers fake maple syrup over the real thing.A not uncommon form of ignorance, unfortunately.

Actually, it's not unfortunate at all. It leaves all the more for those of us with taste.

:rolleyes:

[statsman1982]

I keep thinking about the scene in The Great Outdoors with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, where the two characters are in need of emergency illumination. Dan's character, the rich yuppie, says (something to the effect of) "$200 for a lighter and it doesn't even work." John's everyman triumphantly holds up his cheapo one: "79 cents!"

I actually like Wal-Mart's "Great Value" brand of cereals. The Great Value version of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds is less sweet (a good thing for me). I also like their version of Wheat Thins.

[Zsofia]

Buying an old double-edge safety razor off of eBay and just replacing the blade every couple of shaves is vastly superior to buying multi-blade systems and a hell of a lot cheaper. Back in the day, they made a zillion of the goddamned things of stainless steel. Indestructible in any situation you want to be caught shaving in. For a long time, the market model was to make blades exclusive to razor brand, but the battle to foil makers of universal blades was ultimately lost, so they went to a system of replacing entire razors or entire razor heads, because there was no reason to replace the old, reliable kind.





Despite their name, are double-edge safety razor as safe as current normal safety razors? I tried to go old school once with a straight razor and did not enjoy the experience especially since once you've started shaving your face and head, you have to finish.

Right now I'm using disposable Bics with one or two blades. If you dip the blade in 70% alcohol and store them in a dry place, they last about a dozen shaves and you get more time to enjoy that sweet spot where it's neither too sharp nor blunt.
They're perfectly safe - what do you think you're going to do, cut your ear off? It's not a straight razor. The boyfriend uses safety razors and suggests that you do NOT use the Gillette blades you get at the drugstore - order online. He likes Feather brand.

[handsomeharry]

My grocery store sells a superior tasting fat free store brand saltine as compared to Nabisco. Their store brand counterpart to Cheerios however, is pure unadulterated squirrel shit.

This is odd, because every store brand, IMHO, beats the real Cheerios hands down.
I hate the nasty mold-like debris floating in the milk, and lining my mouth, the gritty lingering sludge.

Best wishes,
hh

[handsomeharry]

Whooosh!!!!!!!!!

I've never wiped a diaper...wiped lots of ass, but never a diaper.

Right, exactly.

Have I just executed the coveted "Double Whoosh"? I'm going to have to wait to see my score from the Ukrainian judge.


4.7.

The "Double Whoosh" is just a fantasy. NOBODY has EVER done one! It's Impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Best wishes,
hh

[Noel Prosequi]

Watches. Any halfway decent quartz watch like a Swatch will keep time better than pretty much any mechanical watch. But mechanical watches will, for obvious reasons, cost vastly more.

I like mechanical watches more, but I recognise that they are just not as accurate.

[Dante]

They're perfectly safe - what do you think you're going to do, cut your ear off? It's not a straight razor. The boyfriend uses safety razors and suggests that you do NOT use the Gillette blades you get at the drugstore - order online. He likes Feather brand.Yup, Feather's are awesome, I swear by them. Just treat them with respect.

[elfkin477]

I find many of the cheap cereal-in-a-bag varieties are yummier than the boxed big-name brands. In particular, Apple Zings and Corn Bursts are superior to Apple Jacks and Corn Pops. This too. Market Basket's own brand of cookie cereal is better than Cookie Crisp because it's based off the old formula, not the current poofier version.

[FordTaurusSHO94]

When I was a young teenager, I was walking by the bags of cereal and had to stop and do a double take. It was King Vitamin that I saw, not King Vietnam. It would make an interesting cereal though.

[Sattua]

Yep, I've found that any generic raisin bran will be far less sugary-sweet than name brands. In my book, that's a good thing.

They usually have more raisins, too. Go figure.

[Johnny Angel]

Despite their name, are double-edge safety razor as safe as current normal safety razors? I tried to go old school once with a straight razor and did not enjoy the experience especially since once you've started shaving your face and head, you have to finish.
I don't shave in front of a mirror, I shave in the shower to save myself time and trouble. My Gillette Tech (circa 1960's) rarely draws blood, which is more than I can say for the disposable Bics I used to buy. Mind you, 1) I'm a more experienced shaver these days and 2) My wife had a newer double-edge that was not all-metal and which had 'silo' doors break on her mid-stroke. This has made me nervous even of older, more solidly-built silo-style razors. But The 3-piece style is quite secure.

[Superhal]

I prefer AMD CPU's over Intel's. The performance difference can only be measured with special diagnostic software anyway. I have never owned name brand RAM chips in my life. Western Digital harddrives have always worked well for me. I still have a pair of 10 year old, 20 GB western digital drives that still work. We always buy the cheapest printer too, and throw it away when it breaks. Works well when the printer is on sale for $50 or less but the inks are $10-20 each.

[Manduck]

In blind taste tests among my friends and relatives, all of them have picked Evan Williams as the tastier option.
It made them blind?? That may be rubbing alcohol you have there. :o|

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

CostCo's "Kirkland" brand is often better quality than the name brand products they carry. Their paper towels are great.

Ditto- we buy a lot of their brand.

Cheap nonstick pans. I have very high end cookware, but I only get cheap nonstick pans. Use them, abuse them, replace them. Expensive ones need replacing just as often.

[Beadalin]

In blind taste tests among my friends and relatives, all of them have picked Evan Williams as the tastier option.
It made them blind?? That may be rubbing alcohol you have there. :o|
I'm a cruel hostess like that.

[gaffa]

CostCo's "Kirkland" brand is often better quality than the name brand products they carry. Their paper towels are great.

Ditto- we buy a lot of their brand.

Cheap nonstick pans. I have very high end cookware, but I only get cheap nonstick pans. Use them, abuse them, replace them. Expensive ones need replacing just as often.
The Tramontina pans, which are in a shrink-wrapped package of an 8", a 10" and a 12" and cost something like $23, are thicker and much better quality than the T-Fal pan I have and cook more evenly. And the set of three cost less than a single T-Fal pan. Also, they have really stout, riveted handles which are coated in silicone so they can go in the oven al opposed to the plastic handle on the T-Fal pan. And, to top it off, the Tramontina pans are made in the USA.

[Derleth]

It was King Vitamin that I saw, not King Vietnam."I wanted a bowl, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice bowl, and when I was done, I never wanted another."

Also: Wasn't "King Vietnam" the badly-translated Hong Kong knockoff?

[Derleth]

Finally found it: Chocolypse Now (http://www.likelystories.com/choc/choc01.htm), the premier "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"/"Apocalypse Now" crossover parody, and likely the best food-related "Apocalypse Now" parody, period.

[Boyo Jim]

No-name spicy tomato clam juice, as opposed to Mott's Clamato.

And right now everyone outside of Canada is going "what?"

Clamato is readily available all over the U.S.

As is AIDS. Practice safe sex, and wash your hands and vegetables.