# Brand names that have a reputation for long lasting goods
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 14, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047 "2022-03-14T18:46:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/141 "2022-04-01T15:34:07Z")
I bought an HP LaserJet 4P in the mid 1990s. It still works perfectly, and I’ve never had the slightest problem with it. Definitely overbuilt.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/142 "2022-04-01T17:35:30Z")
I would not be surprised if my LaserJet 3 is still chugging away somewhere.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/143 "2022-04-01T17:39:53Z")
And I thought it was bad enough that my bed is online and sends me reports of how well it thinks I’ve been sleeping.
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/144 "2022-04-01T17:58:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Googling, though, a Miele washing machine lists for $1,200-2,100, or twice the typical American brands. Sure it may last “forever” but one can buy two lesser washers for the same money. Is it worth it?
Well, if you have to remove a doorway down to the rough frame in order to get the machine to the part of the basement where it needs to go, then reinstall the door and refinish, that might weigh against “two cheaper washers”.
That’s exactly the situation I am in, and I have gone through this process twice in the past decades and would rather not do it again. Sadly, I don’t have a Miele washer down there, so its days are likely numbered.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/145 "2022-04-01T18:07:57Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> And I thought it was bad enough that my bed is online and sends me reports of how well it thinks I’ve been sleeping.
Aaugh! Wondering what it thought of how I slept would keep me awake.
How does it account for cats on the bed?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/146 "2022-04-01T18:28:26Z")
Estwing framing hammers are also indestructible.
I nominate the old Stanley wood planes. I have several from the 40s & 50s that are still flat and true. I also have a Lie-Nielsen plane that will outlive my great grandchildren.
My KitchenAid mixer is going on 30 years old, as is the KitchenAid food processor. I took the mixer to a local repair guy about ten years ago and had him re-grease the gears. What’s really amazing is that the price on those mixers really hasn’t gone up much (or at all) in the interim.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/147 "2022-04-01T18:40:14Z")
I don’t have cats, so no idea. It probably would ignore them as their heartbeats are faster and weaker than ours. It’s a Sleep Number bed, and it is a ballistocardiography marvel that can detect and process the tiny rhythmic variations in the mattress’ air pressure to measure restlessness, pulse, and breathing.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/148 "2022-04-01T18:45:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> My KitchenAid mixer is going on 30 years old, as is the KitchenAid food processor. I took the mixer to a local repair guy about ten years ago and had him re-grease the gears. What’s really amazing is that the price on those mixers really hasn’t gone up much (or at all) in the interim.
The price stays constant-ish, but the build quality diminishes somewhat to maintain a price point. The “home” grade mixers like the Artisan series now have plastic gears in the power train and probably won’t last 30 years. Their pro mixers continue to have metal gears. I’ve known a few people who made the mistake of trying to knead bread dough on a regular basis with their Artisans - they just can’t handle the stress.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/149 "2022-04-01T18:47:09Z")
Leatherman multi tools. I have a number of models including a “mini” model with a tiny scissors (like in a Swiss army knife) that are still super sharp after almost 30 years.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/150 "2022-04-01T18:56:41Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> I don’t have cats, so no idea. It probably would ignore them as their heartbeats are faster and weaker than ours. It’s a Sleep Number bed, and it is a ballistocardiography marvel that can detect and process the tiny rhythmic variations in the mattress’ air pressure to measure restlessness, pulse, and breathing.
Their heartbeats are different from ours, but they certainly produce variations, including sometimes rhythmic ones, in the pressures on the mattress.
Maybe that is dealt with somehow; I don’t know.
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> The price stays constant-ish, but the build quality diminishes somewhat to maintain a price point.
I’m still annoyed by an equivalent behavior on the part of the companies that make hair clips. I like to wear my hair pulled back, and held by a metal clip at the back of the neck. Some years ago, they started getting very gradually smaller and smaller; so that my hair no longer fit in the clips. Eventually my hair got thinner, and briefly I could find some just barely big enough for the thinner hair – but then the clips got smaller again. I’m still using the ones I got maybe twenty years ago; but occasionally I lose one. I don’t know whether my remaining supply will last me.
Some people like the smaller ones better than the larger ones; so the company’s sales probably didn’t even go down.
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/151 "2022-04-01T19:07:34Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#):
>
> I’m sure that there is a use case for connected washers and dryers, I’m just having trouble making it.
I can go to a webpage and query my apartment complex laundry rooms. It will tell me how many washers and dryers are in use and how many are available, and also estimate how long before an individual unit in use will finish.
I bought a Philips CRT TV set from Walmart for $88 about the year 2000 which is still in fine shape. Also an inherited RCA black-and-white portable which is probably about 45 years old. Both are connected to over-the-air-TV converter boxes, both of which, even though newer technology, have had to be replaced.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/152 "2022-04-03T14:37:49Z")
Snapper lawn mowers, at least the commercial models. I bought one almost 4 years ago and with proper maintenance I think it’ll outlive me. Besides oil & filter changes all it’s needed so far is a new belt and driven wheel for the self-propelling mechanism. Still starts on the first or second pull, too.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-have-a-reputation-for-long-lasting-goods/961047/153 "2022-04-04T00:56:41Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> Leatherman multi tools
I’ve found about 4 Leathermans, and all are in excellent condition. One of them has the leather pouch that you wear on your belt hard as a rock (think I found this one out in the desert somewhere), but the tool is solid!
Agree!
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