# Cheap vs not cheap **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972 "2010-05-19T04:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/41 "2010-05-20T23:17:10Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > It may be that there’s a cheap brand out there that works fine. Or you might just have perfect poop and a small, non hairy ass. 😃 Word to the wise. If ANYBODY should be an expert on TP around here, I suspect the guy with the username Dung Beetle would be it. Until Major AssShrapnel comes along and enlightens us otherwise, I am going with the Dung on this one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/42 "2010-05-21T00:38:23Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If ANYBODY should be an expert on TP around here, I suspect the guy with the username Dung Beetle would be it. Except **Dung Beetle** is not a guy. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/43 "2010-05-21T00:40:51Z")
Cheap: sugar, sweetener (within limits), cold cereal (Kroger), OTC drugs, sodas (with few exceptions) Not cheap: shoes, bras, mattress, sipping whiskey, coffee, tires, canned tomatoes ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/44 "2010-05-21T00:56:31Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Except **Dung Beetle** is not a guy. Well, there you go…if a female Dung Beetle aint an expert on TP I don’t know who is 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/45 "2010-05-21T02:02:05Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Word to the wise. > > If ANYBODY should be an expert on TP around here, I suspect the guy with the username Dung Beetle would be it. > > Until Major AssShrapnel comes along and enlightens us otherwise, I am going with the Dung on this one 🙂 Well, for one thing, **Dung Beetle** is a girl-type person, not a guy-type person. For another thing, if there’s _one_ Doper I would trust more on all body-waste-related issues, it would have to be **Lieu**. 😛 Fine to buy cheap: Dairy products. Milk is milk, butter is butter, etc. I usually buy all of mine at either Aldi’s or Sam’s Club. I miss Costco and their Kirkland brand, but WV doesn’t have Costco. ☹ Cheap shoes are fine _depending on what they are for_. If I’m looking for something comfy and easy to slip on to take the kid to the bus stop, a pair of Croc knock-offs from Gabriel Bros. will do. If I’m looking for something I’m likely to do any amount of walking in, I want better! Sheets: I look for the best deals I can get, but I _never_ buy ‘cheap’ sheets. I made the mistake, some years ago, of buying a set of 1,000TC, Egyptian cotton sheets. Spoiled me for life, it did. Booze: well, there’s cheap and then there’s Cheap. If you’re talking beer, yeah, the stuff that costs $8.00 for a six-pack is often better than the cheaper stuff. But it’s not always worth the price differential. If I’m just looking for a cold one to swill back when I come inside from doing yard work in July, I’m quite happy with a Yuengling, which is about the same price point as Coors Light! The Budweiser (and for that matter the Coors Light or any other light beer), you can keep! Vodka or whiskey? If I’m mixing it, inexpensive is fine. If it’s for drinking straight (or if we’re talking about Scotch for my hubby), the higher-shelf stuff is definitely better! Oh, and sodas/soft drinks: if you’re talking flavors (root beer, ginger ale, etc.), generic is almost always fine. But we only drink diet sodas here, and I’ve _never_ found a generic diet cola that tastes anywhere near as good as Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/46 "2010-05-21T02:40:40Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > It seems to me that most PCs for sale these days all have some built-in cheap graphics card and if you can find one that doesn’t, it should still satisy your needs without your having to pay for an extra graphics card. All computers need some type of graphics processor, whether it’s built into the motherboard chipset or not. Many, many motherboards don’t have built-in graphics, so you need a graphics card. Most low-end computers (Best Buy and Dell things that consumers buy) are all integrated. However there are many more people than you might think that build their own machines, and thus purchase motherboards, or people that buy higher-end machines. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/47 "2010-05-21T03:04:09Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > All computers need some type of graphics processor, whether it’s built into the motherboard chipset or not. Many, many motherboards don’t have built-in graphics, so you need a graphics card. Most low-end computers (Best Buy and Dell things that consumers buy) are all integrated. However there are many more people than you might think that build their own machines, and thus purchase motherboards, or people that buy higher-end machines. OK. Fair enough. But I still don’t understand whether it’s possible to buy a motherboard with no integrated graphics and if you do, what will happen when you power-on the machine? Will it not be able to run Windows? I’m asking because I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/48 "2010-05-21T04:02:53Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > OK. Fair enough. But I still don’t understand whether it’s possible to buy a motherboard with no integrated graphics and if you do, what will happen when you power-on the machine? Will it not be able to run Windows? > > I’m asking because I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. Your monitor won’t display anything without a graphics card. ETA: You can buy a motherboard without an integrated graphics card. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/49 "2010-05-21T14:42:51Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, there you go…if a female Dung Beetle aint an expert on TP I don’t know who is 🙂 Whew! Thought I’d lost my TP cred! ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/50 "2010-05-21T17:43:09Z")
Because it had to be said… Cheap: Anything for me. Not Cheap: Anything for my wife. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/51 "2010-05-21T18:16:24Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Your monitor won’t display anything without a graphics card. > > ETA: You can buy a motherboard without an integrated graphics card. If you buy a motherboard without integrated graphics and buy no separate graphics card, you will have no place to plug in a monitor. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/52 "2010-05-21T19:25:32Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > This is a prime example of a thread for which I wish I could come back at any time and make edits because I’d like to add a few examples from time to time as I think of them. Except that people who have already read your post will never see your edits. Most people don’t go re-reading posts they’ve already read. If you want people to actually see your new examples, a new post is the way to go. For me: Not ok cheap: boxed mac-and-cheese (it’s Kraft or nothing if I’m in the mood for comfort/student food) Toilet paper Ok cheap: most other food ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/53 "2010-05-21T22:32:13Z")
Good point. I never thought of that. You must be very board-wise. Opal seems like a name a lady would choose. Same goes for “Cat”. If you are a lady, you strike me as a very clever one. > [@OpalCat](#): > > Except that people who have already read your post will never see your edits. Most people don’t go re-reading posts they’ve already read. If you want people to actually see your new examples, a new post is the way to go. > > For me: > Not ok cheap: boxed mac-and-cheese (it’s Kraft or nothing if I’m in the mood for comfort/student food) > Toilet paper > > Ok cheap: most other food ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/54 "2010-05-21T23:27:26Z")
I don’t know if I’d quite go so far as to say _lady_, but I’m definitely a woman 🙂 And I don’t think it’s so much clever as just… well, your user number is [90323](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php). Mine is [36](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php). Point being–I’ve been here a while and I know how the people tend to be 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/55 "2010-05-22T00:36:29Z")
There are so many. But the one that just triggered my memory of this thread is: Watches. I really only need to tell the time. I can’t imagine what an expensive watch does that a cheap one won’t. (I’m currently buying a watch.) ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/56 "2010-05-22T01:25:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I never skimp on alcohol, even for mixing. I can taste rotgut vodka (for instance Smirnoff’s :)) in a drink versus Ketel 1 or Belvedere. It’s still cheaper than good beer or wine per oz of alcohol (okay, maybe not the Belvedere). Smirnoff Vodka is as good, or probably better, than the two you mentioned, and has the [blind taste tests](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/dining/26wine.html) to prove it. Expensive Vodka is one gigantic ripoff. The number of people who buy based on a brand or higher price are astounding. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/57 "2010-05-22T07:03:25Z")
I was 16 the first time I drank vodka. Someone explained to me that vodka was pure alcohol mixed with pure water. Someone else told me that it was usually made from potatoes but it could be made from any source that didn’t leave any residual content - like a residual flavor. If the idea was to remove everything except for drinking alcohol and H2O, I wondered what difference it made from what Vodka was distilled. A professor of chemistry told me the scientific name of the alcohol used in all whiskey. I forget what it was, but Wikipedia says that it’s Ethanol - C2H5OH. If that’s all there is to it, then pure vodka could be created in a laboratory. Just create pure C2H5OH and mix it with distilled water. If I’m not mistaken, that is a perfect forumla for pure vodka. And if that is true, then how can there be any debate as to one brand of vodka being superior than another? If the alcohol content is governed by law, then the only difference between various brands would be if one brand put something **“into”** their vodka that was absent from another. And that is supposedly prohibited. The **“best”** vodka suppoosedly contains nothing beyond ethanol and water. So, it can’t make any difference which brand you buy. The only difference is supposed to be the price and, in this case, it seems to me the lower the price, the better the vodka. The only problem would be if there was something wrong with the brand you buy - if it was not pure ethanol and water mixed to the legal alcohol content. Here is the Wikipedia link: > **[Ethanol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol)** > > Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula .mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su{display:inline-block;font-size:80%;line-height:1;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su\>span{display:block;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output sub.template-chem2-sub{font-size:80%;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output sup.template-chem2-sup{font-size:80%;vertical-align:0.65em}CH3CH2OH. It is an alcohol... > [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Smirnoff Vodka is as good, or probably better, than the two you mentioned, and has the [blind taste tests](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/dining/26wine.html) to prove it. Expensive Vodka is one gigantic ripoff. The number of people who buy based on a brand or higher price are astounding. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/58 "2010-05-22T10:06:59Z")
And if that is true, then how can there be any debate as to one brand of vodka being superior than another? If the alcohol content is governed by law, then the only difference between various brands would be if one brand put something **“into”** their vodka that was absent from another. And that is supposedly prohibited. The **“best”** vodka suppoosedly contains nothing beyond ethanol and water. So, it can’t make any difference which brand you buy. The only difference is supposed to be the price and, in this case, it seems to me the lower the price, the better the vodka. The only problem would be if there was something wrong with the brand you buy - if it was not pure ethanol and water mixed to the legal alcohol content. Here is the Wikipedia link: > **[Ethanol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol)** > > Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula .mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su{display:inline-block;font-size:80%;line-height:1;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su\>span{display:block;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output sub.template-chem2-sub{font-size:80%;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output sup.template-chem2-sup{font-size:80%;vertical-align:0.65em}CH3CH2OH. It is an alcohol, ... [/QUOTE] All I know is that there is a definite difference between the potato vodka that we get as ‘sipping’ vodka and the cheap grain vodka we get as mixing vodka. That grain vodka has a hard alcohol taste, and the potato vodka has a very soft mouthfeel, and a gentle taste. I don’t know how else to describe it, but if yousat down with a glass of Thames Best cheap rotgut grain vodka and Glacier potato vodka you would be able to tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/59 "2010-05-22T10:25:18Z")
Cheap: just about everything. Not cheap: musical instruments, hookers, pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972/60 "2010-05-22T13:27:33Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And if that is true, then how can there be any debate as to one brand of vodka being superior than another? If the alcohol content is governed by law, then the only difference between various brands would be if one brand put something **“into”** their > vodka that was absent from another. And that is supposedly prohibited. The **“best”** vodka suppoosedly contains nothing beyond ethanol and water. So, it can’t make any difference which brand you buy. The only difference is supposed to be the price and, in this case, it seems to me the lower the price, the better the vodka. The only problem would be if there was something wrong with the brand you buy - if it was not pure ethanol and water mixed to the legal alcohol content. > > Here is the Wikipedia link: > > [URL=“[Ethanol - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol)”]All I know is that there is a definite difference between the potato vodka that we get as ‘sipping’ vodka and the cheap grain vodka we get as mixing vodka. That grain vodka has a hard alcohol taste, and the potato vodka has a very soft mouthfeel, and a gentle taste. I don’t know how else to describe it, but if yousat down with a glass of Thames Best cheap rotgut grain vodka and Glacier potato vodka you would be able to tell the difference. * * * Nicely said. I don’t understand why that is, but judging from the way you speak about your vodka, I accept that you are an expert and know what you are talking about. Maybe someone else will be able to explain why. Maybe there is some difference between laboratory vodka and your brand and maybe your brand just tastes better. Or maybe it just tastes better to you. Either way, I can accept that as being true - especially since everyone has their own preferences for taste and it seems to me that your taste comes from some good experience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-vs-not-cheap/539972.md?page=4)