aldi electrical products good? and other items to save on at aldi?.

[Francine]

just wondering if you could tell me please
what others find with the cheap electrical products from aldi
tvs, dvd, portable phones, gps, etc

and in general ways others have found they save at aldi. are their particular foods or products that you've found worthwhile.

thanks

francine.

 

[evand]

Electrical products from Aldi are no different to any made in China stuff. They are just sold by Aldi.

Generally they are ok, and you get a decent warranty. Some people buy more expensive stuff for the quality and some buy at the cheap end of the market for the savings. It will depend on what type of person you are rather than what the products are like.

As for food and groceries from Aldi, very good quality at a great price.

 

[gerd.]

With over 170 stores now operating on the Australian eastern seaboard.

Aldi has the ability to order 100,000+ of the same product.

This gives them the purchasing power to have product in the better Quality range at a much reduced rate.
Have a look at products sold by Aldi ( Power Kraft ) that are also available at Bunnings usually ( GMC ).
At first glance they look alike, on closer inspection you will see the better quality of the products sold by Aldi.

Gerd

 

[BayView]

A lot of a product's "quality" is purely market perception as well.

My profession is golf, and in our industry many products come out of just a few factories, and they are badged with different brandnames.

But the bigger names have a much larger marketing budget, hence, everyone hears and sees their name more often, and assumes the quality and service is better etc. It really helps a company's profile and public perception if a number of tour players wearing that company's hat and using their products are seen on the tv.

It is particularly noticeable (to me) in the area of bigger-ticket items such as drivers and putters. Some companies are charging in the vacinity of $500 per item, while the comparable product which is priced at $250 is every bit as good most times.

I have no doubt that this would also apply to electronic gadgets. Most of these products only have a year or two warranty - even the big names, so why pay way more for a product only guaranteed to last as long as the cheaper, less known one?

I think the problem would be in after-sales service with a lesser-known brand, if anything.

We bought an elcheapo portable dvd player for our son 2 years ago while in the USA. Cost $50 brand new at Circuit City. Zenith was the brand; never heard of it. The cheapest known brand-name comparable was $100.

Had to buy a voltage converter when we got back. It's still going strong after 2 years.

 

[Rob Williams]

I'm jealous! We don't have Aldi here in Adelaide. I might have to move to Melbourne. Thinking of doing that anyway, but Aldi just goves me more incentive

 

[evand]

Thats wrong Marc. I have bought cheap Chinese TV's and they're lucky to last 4-5 years. I have bought expensive ones and they last 10 or more years, no problem.

The same with stereos, expensive ones last with regular use. Cheap ones don't.

The warranty of these things have nothing to do with how long a product lasts.

By the way, have a look at how a 6-10 year old (150k - 250k km) Hyundai looks compared to a similar vintage BMW or Audi. The difference you see is quality (or lack of) and its very noticeable.

I'm a car guy and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Also i love good stereo sound and pay for quality and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Especially in the areas you dont see, which is where most the cost cutting takes place.

I have no doubt that this would also apply to electronic gadgets. Most of these products only have a year or two warranty - even the big names, so why pay way more for a product only guaranteed to last as long as the cheaper, less known one?

I think the problem would be in after-sales service with a lesser-known brand of anything.

 

[BlackSpider]

Aldi electrical products are crap.
We bought a DVD recorder from there and it failed after a short while.
I know a guy who unloads containers for Aldi and he was telling me about how much faulty stuff gets returned under warranty.
Just massive amounts gets returned and that is not a good sign of quality.

You might get lucky with an Aldi purchase, but service or warranties are a big hassle as they don't have any staff support.

 

[Strannik]

I think the problem would be in after-sales service with a lesser-known brand, if anything.

No such thing.
You just bring it back to the shop and they give you a new one.
It's not economical to service 50 bucks DVD players (at least in Australia) especial if you consider their actual cost.

 

[Strannik]

Thats wrong Marc. I have bought cheap Chinese TV's and they're lucky to last 4-5 years. I have bought expensive ones and they last 10 or more years, no problem.

The same with stereos, expensive ones last with regular use. Cheap ones don't.

Well let's see...
If you bought stereo 10 years ago, it definitely doesn't play DVD's and mp3 discs, and possibly doesn't play recorded CD's either. And you probably spent aroound 1-2k on it too, didn't you? Assuming we are talking about all in one kind of stereo, not a component one.

Whereas if you bought chinese stereo you would've changed it 2 times by now, and had all the latest stuff in it (and probably still be within the budget for original stereo).

Same goes for cars too

I actually found that as far as DVD players go, cheap ones are the best, they play virtually everything. Big names are usually very fussy about what they will play.

 

[geoffw]

Well let's see...
If you bought stereo 10 years ago, it definitely doesn't play DVD's and mp3 discs, and possibly doesn't play recorded CD's either. And you probably spent aroound 1-2k on it too, didn't you? Assuming we are talking about all in one kind of stereo, not a component

We bought a stereo about 15 years ago. It was a turntable with amp and radio. The CD player was a separate unit. It still works well except that I choose to connect a cheap DVD player- the connections still fit.

The biggest problem I've found with cheap electrical components is that cheap universal remotes don't recognise them when you lose the real remotes.

 

[BayView]

Thats wrong Marc. I have bought cheap Chinese TV's and they're lucky to last 4-5 years. I have bought expensive ones and they last 10 or more years, no problem.

The same with stereos, expensive ones last with regular use. Cheap ones don't.

The warranty of these things have nothing to do with how long a product lasts.

By the way, have a look at how a 6-10 year old (150k - 250k km) Hyundai looks compared to a similar vintage BMW or Audi. The difference you see is quality (or lack of) and its very noticeable.

I'm a car guy and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Also i love good stereo sound and pay for quality and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Especially in the areas you dont see, which is where most the cost cutting takes place.

Oh? So what brand do you buy in tv's now? And where is it made? Unless it is some exotic German type whizzo, it'll be your garden variety Chinese spectacular - and it wouldn't surprise me if Bose and Blaupunkt etc were all made in China as well -just like all the golf equipment and most other things disposable in the world these days.

Ev, I'm not wrong - I'm talking from experience. It's not just some random opinion that I've chucked in.

I actually own an elcheapo chinese tv now - it's called a "Rowa", as well as various other el-crappo doodads. They all work just fine. The tv is 7 years old.

Yeah, the tv may still crash and die at any minute, but the quality and value are pretty good so far, and if it does - it only cost $350. It works as well as the $1k version. The $1k job has slightly better picture and maybe slightly better sound, but you get the picture and I'm not a doodad snob.

I've had both cheap and expensive. We're talking incremental variations - not the diff between a $100k car and a $15k car; and I've had both.

Cars and speakers are not electronics. Open up basically any computer or dvd player and the guts are practically the same. Take off the Toshiba logo and whack on Jin-Jao or whatever and there's bugger-all diff for the most part.

Most of the difference in the cost (of an electronic doodad) is in the extra features they build into it.

 

[ziggy2214]

Over the years I've bought a few things from them but I generally don't have a good experience with Aldi

Bought a high definition setop box and it lasted 3 hours, after that it wouldn't play in 1080 mode. Took it back

Bought a couple of cordless mouses and had to return 1 because it stopped working after 1 day.

Bought an mp3 player but had to return it because the FM radio wasn't very sensitive.

A friend of mine bought a GPS and wasn't happy with it's performance so he took it back.

I certainly wouldn't buy anything big such as the plasma TV's they were selling before xmas because I wouldn't want the inconvenience of taking it back.

 

[evand]

I'm talking quality hi-fi stereo. Not whizz bang, DVD, mp3/4 playing, flashing lights, 5.1.1.2 surround sound gadgetry with totally crappy sound.

As for cars, i'm not talking about how many gee whizz features are in the car. That's an old trick first used by Japanese auto industry to add every feature to be able to compete with higher quality, established marques. Has been more recently used by the Korean auto industry.

I'm talking about the quality of the design, engineering, materials used and manufacture of the vehicle. That's where the quality is and its the same for electronics.

Well let's see...
If you bought stereo 10 years ago, it definitely doesn't play DVD's and mp3 discs, and possibly doesn't play recorded CD's either. And you probably spent aroound 1-2k on it too, didn't you? Assuming we are talking about all in one kind of stereo, not a component one.

Whereas if you bought chinese stereo you would've changed it 2 times by now, and had all the latest stuff in it (and probably still be within the budget for original stereo).

Same goes for cars too

I actually found that as far as DVD players go, cheap ones are the best, they play virtually everything. Big names are usually very fussy about what they will play.

 

[frini]

I have bought many electrical products this year from Aldi, in particular massage pillows, blood pressure monitors.They have a great range of health products, and as mentioned, their buying power is excellent, so the prices are very good.

I have referred the products to my family who have bought them also.
We have been very happy with the quality !!

A big thumbs up from us

 

[sash]

Cough...cough...bull%$t...Hyundai was voted number two for quality after Toyota!

BMWs by the way are made also in Germany and USA.....it is a myth that these are reliable and they are expensive to fix. The qulaity of some of the German automobiles are not to world standards.

By the way, have a look at how a 6-10 year old (150k - 250k km) Hyundai looks compared to a similar vintage BMW or Audi. The difference you see is quality (or lack of) and its very noticeable.

I'm a car guy and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Also i love good stereo sound and pay for quality and the difference is so obvious its not funny. Especially in the areas you dont see, which is where most the cost cutting takes place.

 

[Francine]

aldi for electrical products are they good?

wow alot of interesting info here.

i know even of brand names years ago i dont know if thats still the case that a cheap panasonic recorder at target was crap quality compared to more expensive ones at other stores though i dont think that is the case anymore.

interesting food for thought and various opinions. thanks.

francine.

 

[evand]

I used BMW as an example, there's plenty others as you know. I'm talking about any quality vehicle. Have you ever sat in a new Audi, Lexus or BMW and looked at the quality of the materials and design. There is no way that can be replicated in a $15990 drive away Kia or Hyundai. Its economically impossible.

And if you come back in 5 years and look at the cars, the cheap Korean car looks like its 10 or more years old.

And lets not talk about the difference when you actually drive them. The cost cutting is so obvious its not funny.

As for BMW's, the RHD 3 series is made in South Africa and the 4WD's are made in America. Everything else made in Germany. That has nothing to do with quality tho. The Germans build the plants and transplant their quality control to those countries. No problem, every quality car company does similar.

As for quality surveys, they usually are based on how many faults are reported with ownership from new. Which is not really relevant because you can have a Mahindra from India thats reliable but drives like a tractor. That's not quality.

Whats more they are very US centric as they are carried out by JD Power, a US company.

Rarely do they consider quality of driving, design, materials and what a car looks and drives like after 5 or 10 years.

Most Korean cars are ready for the wreckers after 10 years.

Anyway, here's a link:

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/rating...rand/sortcolumn-1/ascending/page-#page-anchor

Cough...cough...bull%$t...Hyundai was voted number two for quality after Toyota!

BMWs by the way are made also in Germany and USA.....it is a myth that these are reliable and they are expensive to fix. The qulaity of some of the German automobiles are not to world standards.

 

[Strannik]

As for quality surveys, they usually are based on how many faults are reported with ownership from new. Which is not really relevant because you can have a Mahindra from India thats reliable but drives like a tractor. That's not quality.

Whats more they are very US centric as they are carried out by JD Power, a US company.

Rarely do they consider quality of driving, design, materials and what a car looks and drives like after 5 or 10 years.

Most Korean cars are ready for the wreckers after 10 years.

Anyway, here's a link:

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/rating...rand/sortcolumn-1/ascending/page-#page-anchor

you are comparing apples with oranges
with electronics you are talking about them breaking, and here you are talking about cars being made of different material
to me material is just another "feature"
the main purpose of the car is to get you from A to B, without breaking

here is a european rating for you, oddly enough, the bottom list has some decent brands
http://www.samar.pl/__/__la/en/__ac...ines-in-TUVs-2008-car-reliability-survey.html

as far as i care - if the car is not reliable - it doesn't matter even if the interior is made of gold and diamonds, it's still a **** car

and by the way, Korean cars are no worse than australian
you compare 10 y.o Korean car with 10y.o holden or ford, and you'll find that the materials used are the same, and both cars will be in the roughly the same shape

 

[DavidMc]

I haven't figured it out myself.

3 years ago I decided to splash out on some quality hi-fi. I bought a $1000 Yamaha micro system (DVD/CD/MP3, Tuner, Amp, Speakers). Great system, really really loud and really small.

The DVD/CD/MP3 player bit of it died 3 months ago. I paid $30 to find out that they also don't make the 'drive mechanism' anymore, so it's useless now.

Maybe I was just unlucky?