Gadgets are fast becoming a necessity to almost everyone in today’s world. Technology connects most systems, corporations and nations. The problem with gadget acquisition is differentiating necessary gadgets from unnecessary ones. They are all cool but do you need all of them? Here are 5 commandments to guide you when shopping for gadgets.
1. Spend The Most Money On The Items You Use The Most
So simple, yet so often overlooked: It’s smart shopping to splurge on the items you spend a lot of time with, and skimp on the ones you don’t. Don’t worry about the price, instead, try to figure out how often you’ll use it, and for how many years, and then spread the cost over the total number of hours you’ll get from the device.
This rule also applies if it’s an item that could be make-or-break in terms of your creative, academic or professional life. If your years-old computer is preventing you from getting your job done, it may be time to upgrade. If your phone is preventing you from receiving urgent emails or having important apps, it’s time to get another one.
2. Don’t Place Specs Over Overall Experience
It’s extremely rare that any single spec matters all that much to a gadget’s overall experience. The one place specs really matter: Marketing. Think of it this way: You’ll never see an ad that says “Once you live with our product for a number of months, you’ll understand how much effort we put into an intuitive interface and pleasant design that causes you as little pain as possible.”
For manufacturers, it’s much easier to simply call out an impressive-sounding number, and claim that it makes their product the best.
“It’s usually best to just completely ignore the spec. As impressive as it may be, chances are everyone else has something just as good. Instead, concentrate on the big picture—does this thing actually fit into my life and do what I want it to do?”
3. Make sure you know how products feel
A phone that fits comfortably in one tech reviewer’s hand may just feel awkward in yours. Ergonomics are not universal, and too many people buy tech products sight unseen—and touch unfelt. It can be hard to predict online or from an advertisement, how a camera feels in your hand or around your neck, If it’s so small it cramps your hands, or so heavy it hurts your shoulders.
That means getting your hands on a gadget before you buy it—or at least searching for reviews from people with similarly specific needs. For example: If you have tiny ears, look for headphone reviews written by users with a similar structure.
4. Buy from reliable and authorized dealers
You wouldn’t want to buy a cool gadget from black market vendors. Chances are that it will have issues problems after a weeks or days. It’s better to buy gadgets from brands that have efficient customer support. The brand should be able to offer you an immediate solution in case your gadget suddenly stops working or it malfunctions.
5. Understand Release Dates
If a new and better phone is set to be released, and that’s what you really need, you’d be foolish to purchase an older version. Even if an iPhone 5s is all you need or want, waiting until the new one comes out will allow you to purchase the old one at a massive discount. Either through official channels or from secondary markets from users seeking to upgrade
