You probably know that I buy a lot of tech. Most of it’s good because I do my research, but I have also made some major mistakes. Here are the seven my worst tech purchases. I regret buying, from the least expensive to the most expensive.
The BlendJet Portable Blender
There’s a decent chance you’ve seen this on an Instagram ad somewhere—that’s what got me. The BlendJet is a portable blender that’s extremely well-marketed. It’s always advertised as being half-price, comes with a free 20-ounce jar, and has 51,000 5-star reviews. The vision they sell you is this all-in-one tool to help you live your healthiest life, filled with matcha and kale smoothies. But then you realize, why would I need to blend on the go? You still have to fill it up before you leave home, and it’s not like making a smoothie earlier will stop it from getting mushy. It’s essentially just a drink, and the main difference between this and a proper blender is that it has less capacity, the battery runs out quickly, and it’s hard to clean due to the narrow cup design and fixed blades.
The Mechanical Keyboard (Corsair K95 Platinum)
Next up, at around $200, I regret buying a mechanical keyboard. All these years I have always been an enthusiast to those appealing, user-friendly, easily-so-to-type-on, Apple’s keyboards; but the temptation of so-called typing’s “Holy Grail”-also known as mechanical keyboards-shot through into my mind. I acquired this one-the Corsair K95 Platinum-at best, among the mechanicals, but the match simply didn’t happen. The clicky keys were fun at first, but incredibly annoying to everyone around me, especially my sister who eventually gave me the hint. Typing speed decreased as I found myself bottoming out the keys too hard, and over time, the height of the keys led to carpal tunnel syndrome. This led me to switch to a more ergonomic keyboard, which I now prefer.
The Xbox Series X
This one’s kind of sad: I regret buying the Xbox Series X. I was excited about both the Xbox and PlayStation 5. The Xbox was marketed as the more powerful console, and it promised next-gen Halo, which I had grown up loving. Sadly, the gameplay showcases for the new Halo made it look pretty much ho-hum next-gen. The game got delayed again, and of course, the much-touted split-screen co-op got canceled. Xbox exclusives were sparse, and in cross-platform releases, I found PS5 games ran better. The key redeeming factor was Xbox Game Pass, but since I tend to focus on one game for months, this wasn’t a great model for me. Now, my Xbox Series X just sits in my basement as a glorified media player.
The Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally
I’ve always been a handheld gaming guy, and the concept of handheld consoles that could play full PC games was tempting. I pre-ordered a Steam Deck and bought an ASUS ROG Ally. They seemed like magic at the time of their work, but on a day-to-day basis, they didn’t meet expectations. The big issue is that Windows was never meant for handheld devices and dusts off little of the sheen of something like the Nintendo Switch. Battery life was a major issue, with the ROG Ally lasting only one to two hours of gameplay before needing a charge, which isn’t ideal for long trips. These handhelds didn’t offer the same freedom I’d hoped for.
The 3D Printer
Now, let’s talk about how I wasted $6,000 on this 3D printer, the Houdini. I had a vision of printing food, like the perfect steak, but the reality was disappointing. Food isn’t 3D printing filament, so it doesn’t stay in place, and many ingredients lack the structural strength to form multi-layered models. My attempts with savory and sweet mixtures resulted in explosions and mixtures that didn’t hold. The printer just couldn’t deal with the inconsistency of food, and my hopes for a 3D-printed gourmet meal never came to be.
The Mac Pro of 2019 Apple
Well, I bought this Apple Mac Pro in the year 2019 for $25,000. At that time, I was very much burdened with editing work since I had hoped that it could save me time and make my workflow easier, but that hasn’t worked out at all. It was faster than my MacBook, but not by the amount the price suggested—only about 25% faster. The real kicker came when Apple launched their Apple Silicon MacBooks. The new MacBook with the M1 chip performed so well that it rendered my $25,000 machine obsolete. Now, the Mac Pro mostly serves as a background display in videos, while the MacBook does all the heavy lifting.
The Mercedes EQS Electric Car
Lastly, at the highest price point, I regret buying my mom’s dream car: the Mercedes EQS. While the car is stunning, we severely underestimated the hassles of owning an electric car in the UK. The range was much lower than expected, with the car barely able to complete a regular trip to London without needing a charge. Charging was another problem: our home charger was installed incorrectly, and the free charging offered by Mercedes was only at stations far from us. Plus, the popular charging spots are often occupied, leading to hours of waiting for a charge. It’s a beautiful car, but not as practical as I hoped. Follow us for more information on Tech Education.
