The consumer market (especially for electronic doodads) is segmented into low, medium and high-end products (for a given function, e.g. tv, phone, computer, etc

The consumer market (especially for electronic doodads) is segmented into low, medium and high-end products (for a given function, e.g. tv, phone, computer, etc). I find that the best value is in the middle because the low-end is often poorly built or poorly engineered and does not last (too many corners cut, missing critical features, etc). The high-end gear usually well-built but includes fancy bells and whistles that I don't or won't use (with some exceptions). The best strategy that I use is to shoot for the mid-range product made by a manufacturer that offers high-end products. To create a mid-range product a manufacturer often has to gussy up a low end product or plain jane a high end product and the latter approach usually works better in the end.