Buying stuff you never use (give your list)

[foogledricks]

You regret purchasing the PSP don't you? You got that shiny new Palm PDA, and you don't even use it, do you? Installing a TV in the shower was moronic, wasn't it?

 

Tell me your bad purchasing decisions. Where the promise of something was more appealing than the practical use once the honeymoon was over. You know what I mean. When you first get something, you use it because you're excited. You show it off. Then six months later, it collects dust.

 

So what's my example? I am very practical, and rarely make buying decisions as I describe above. I have a great track record, even though I'm a gadget hound. Videogames aside (because you never know whether you'll like a game or not), my whole DVD collection is basically a big dust collector. Why did I buy all those damn DVDs? They're more of a trophy than a practical asset.

[exile]

I will offer my small list of:

 

Xbox- 3 month honeymoon period wore off. Can't really sell it given the wife bought it for me and I wanted it.

Pronto Remote - I use it but not anywhere near its capability. I'm too lazy to program it. I'd replace it with a Harmony but I'm in the same boat as I was with the Xbox.

Exercise machine - yes I joined the club of people who bought exercise equipment only to let it collect dust.

Trek Y22 Carbon Fiber Full Air Suspension Mountain Bike - I got a stellar deal when I thought I'd mountain bike alot. I didn't. Sold it a few years later for a $400 profit. I figured in that if I didn't like it, I could sell it anyway for a nice tidy profit which I did. Would have sold for more if I didn't get screwed on ebay.

[iainl]

More DVDs than I can count, for a start. After ranting and raving for Donkey Bongos I've hardly played with those, either.

[PoisonJam]

Hey, most of mine were immediately taken in the first two posts.

 

PSP

Pronto

Most of the DVDs and Xbox games on my shelf

 

I will add:

Film scanner (killed by the combo of a digital camera and a regular flatbed scanner)

Bread machine (not worth the trouble)

Crock pot (see bread machine)

Special-ordered case of jumbo condoms (still too constricting)

$100 worth of Zaino car wash stuff (need a chemistry degree to use)

[foogledricks]

Special-ordered case of jumbo condoms (still too constricting)

I have the opposite problem with the dildo I just bought.

[JTello]

You got that shiny new Palm PDA

You Bastard! Yeah, so what, I wasted a few bucks a beautiful little Palm when I should have wasted it on a PocketPC. (Yes, either one probably would have been a wasteful choice.) I still love my Palm's display and processing power, but having to sync the damn thing is just fucking retarded, and having to micro manage everything to get it to do the things I want is lame. I want to plug and play my tech shit! Not BS around with every little install.

 

Thanx Keith, Nice subject! :bh

[General Zot]

DDR materials for my PS2. We played it a couple of times, but the plastic mats are no where near as good as the arcade stand ups. Now it just collects dust, I need to sell it and move on

[The Daisy]

PSP. Haven't touched it in 2 months.

Health Club membership. Why in the hell did I let my wife talk me into a 2 year agreement? I play hockey 2 or 3 times a week and usually volleyball once a week and never go to the health club.

Zima. I heard someone on the board here loved it... but I never even opened it.

 

Glen

[exile]

Bread machine (not worth the trouble)

Crock pot (see bread machine)

These we use alot. They really aren't that much trouble. Crock pots are essential if you wish to make velvetta with rotel dip.

 

I'll add that my flat bed scanner was a complete waste of money.

 

Somehow I think this topic is going to get very vulgar very quickly..

[Sparkz]

Nintendo e-Reader, GBA-GC cable, and GBA Player for the Gamecube. All bought so that I could unlock powerups and new levels on the favorite game of my childhood, Super Mario 3. Swiping the cards was such a pain in the ass, that I never bothered to hook up this mess again.

[PoisonJam]

These we use alot. They really aren't that much trouble. Crock pots are essential if you wish to make velvetta with rotel dip.

 

Crock pot is good for stews and such in the winter, but I have two bread machines and both of them take a ton of time and ingredients to produce loaves of bread so small (and round, for some stupid reason) that you can't get more than three mini sandwiches out of them. Maybe I'm just using the wrong ones.

[reeldeal]

i was just thinking this last night about a minidisc recorder and portable player I bought. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking as I didn't listen to music on the go at the time and just ended up hooking my minidisc player up to my car through a tape adapter. i should have just made tapes and saved myself the grand it cost. I was just drawn in by the wow factor

 

my girlfriend and I were at a gift exchange, one of those ones where you have a first round where you open the present, and a second round where you can swap with someone else. somehow we ended up with a food processor that i tried to use once to make shredded lettuce for a pita but ended up making green goo that looked so disgusting i'm not even sure i cleaned the food processor after...

[HoolieMan]

Gamecube

Game Boy Advance (original one)

Jaguar (64 bit?)

CD changer (iPod has taken over it's job)

DVD Burner

12 Hot Dogs at Yankee stadium. I don't know what I was thinkin'

[PoisonJam]

Game Boy Advance (original one)

 

Good call! Forgot about that one.

[JoeyN]

Most of this stuff i got rid of shortly after buying

 

Any portable gaming system

Palm/Pocket PC- Ive owned two devices and i should have saved the cash

Gamecube - Played it for one week with Donkey Konga and that was it

PS2 3 times. I just never learn

[Josh]

Korg Triton Synth / Sampler (thinking I would start writing music again)

Tons of DVDs (this just ends up being a rental library for friends)

Gamecube (played 2 games, not to completion)

Gameboy Advance

Quicken Budget Software (budget? me? hahahaahahah)

Xbox (haven't played much of anything since Jade Empire)

 

...things on this list that I use:

PSP

Gym membership

DDR mats

[Romier S]

It's kind of interesting to see so many people list thier DVD collections. I love my movie collection, I get use out of it every day, regardless of whether I watch every disc on a regular basis. The option is always there for me. The rental library for buddies analogy doesn't hold up much on my end either since I don't lend out my DVD's to anyone except immediate family and 1 or 2 very trusted friends.

 

I'm not disagreeing with folks saying thier DVD purchases are regretful by the way. Just given how much I appreciate my own, it's suprising to see so many list thier own collections in this thread.

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

I've regretted pretty much every wacky peripheral I've bought for game systems. Things I've bought that got little use:

 

Steel Battalion

Saitek joystick and throttle (to be used with Battlefield 2 mainly)

Official Gran Turismo 3 logitech FF wheel (haven't touched it in years, was good at the time)

Donkey Konga Bongos

Lots of PS2 guncon games/guncons (I get headaches from these, yet I keep buying them)

 

I regret my DS purchase. I wouldn't make the same decision again, but it's not really worth selling so I'm keeping it.

 

A puppy. I didn't want one but I let my wife get it. I could have put up with it if we were living in a house, but it's a real pain to have a dog when you can't put it outside so I strongly pushed towards getting rid of it. I prefer our Macaw anyways, and the macaw needed more daily attention than she was giving it.

[JoeyN]

I have a large DVD movie collection, and my TV on dvd collection is almost as big now. Its the one thing i dont regret buying

[Anthony G]

My xbox game collection, since I collect them I can't say I regret it, but there are way too many titles that I will never get to.

[GreenMonkey]

Xbox - I never get time to play SF Anniversary, and honestly I'm not that great at SF games. And I still prefer mouse-n-keyboard FPS gaming (especially online) on my PC. Basically I just get multi-console releases cheap for it, which just stack up on my shelf unplayed.

 

Sega Saturn - I can't afford any of the good games like Panzer Dragoon Saga & Shining Force 3, and the other ones I really want are imports. Basically I used it for SFA3 and Die Hard Arcade a few times. I'm gonna mod an Xbox at some point for MAME emulation and give up on D&D Collection on the Saturn

 

Magic cards - I bought a bunch of old Magic cards to pick up playing again (and kinda tought my wife). Somehow we don't have the time, and if we do, we just watch a movie, TVonDVD, SSX tricky, or Mario Kart.

 

$90 Accurian OTA HDTV receiver (Radio Shack special). With the wife's 500 DVDs or so (including some TVonDVD and a LOT of anime) and my 200 or so (about 30% anime) we never watch TV. Pretty toy that just sits around.

 

Quake 4. What was I thinking? With the release of Civilization 4, I still play Battle for Middle Earth, and the release of Dragon Quest 8, I'm not gonna have time to play this (besides that, it kicks my 9800pro's ass). Anybody want the DVD edition for like $40ish, PM me.

[James T]

Good topic.

 

I have a PDA collecting dust as well.

 

I also have one of those steam cleaners...using it just creates more work so I haven't touched it in years.

 

My DVD collection depends on my mood. Some days I feel like selling most of my collection, but I have never pulled the trigger since I rebought two movies that I sold(Fight Club and Tombstone). My tv collection is almost just as large as my movie collection, so we'll see how long before I unload a few.

[exile]

I'm not disagreeing with folks saying thier DVD purchases are regretful by the way. Just given how much I appreciate my own, it's suprising to see so many list thier own collections in this thread.

Alot of it I bet has to do with blind purchases we thought we'd enjoy more than once. The titles I watch alot which is like 25% of my collection I don't regret. The other 75% that hardly gets watched I do feel that way about. I think if we as a whole were more selective we'd probably have much smaller collections than we currently have.

[Josh]

Alot of it I bet has to do with blind purchases we thought we'd enjoy more than once. The titles I watch alot which is like 25% of my collection I don't regret. The other 75% that hardly gets watched I do feel that way about. I think if we as a whole were more selective we'd probably have much smaller collections than we currently have.

 

I look at it this way: I rarely go to the theater, so buying a release DVD for $20 is the same (even less) than going to see the movie in the first place. So, at first, I don't appreciate it.

 

But if the movie sucks, it sits there. Sucking.

[Bruce B]

Camcorder. They seem like a great idea at the time but if you've ever taken them on vacation you feel like youre strapped to it and that youre an outsider, looking in, instead of experiencing what you went there for. Probably worth the money for chronicaling if you have a baby, but thats it.