[mlyle]

Cheap tools are usually adequate to judge whether this is a type of tool you need and will frequently use... and cheap tools may be adequate to meet your entire need.

I frequently buy cheap tools while I am learning about whether I need a "real" one and which one I should then select. I would suggest other people do so, too.

[SAI_Peregrinus]

Yeah. The trick is to never buy a cheap replacement tool.

[KronisLV]

I actually got a cheap Chinese chainsaw for some light work around the countryside, it cost me about 80 EUR and performs adequately for the task at hand.

So then I bought another one of the same variety, with the expectation that once this (or the other one) dies, it can be cannibalized for spare parts if need be AND I won’t have to stop in the middle of doing something, cause of the backup.

It’s much the same for me when buying mechanical keyboards, computer mice, HDDs/SSDs or other technology too. My current CPU is on AM4 because I have the old one as a backup and a spare motherboard too.

What can I say, I like having backups and being reasonably frugal: e.g. getting a mid range phone since I don’t need fancy features and if anything happens to it it won’t be a big financial hit to replace (or use any old one for a bit, until the new one arrives, since none receive software updates for that many years).