Sunglasses: your opinion

[Riptide]

How much would you pay? Is it worth $300?

I've never paid more than $110 for a pair. My bolle's are nice and cost around $95. I've also had a pair of nikes that were about $90 as well. The bolle's were nicer and have polarized lenses.

[ricercar]

Never pay more than $100 for something that you might lose. It's stupid for most people to pay so much for a toy that they'll lose in a week, when a $12 pair will do just as well.

Do you lose sunglasses? Can you tell the difference in $300 sunglasses? Does a $300 pair give you $210 worth of jollies above and beyond a $90 pair? If you can tell the difference, if you don't lose glasses, then go for it.

One man's folly is another man's fun. Paying $300 for something as misplaceable as sunglasses is ludicrous in my world. I lose them too often. However, I don't lose pens. I have the first Parker fountain pen I got in 1972. I've paid $300 for a Waterford Crystal fountain pen that most people would think is ludicrous. Yet I know the difference between a $30 pen and a $300 pen. I can appreciate the difference and know exactly what the extra money is buying me.

- Do you have $300?
- Can you get $210 more pleasure from a $300 pair of sunglasses above and beyond your $90 pair?
- Will a $150 pari give you the same pleasure?
- What else would you do with that $210?

It's all opportunity costs. YMWV

[intercede007]

Originally posted by ricercar
Never pay more than $100 for something that you might lose. It's stupid for most people to pay so much for a toy that they'll lose in a week, when a $12 pair will do just as well.


For me at least, it's much easier to lose something thats not attached to my head most of the day. But that's just me.

It's all in how discerning of a customer you are. I buy a box of pens for 10 bucks. I've written with expensive pens, and they just don't float my boat. But they obviously work for you.

On the other hand, I've worn 12 dollar pairs of sunglasses, and I wouldn't trade my Arnette's for 10 pairs of the cheap-o's. I can tell the differance in the optics, and I love my polarized Steel-Demons. I spend lots of time driving; on the weekends I've been known to put upwards of 500 miles on the car, and I usually drive the 800 miles to Orlando once or twice a month.

It's all in what you do.

Would I spend $300 dollars on a single pair of glasses? No. But it hasn't stopped me from spending $500 on 4 pairs.

[Riptide]

I also worry about losing them. Luckily, it's been a while since I've lost a pair though. I've had some close calls with the Nikes, but always was able to find them.

Scratching the lens is a very easy thing to do as well and is more of a danger for me than losing them. I am kind of a klutz and have more than once dropped them from my hand or had them fall off my 49er hat when I went to take it off (having forgotten that they were up there).

I have a system that works now. I keep the bolles for using day-day and bring my nikes along instead when I go fishing or hiking or any other activity that could easily result in scratched lenses and/or lost glasses. The nikes are already scratched up a bit so I'm not so concerned about them.

One minor rant about the nikes as well. I didn't notice it until it was to late to return them but the frame was defective. It is slightly canted off to one side and I can't fix it. They always sit just slightly crooked on me when I wear them. Tough to notice, but for $90 I expect it to at least be fit together right. Probably won't buy another pair of those in the future.

[ricercar]

Originally posted by Riptide
Scratching the lens is a very easy thing to do as well and is more of a danger for me than losing them.

This is probably another reason why I'm not a $300 sunglasses kind of person. You remind me of something that made me very angry!

A few years back I had a pair off Gargoyles hanging on a Croakies retaining string when I bent down to look under my car. I scratched the lenses on the pavement, dead center of each lense, the gashes exactly lined up with where I looked straight forward when they were on my face. I was FURIOUS for a week! Guess I still am...

Nope, no $300 glasses for me.

[Gehenna_CA]

One thing I noticed while reading this thread is that the people who are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of shades refer to them by their brand names. They are not shades or sunglasses but "nikes" or "bolles". Is this, perhaps, evidence that some people have been succesfully conditioned to buy an overpriced brand name product when a cheaper one would perform the same function? Probably. It sounds like they are purchased more for the image or the coolness factor than just because they keep the sun out of your eyes.

[intercede007]

Or it could be perhaps that some of us have sensative eyes, and a good quality pair of sunglasses worn while driving during the day reduces the amount of fatigue and the number of headaches I get towards the end of the evening.

Care to dive into why I call my Camry "The Camry" and my Jetta "The Jetta" and not "The Car" and "The Car"? Couldn't possibly just be that I am positively identifying an object for what it is, could it?

[Matthyahuw]

I break so many glasses that I don't even bother paying over $20, not worth it...

[LORD-eX-Bu]

same here, if I don't have a pair on me, just go and get a cheap pair from a store somewhere to last me till the next pair:lol:

[poursoul]

Originally posted by intercede007
Or it could be perhaps that some of us have sensative eyes, and a good quality pair of sunglasses worn while driving during the day reduces the amount of fatigue and the number of headaches I get towards the end of the evening.

Care to dive into why I call my Camry "The Camry" and my Jetta "The Jetta" and not "The Car" and "The Car"? Couldn't possibly just be that I am positively identifying an object for what it is, could it?

yeah, it is just refered to as "the car." If my girl ever said "let's jump in the jetta (or civic or whatever) and grab something to eat." i would just look at her very confused.

300 for glasses, for "comfort"..... yes that is buying into the name not "comfort" for "sensitive" eyes.

[Darth Rancid]

I've just lost my 10+ years old pair of cheap big blue ones!... tragic really. they looked so cool!... with the steel wire repairs and all...

Bought them in germany the summer after they bulldozed the Berlin wall...

[intercede007]

Originally posted by poursoul
yeah, it is just refered to as "the car." If my girl ever said "let's jump in the jetta (or civic or whatever) and grab something to eat." i would just look at her very confused.

300 for glasses, for "comfort"..... yes that is buying into the name not "comfort" for "sensitive" eyes.

You would look at her confused when she said "The Car" and she owns two of them. Sort-of a vague statement at best. I'll start refering to objects by their grouping, not by their name. I can see it now...

"Hey women, dinner is ready!"
***SMACK***

And why is it buying into a name when you can't get polarized lenses from the drug store check-out line? Hmm? It really sucks that my comfort is some sort of corporate brain washing. Next time my eyes are dry and I have a headache, you can tell my Fiancee I really wanted to be with her, but I had to go to bed at 7PM.

I don't see you ranting about every other signature you see on a computer hardware forum. Could you imagine what digitalwanderers signature would look like if we didn't name things?

Computer: Processor, Ram, Video Card, Motherboard, Sound Card, Monitor
Computer: Ram, Video Card, Motherboard, Sound Card, Monitor, Processor

But I guess you'll tell me now something like calling it an ATI Radeon 9800 or a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 or a Pentium 4 or an AMD Athlon XP or a..... isn't buying into a name, it's differant.

[jnd3]

No more than $20 for sunglasses, at least for me. I have a hard time making 'em last more than a couple of years -- they get dropped, scratched, broken, lost. Now if they were diamond-coated full-replacement lifetime warranty shades, well, then I might be willing to spend a little more... ;)

Cheers,
JND

[moorfang]

I have a more than $300 pair of Oakley X-Metal XX 24K.
However I never wear them, I'm near-sighted and I don't wear contact lenses.
I keep the sunglasses in the case, and take them out sometimes just to look at them,
feel some pleasure of vanity and guilty of spending money on something that's in fact useless to me.
Well, I just can't resist it's super stylish shade.
I have another much cheaper pair of Oakley C-Wire,
and it's just another in-house collection as well. :p
http://a1497.g.akamai.net/f/1497/14/1d/www.oakley.com/media/product/x_metal_xx/k24_k24_irid.jpg
http://a1497.g.akamai.net/f/1497/14/1d/www.oakley.com/media/product/c_wire/platinum_emerald.jpg

[Riptide]

Originally posted by Gehenna_CA
Is this, perhaps, evidence that some people have been succesfully conditioned to buy an overpriced brand name product when a cheaper one would perform the same function? Probably. It sounds like they are purchased more for the image or the coolness factor than just because they keep the sun out of your eyes.
Or, maybe we are just cooler than you. Don't hate us because we're beautiful damnit! ;)
I'm ready for my photograph Mr. Deville! :D

[poursoul]

i wouldn't pay 300 for a vid card unless i had the money to waste, and i've never had money to waste. ...... damn that sucks.

i'm not trying to piss you off (anymore) what i'm trying to say is, don't you think your buying something else with 300+ shades that your eyes aren't benifiting from?

[Gehenna_CA]

Actually, I did a quick search for the price of sunglasses with polarized lenses. They can be had for as little as $30. I could probably find cheaper but I only looked at a couple links. I'm quite certain you could find them in the drug store.

I had no idea an innocent observation would set some people off like that. Its not like I personally attacked you.

[Riptide]

I certainly wasn't offended by your comment, btw. However, I could understand if someone was.

You were inferring that anyone who spent a lot of money on these things has been "successfully conditioned" and cared more about the "coolness factor" than anything else. While that is not a direct insult per se, I can understand that some might find it a little denigrating. After all, you are accusing someone of being "conditioned". That may very well be true but don't be surprised if it upsets people since it could be taken as an insult regardless of whether you meant it that way or not.

Oh, and btw, I have a set of those XX 24K oakleys on the way. Why? Because I like the way they look. Is it a ripoff? Probably. But at least it doesn't cost to much to replace the lenses (relatively speaking) and if I take good care of them they should last many years.

[Gehenna_CA]

I realized a long time ago that Brand Names are just creations of the Matrix.

[intercede007]

Originally posted by Gehenna_CA
Actually, I did a quick search for the price of sunglasses with polarized lenses. They can be had for as little as $30. I could probably find cheaper but I only looked at a couple links. I'm quite certain you could find them in the drug store.

I had no idea an innocent observation would set some people off like that. Its not like I personally attacked you.

Why? Because it's a hypocritical argument.

You bought an Asus motherboard, right? Why didn't you buy the PC Chips or ECS or XFX or FIC or MATSONIC board with the same chipset? Or what about your Visiontek card? Why didn't you buy the Powercolor or PNY or Sapphire variant? Why didn't you buy the plastic-baggie DVD-ROM drive or burner on the bottom shelf of the PC store?


Right...because deep down, you know you get what you pay for!! :thumbsup:

[intercede007]

Originally posted by Gehenna_CA
I realized a long time ago that Brand Names are just creations of the Matrix.


LOL!!! That's rich, cause you have about 10 of them in your signature.

If your soo anti-establishment, I have a copy of Red Hat 8.0 you might want to look at.

[poursoul]

quit being spiteful, it's self destructive.

yes i am allowed to be a hypocrite..... that is if you find a thread where i have been spiteful.

[Gehenna_CA]

Originally posted by intercede007
LOL!!! That's rich, cause you have about 10 of them in your signature.

If your soo anti-establishment, I have a copy of Red Hat 8.0 you might want to look at.

Originally posted by intercede007
Why? Because it's a hypocritical argument.

You bought an Asus motherboard, right? Why didn't you buy the PC Chips or ECS or XFX or FIC or MATSONIC board with the same chipset? Or what about your Visiontek card? Why didn't you buy the Powercolor or PNY or Sapphire variant? Why didn't you buy the plastic-baggie DVD-ROM drive or burner on the bottom shelf of the PC store?


Right...because deep down, you know you get what you pay for!! :thumbsup:

Actually, no. I buy whatever has the specs I want at a price I think is reasonable and the product is available to me. I couldn't care less if the product was no name as long as it did what I expected it too and the price was right. As for the sig, its just standard procedure to list all my components because I get tired of people always asking. Its easier to tell them to refer to the sig than list every component over and over.

If you get smashed in the face with a baseball your $300 brand name sunglass won't fair any better than a $30 pair with polarized lenses that you can buy in a drug store. If you want to get all bent out of shape, go right ahead. I won't lose any sleep over it. Your angry because you know my observations are correct. Impotent rage.

And, no thanks, I already have a distro of linux. Free of charge, I might add.

[intercede007]

Originally posted by Gehenna_CA
Actually, no. I buy whatever has the specs I want at a price I think is reasonable and the product is available to me. I couldn't care less if the product was no name as long as it did what I expected it too and the price was right. As for the sig, its just standard procedure to list all my components because I get tired of people always asking. Its easier to tell them to refer to the sig than list every component over and over.

If you get smashed in the face with a baseball your $300 brand name sunglass won't fair any better than a $30 pair with polarized lenses that you can buy in a drug store. If you want to get all bent out of shape, go right ahead. I won't lose any sleep over it. Your angry because you know my observations are correct. Impotent rage.

And, no thanks, I already have a distro of linux. Free of charge, I might add.

I don't come into contact with many baseball bats, and I have a concealed-carry license. I don't think anyone will be smashing me in the face with a weapon anytime soon.

I'm not angry, just pointing out a flawed view.

I bought my sunglasses because they had the specs I want, felt comfortable, looked good and had I price I think is reasonable. Does that sound farmiliar? Are you starting to get it yet? It's all in what one deems important. It's not brainwashing.

And you just justified my discussion with poursoul. Thanks. It's easier to identify an object by its name as opposed to simply call it an object. It's not buying into a corporate image, its concise language.

[Riptide]

Originally posted by Gehenna_CA
If you get smashed in the face with a baseball your $300 brand name sunglass won't fair any better than a $30 pair with polarized lenses that you can buy in a drug store. If you want to get all bent out of shape, go right ahead. I won't lose any sleep over it. Your angry because you know my observations are correct. Impotent rage.
Holy! Yer bringing up smashing faces with baseballs and accusing him of being the angry one? lol