Threw $200 at a power tape and it paid for itself in a month

I got sick of breaking those 25 foot standard tapes on every other job so I finally bought a Milwaukee magnetic power return tape for like $30 on sale. Best money I ever spent on a tool honestly. But what really got me was the $200 I dropped on a laser level last year thinking it would be a game changer for hanging ceilings. The thing is accurate sure but it eats batteries like crazy and it takes me longer to set it up than to just snap a chalk line. I ended up going back to the old school method most days. That laser just sits in my truck now collecting dust. Has anyone else found that some expensive tools just dont work out for actual install work?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_ramirez385d ago

Did you try turning it off and on again or did that just drain the batteries faster? Sounds like you bought a very expensive chalk line with extra steps.

finley_smith5d ago

@kai_ramirez38 not everything needs to be a life or death situation. Yeah the thing costs too much for what it does but people buy overpriced gadgets all the time. At least it's not one of those subscription based tools that stop working if you miss a payment. Some folks just like having the newest tech even if it doesn't make sense to the rest of us. Let them enjoy their fancy chalk line if they want.

henryr454d ago

Had a buddy who bought one of those Bosch laser levels with the green beam. Thing was like $400. He spent half the first day trying to figure out why it kept beeping at him. Turns out he had it on a tripod that was slightly wobbly and it kept shutting off for safety. We ended up just pulling strings at 3:15 and his wife uses it now to hang pictures. Meanwhile @finley_smith is right that people buy overpriced gadgets all the time. I still use a beat up 5 dollar chalk box from Home Depot that's older than my apprentice.