Choice paralysis: how to choose a technique?

Question

Iron

Good afternoon!
Lately, I've been having a hard time choosing a technique. Let me give you an example: suppose I decide to buy a phone? You can select directions by OS:
- iOS (which is not suitable due to restrictions);
- Android;
- Windows;
- More rare;
There is a huge zoo of devices on Android, and it would seem a large selection, but for me they look impersonal: I don’t understand what is the difference between all of them, why do we need almost the same models of the same brand, there is a real difference between the Chinese %phonename% and %luxuryMobileEdgeX3 %?
Moreover, in terms of phones, there is no particular difference between an eight-core miracle for 40k and a 1-core miracle for 9k, if they are both on Android and there is not much need to play 3D shooters. Or maybe then the interface will not slow down? But to buy a computer that overtakes yesterday's modern computer and see how the phone book opens in 2-3 minutes .. what went wrong in the history of gadgets?
How to choose a TV for home? And the toaster?
Also seriously is the question of how to choose components for the PC. Those. I roughly imagine that if I buy a better processor , it will work faster (in some tasks), but what does it mean in this case better? How to determine whether the latest i5 or old i7 or AMD is better.
It would seem that you can contact a sales consultant somewhere with all these questions, but how can I be sure that he advises what I need to buy and not sell to him. So I probably need an independent non-sales consultant - are there any?
Ideally, it would be cool to see a service (website or service or something similar) that would make a recommendation based on my needs and would give a detailed explanation:
so for example: "You need an Intel processor (because AMD does not support %featureName%, which would significantly speed up the work of %softwareName%) Core i7 (because i5 has more cache, for example, which in this case will not be used, but ..) etc." or "according to our tests, out of X RAM chips, Y burned out in N time - this means that, on average, %ramModelName% will serve you for about Z years, if you are not satisfied with this, you can pay Q% and get a more reliable one.. ." etc.
How do professionals purchase equipment? What are they based on?

Answer 1

The basis is your personal preferences and requirements.
For professionals, the requirements are more specific, they just know what they need. Not always what professionals need is what casuals need. For example, most do not need a wifi router with Linux on board. Not everyone will even be able to set it up themselves. So it makes no sense to buy a good one, you need to take enough.
Review sites - there are many, but you need to understand that popular and large sites usually have paid reviews that can be biased.
There are no unbiased independent consultants. There are either paid or biased ones. At best, they will talk about their preferences, and not advertising a thread of a product.
If you are a perfectionist - read a lot, double-check, try to understand the essence of the technology and the real benefits of it. Before buying, google the reviews, pay attention to the main problems and complaints, and decide for yourself how much you can put up with them.
In most cases, the rule works well - if you took what they advised you - you will not always be happy. If you took it (even on advice, but read it yourself, and you liked it before buying), then there is a high probability that you will be satisfied.

Answer 2

What a good philosophical part of the question, so also on Friday. Here I will describe the scheme for choosing a PC, how I do it (my responsibilities include the purchase of computer blocks as well).
First, you need to understand the problem. For example: office computer, for 1s, execel (using functions), mail, web surfing on windows.
Secondly, you need to determine the period of use. Continuation of the example: the computer should work for 5 years without losing the ability to perform tasks without problems (see point 1).
Thirdly, additional details must be taken into account. Continuation of the example: The computer for the accountant must have a dvd-rom, since you need to open the disks that 1s sends.
Problem solving, logical arguments:
Since there are no specialized, delicate tasks that require a lot of power (like 3d modeling), you don’t need to buy a powerful computer, but as much as it’s an office option, it means that the computer should work stably and without any additional settings (which had to be done at least once a month ), hence the processor on intel, since it is higher in stability than amd (I myself am a fan of amd, but this is personal, and personal and work is different) intel i3, i5, i7 - disappear, does it make sense to overpay for unnecessary power? Moreover, the possible peak load is 30 excel documents, with reporting from 1s (ps if the upload is on the client’s side, not the server) and opening more than 20 tabs in the browser, it can be extremely rare and at this time the user will suffer (there is no point in overpaying for comfortable work in peak mode, provided that it can be only a couple of times a year) then my favorite is the intel pentum processor, further reading forums, reviews, reviews on the processor of this series I I choose what suits me. And the G3420 came up to me, good power in this segment, low electrical and heat emission - optimal for an office PC. Next comes the choice of the motherboard, you need not a large form factor, no more than 2 op slots (the meaning of overpaying) and at least 6 usb at the rate of 4 at the back 2 on the case, and the choice fell on msi h81m-p33. RAM to someone 4 GB to someone 8 - based on needs. And small cases, so that they do not take up much space. The hard drive is selected based on the average number of hours of PC operation (for example, with a work schedule of 5 days a week, 9 hours, we get a little more than 2000k and multiply by 5 years) and choose, accordingly, the hard one, whose manufacturer assures us work in hours. Regarding another important point, the guarantee - you need to choose those manufacturers that give a longer warranty period. And check where their service center is located (If you live in Moscow, and the service center is in St. Petersburg, then you won’t be able to go there because of the motherboard). Although the price is sometimes not much more than 5-7%, but sometimes it can pay for itself. which provide a longer warranty period. And check where their service center is located (If you live in Moscow, and the service center is in St. Petersburg, then you won’t be able to go there because of the motherboard). Although the price is sometimes not much more than 5-7%, but sometimes it can pay for itself. which provide a longer warranty period. And check where their service center is located (If you live in Moscow, and the service center is in St. Petersburg, then you won’t be able to go there because of the motherboard). Although the price is sometimes not much more than 5-7%, but sometimes it can pay for itself.
These are the algorithms - the thought in my head when choosing a PC.

Answer 3

Read reviews on the market with ratings of 1-2 (well, in my head to evaluate the adequacy of such reviews, of course - to filter out all sorts of "I bought a keyboard, there are no Russian letters, 2!").

Answer 4

As I usually do when I need to buy some kind of equipment in which I am not very well versed.

1. I look at what types of this technique generally exist and what are the main differences between the types. For example, this is how I found out what types of vacuum cleaners are (with a bag, with a water filter, with a cyclone filter), electric grills (heating elements, quartz), GPS navigators, etc.
   Wikipedia, Yandex.Market will help me here (there - "all characteristics" and tooltips), reading reviews, googling for queries like "types of vacuum cleaners", "how to choose a vacuum cleaner"...
   
2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each type. I define priorities for myself ( A is better than B , B is better than C ). Find out additional functions/options/features/features that may be of interest to me.
   The goal is to make sure that by the end of the study a certain picture has formed in my head: “type A is for these tasks, type B is for those ... types B and G are suitable for me, and additional functions 1, 2, 3, 4 are desirable . and you don't give a damn about functions 5, 6, 7 .
   This and the previous point in total takes from a couple of hours to a couple of days, depending on what I choose (the easiest thing was with a vacuum cleaner, much more difficult with a bicycle).
   
3. Decide on the final budget. As a rule, it is not worth determining it initially, because in the course of proceedings new details are revealed (typical service life, speed / quality of work, energy savings, etc.).
   The most important thing is not to be cheap! A thing that is too cheap will either break down earlier, or will work so poorly that you still want to buy a new one, more expensive - in any case, you get the good old "stingy pays twice."
   Over the past six or seven years that I have been using this method, not a single unsuccessful purchase. During this time, I chose and bought a bunch of computer hardware, household appliances, home and portable electronics, sportswear and travel equipment, two bicycles for myself and a few more for friends. The only thing left with mixed feelings at one time was the Nokia E52 phone, which had a set of characteristics that was unique for its time (2010), but at the same time, a surprisingly buggy system.