I usually find if aldi has something on "special" you can usually find something the same around the same price elsewhere but I suppose it is the convenience of shopping an seeing the goods for those that don't shop on line
I'll start by saying I have a Honda gen - Aldi have a pretty much "no questions" returns policy, as their suppliers well know. No doubt it will not be as quiet as the Honda but it's also one sixth of the price so if the Honda/Yamaha is too expensive for you this could well be worth a try.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Some family members have purchased electronic items that were on special at Aldi and had them fail after a few months. They took them back and got a refund, no questions asked, but were unable to get replacements as they had no more stock. Those generators could fall into the same category if they died while under warranty - it's probably not an item that would be kept in stock for such eventualities. And if it died while you were out in the boondocks hundreds of kms or more from an Aldi store, it's a heavy dead weight to be carrying around before you get a refund. Having said that, a friend bought a three-way fridge from Aldi, sort of cube-shaped around 50-60cm in all directions, and it ran for years, and my sister bought a laptop (Medion brand I think) 10 years ago and as far as I know it's still chugging along.
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Hino Rainbow motorhome conversion towing a Daihatsu Terios
Three negative answers here, you love pushing your barrow. And thats your right, but there is a flip side.
See, many bargain hunters, those of us that are on pensions without supplement income or for any financial reasons, look for ways to continue our caravanning on a budget.
Few people will argue that Honda is a magnificent genny but some cant afford to pay the wrong side of $1500 for one. 7 years ago I bought a 2000W kipor from Bunnings and it has never missed a beat. Used extensively.
My point is that with tight budgets, wisdom doesnt come into it. On DSP it might take 3-5 months to save extra to buy a Honda over the Aldi. By then some other more important need comes along that needs that cash input.
Increasingly caravanners like every other aspect of society has the haves and the have nots. I'm content enough with just being capable of making it into the caravanning world. But sometimes it wears thin when wisdom is portrayed purely on ones ability to splash money around. Its not wisdom, its richness.
Why else would people consider cheap alternatives to the quality product?
-- Edited by Eaglemax on Thursday 11th of October 2018 08:52:37 AM
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Be nice... if I wanted my school teacher here I would have invited him...
We freecamp a lot the Aldi battery operated chain saw cost practically nothing on special ,its worked its backside off over the last four years keeping our wood supply up,and still going strong,it is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best Value thing we have ever bought...
It amazes me to read all the negative comments about the Aldi Generator,
But there isn't one comment from anyone who has bought this Generator and had it fail on them,
I bought a Generator off Ebay about four years ago, ( a 4.5 KVA ) model which came out of the same factory that make the Honda,
we've used it on many trips and it's still going strong, at only 1/5 the price of a honda,
I think sometimes people get carried away with the hype around certain brand names why pay out a sky rocket high price for an item that in the long run, does exactly the same thing as a cheaper item ???
How can anyone lose, if the warranty is the same on a cheap model as the one on a top price one ???
The old saying,,,, don't knock anything until you try it !!
K.J.
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From Coast to Coast, We'll see it all.......One Day
I am glad to see some balance coming back into the discussion. I have bought a few consumer goods over the years from Aldi and I have never had to return any. I would judge them as good average quality. Better to buy there at a local shop than from ebay which is hard to send a big item back to.
The rubbish that people with too much money, go on with, about cheaper items, and what you get for it etc. "A fool and his money are easily parted" is another old saying that seem appropriate with GNs looking at the rigs.
We actually looked at them a few weeks back - thinking of shopping "in advance" for later.
The only question I had was whether they would support remote start (it would be going in a converted bus - if we ever actually get one! )
Figured I'd cool my jets on it and do some research. If any are left in a month or two (and given we're talking Canberra, there may well be), we might actually pick one up even cheaper...
Does anyone who has one know if it's possible to add some kind of remote start module/capability to one of these?
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It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have...
We do actually buy the odd item from Aldi (not very often) recently we bought 2 fold up push bikes that we take with us when we take the van. Having said that I have also bought cheaper petrol driven power tools from Bunnings which have not only been unreliable but at the end of the day were really just throw away items. One that comes to mind was a Talon brand trimmer that not only broke down regularly and had to be sent away for repair by Bunnings (which took weeks). It had a rating of 112dbA which I'm sure not only annoyed everyone in the street but would have damaged your hearing without using proper hearing protection..
In my opinion there are definately bargains to be had out there you just need to be selective with what you buy - sometimes it pays to read the customer reviews on Google. With generators being a fairly hot topic noise should be one of your critical specs. what is the Aldi brands dbA rating ? For comparison the Yamaha 2.4kva that I bought recently for just under $2000 has a noise rating when under load (from 7m) of 59 dbA or 54 when it's not loaded.
I have a 2nd hand Yamaha 2.4 that I picked up for around the 800 mark.
So brand named items can be had for cheaper.
Obviously no warranty if given with them though.
I do shop at aldi for their specials though and based on my experience, I'd have no issues taking on most thing they have on offer.
For some reason though, a gennie is the one thing that would give me pause.
Never had any problems with Aldi items, bought plenty of good stuff and never had to return anything. On the other hand, I've returned 3 or 4 (new) items bought from eBay vendors in the last couple of years. Aldi are innovators, so you have to give 'em their due. Meanwhile, local supermarkets just fiddle while Rome burns...
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Cheers,
Tony
"Opinion is the medium between ignorance and knowledge" - Plato
I think most items from Aldi considering the price are great value for money,personally I would not consider buying there generator ,the small Honda genator when running you can hardly hear it,I cant imagine elcheapo lasting as long,no doubt it will be a noisey thing all the cheap ones usually make make a racket....
You only get a spark plug from Honda for that !
