(Though it's really best to stick to technical, or at least nonpolitical, stuff.)
Chipsets – I don't have a preference for a particular brand, but I'm not touching VIA again.
HDDs
Likes: WD Caviar Black, previous WD Caviars of 2005~2006, Seagate Barracuda ATA III/IV/V and 7200.7
Dislikes: The latter ball-bearing Caviars (2002~early 2004), Seagate U Series, Maxtors of 1994~1998, newer Seagates (post-7200.11/ES.2) and probably anything consumer-grade (apart from the Blacks which are a sort of “enthusiast” series) made since about 2011
SSDs
OK with: Samsung PRO series, I guess? (Though the latest are apparently moving from MLC to TLC themselves
)Dislikes: Samsung 840 EVO wasn't so good, and 870 EVO looks very bad; anything with YMTC flash is suspicious
Dreads: Kingston SSDNow V+200 series
(I'd seriously sooner use even an IBM DeathStar 75GXP or a 7200.14, than these monsters.) Notwithstanding that incident, I do have a newer Kingston model in my current configuration, but (a) it was an unused spare brought home from Mum's office, not one I chose myself and (b) it doesn't have the same SandForce/SandFarce controller (which I think was the likely problem). I still don't like Kingston as a company.
Which leads me to the conclusion that neither the naysayers (like PCBONEZ) nor those predicting lifespans of “decades” (like mariushm) were right about SSDs; I've since concluded that they'll settle on a similar lifespan to that for HDDs, and this seems to be proving not too far from the truth.
Web browsers
Likes: Pale Moon (to a degree)
Dislikes: All the other “modern” ones, Internet Explorer/Exploder
Text encoding
Good: UTF-8
OK: Plain ASCII (where special characters aren't required)
Bad: UTF-16 and others
Semiconductors
Likes: No particular preference
Dislikes: Infineon, STMicroelectronics
Electrical accessories (Australia)
Likes: Hager (their WBP4S is the only truly good retrofit quad-outlet, and yes its switches are double-pole even though the catalog and model number don't say), Clipsal 2000 Series (PDL would probably be fine too if I have an application where they have the best-fit item, both being currently owned by Schneider Electric) Clipsal's niche (or superseded, e.g. much of the Standard series) items can be crazy-overpriced though.
If you want the best switch action in Clipsal plates, then choose the 30USM over plain 30M (note that the '1' and '2' terminals swap places between the two).
I'll also keep using old Ring-Grip items where they still work (Ring-Grip's switches had a nice crisp action).
Meh: Clipsal Classic (they look good when new, but like HPM Excel many use ABS covers which yellow much sooner than the polycarbonate 2000 surrounds)
Ambivalent: Clipsal/PDL Iconic (the user-swappable rockers are clever but internal construction less-satisfying, especially that plastic-flex shutter closing arrangement), Connected Switchgear (they're better than most other small makes, even somewhat decent; but not all their products are yet good)
Dislikes: HPM, especially since the late 1990s (the only HPM product I still buy occasionally is their 5M cord-line switch)
To be fair, the newer Excel Life range does look better than their previous models.
Power‑boards (Australia/New Zealand)
Likes: Ningbo Kaifeng Electric (their native models are best, but the Arlec PB12PP and Crest PW4PBS10 are OK too); Kambrook 'Awesome Foursome' (Kambrook's 1980s/early 1990s model which was basically a quad Clipsal power‑point modified just as far as necessary to qualify as a power‑board – since Kambrook indeed also sold a power-point version before Clipsal went alone the C2015D4 – and is built accordingly).
OK with (in a pinch): Crest, Jackson models without surge suppression (since Jackson uses an MOV with no failsafe)
(Individually-switched Crest models appear to use full wiper contacts, although this doesn't apply to their unswitched or master-switched counterparts.)
Dislikes: Most other modern manufacturers (regardless of retail branding), with United Cable probably lowest among the approved makes
Current HPM power-boards earn a particularly dishonorable mention, for stooping to the USAmericans' level by saying they're “for residential use only” (even their overpriced “heavy duty” models, which of course contain the same flimsy socket contacts as the basic type
)Household fans
Likes: Vornado (although I don't really trust their heaters, observing that those have quite a few recalls)
Dislikes: Ordinary fans (mostly designed as cheaply as possible for their diameter, while still working just well enough to satisfy the average buyer) and especially Dyson's Air “Multiplier” (more like the Air Divider given how poor its laminar flow is at actually promoting heat exchange)
Other small appliances
Likes – heaters: DēLonghi (although the DL2401TF and now-discontinued HS25F are low points)
Likes – toaster: Russell Hobbs RHT12 (with solid construction, 1670W into 2 slices, and stuck-lever protection for AU$60)
(Granted the old Sunbeam Radiant Control toasters were on their own level of ingenuity, but the RHT12 is probably the best affordable modern toaster.)
OK with: Breville, DēLonghi kitchen appliances, Kambrook, other Russell Hobbs models, Trent & Steele, Sunbeam (if not available from the others)
Dislikes: Most store-brands, zombie-brands and other rebranded generic junk (e.g. the aptly-named Heller); Dimplex (which lately are more like Dumbplex); also those overpriced, pretentious makes (like French Noirot heaters). IXL heaters are/were serviceable but less-impressive than they look.
Various
Likes: Ad blocking, light dimming (if done properly)
Dislikes: Car culture, cursive writing, forced background music, jewellery (unless you make something genuinely clever without wasting precious metals or gems), group meetings
, nonfree standards, overproduced movies, carelessly mixed-and-matched colour temperatures in lighting, along with mindless imitation of the color temperature of old incandescent bulbs (I don't really want this “pleasing yellow tone” or whatever they call it, I want light that actually looks white). I guess that last one is analogous to cursive, in that it's the “old‑fashioned” way, people “like” it, but it isn't actually great.
Gigabyte, MSI
ASUS, ECS
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