 Can you imagine using anything for 18 years? A TV, a phone, a monitor, a computer, you get the idea. I'm Rafael from Hardware Shooker and our job as dictated by capitalism is to sell you stuff. And not just any kind of stuff, but new stuff. I waited 4 years before getting a new gaming PC. 9 years before upgrading my TV and 3 years was the longest I have ever gone before I upgraded my cell phone. Electronics aren't Omega's or Eames' lounge chairs which are considered heirlooms you pass on to the next generation. Instead, they are meant to wow you upon unboxing, keep you happy for some years, and thereafter, die. And be replaced. It is... Check out our video on CDK offers in the video description. Use our promo code to get extra 20% discount on your purchase. If you are looking for cheap, legit, and original software, check out cdkoffers.com. However, I have one companion who has consistently broken that rule for 18 years. My Altec Lansing 221 speakers with subwoofer. In the words of one reviewer on Amazon, I bought these at Best by over 20 years ago and they have lasted longer than 5 cars, a marriage, and 6 computer builds. Not being able to adjust the base is annoying, but let me tell you, these things are bulletproof. I have taken them to Iraq and back, moved several times, and they are as good as the day I got them. Wish I could say that much for the ex-wife. I may not have gone to Iraq or held on to them as long while being in an unhappy marriage. I have, however, held on to mine for 18 years, or all the way dating back to 2003. To put things in context, I received my very first cell phone, a Nokia 3210 in 2001, which is 2 years longer than I have owned these speakers. It would be like saying I refuse to change my phone all the way through the period when we still use dial-up internet, up until the presence of 5G. But that is exactly what I did with my Altec Lansing speakers, and I didn't file it away in storage. No, these speakers have always been front and center ever since my first gaming PC as they are now. In short, wouldn't we all want to spend on something once and never again after 2 decades, rather than repeat the cycle of throwing and spending over and over? In this video, I outline what Altec Lansing did so well with design and quality that it might make you rethink buying those Razer speakers. I am not an audiophile, so I'm not an expert on if the speakers sound as they should in a music studio. What I can say is that I didn't change entire gaming rigs over 18 years to just get subpar machine gun fire, half-baked explosions, or get un-life-like screams. No, these guys have given me the most enriching sound experience I could ever have wanted with the added benefit of me not having the need to spend money on one less thing. These speakers boomed Warcraft 3 clashes, flak cannons from Free Space 2, and countless crispy gun fires stemming from Half-Life 2, Battlefield 1942, which by the way will always be close to my heart, and every Battlefield game which came afterwards. In short, there might be better speakers out there, but at no point was I ever taken out of the immersion of the game due to the sound. In fact, it was probably the great sound from the speakers, which encouraged me over the years not to upgrade my gaming PC for a little longer. If my current gaming PC at the time couldn't make it look pretty, at the very least, the game sounded amazing. The two-to-ones are embodied in a matted finish of black and grey metal. They feel as light as aluminum, but seem to be more impervious to scratches, which even modern-day cell phones have difficulty in preventing. I have lost count how many times I have dropped these speakers, however, it shows little signs that I did so. I have a couple of gashes on them, but considering that these have been with me through maybe five to six gaming rigs, moving in and out of rooms over the years, and yet still just harbor these minor scuffs and smudges of dirt, I'm gonna conclude that these are amazingly sturdy. A matted metal frame combined with the short cube design makes for a timeless minimalist design before minimalism was even a thing. Nowadays, we just have too much stuff on our desks, and the dream goal is to get things down to the least obstusive without sacrificing functionality. One thing which never occurred to me was how handy it is to have short speakers. If they were any higher, like the other Altec Lansings I own, their sound would be partially muffled due to the height of the monitors. It is true that I can bring up and down the height of my current MSI, however, the height of the monitor is determined not by if it blocks your speakers, but rather if your eyes are facing the top of the screen when you are sitting up straight. And so, others might have difficulty finding quality speakers, especially when using a multiple monitor setup like mine. I am also not a fan of these strange tower things. You can bring down the height further by removing the metal plate stands. There used to be rubber pads for every edge of each cube, but I have lost some of them over the years. Nevertheless, the metal plate has weight and sturdiness to it. In short, I see them outliving the speakers themselves. Something to keep in mind if you want to buy speakers with support brackets made of plastic which probably won't last as long. The speakers can be manually turned on and off by a single power switch at the right speaker which glows a simple green when it is switched on. The volume knob used to come in handy, however, six years ago it didn't survive one accidental drop and so now I am forced to leave it on maximum. Otherwise, if I twist it to the left, the right speaker loses sound entirely. This is the only serious damage it has suffered in 18 years of daily use. The speakers also come with a subwoofer, something which is only optional nowadays. It is still alive and kicking and delivers the deep lows and beats it is meant to. It has a wooden finish which has been painted over so that it matches the colors of the black metal. And the front grills, however, are metal in order to match the accompanying cubes. Hey! If you like what you're watching so far, please consider liking and subscribing to Hardware Sugar where we generate regular tech content. Right off the bat, you won't find any special features here. It doesn't have Bluetooth and it plugs into the computer motherboard through the old-fashioned green audio plug. Back in the good old days, green was always the color of choice to help guide PC assemblers to showcase that that was where the audio jack went. Now though, uh... The Altec Lansing also works with cell phones which manage to survive with a headphone jack and they work great for parties when we still had parties to go to. You could probably still buy these second hand from anywhere between $50 to $100. At the time of launch, these sold for $50 which if you take into 3% annual inflation in the United States, it comes to $85 in 2021 times. In short, those popular Razer speakers are almost quadruple the price of these. The Razer Nomopro of which retails for close to $500 alone. Just ask yourself, based on what people say about Razer products, will those last 18 years like the Altec Lansing 211s? I want to highlight that I'm not telling you to buy 18-year-old speakers. But rather to make you stop and wonder what speakers are on the market which can carry over your satisfaction for two decades rather than three years. MKBHD for instance has used the Yamaha HS8 Studio which he's had for 7-8 years. I have seen a lot of YouTubers using audio engine speakers and if I do get the chance, I might give them a try. Because they seem to encapsulate the same design aesthetic of these two-to-ones. However, I am not in a rush because honestly, I feel like I would be buying it just for the sake of an upgrade I don't feel I need. In conclusion, the Altec Lansing 2-to-ones demonstrates that it is possible for electronics to retain a timeless design and maintain quality which are on par with modern, more expensive brands which might not last as long. At no point in my 18 years of owning them have I needed to repair them. And in case they did break down, I doubt I could have them repaired anywhere. In short, before you pull the trigger on $500 speakers or even $100 speakers, ask yourself, will they live as long as the Altec Lansing 2-to-ones? I dare you to do better. And if you do, please let us know in the comment section below because I would love to test out speakers just as good, or darn I say it, better but which don't break the bank. And we want to give a special shout out to our top fans, Liam Magnaje, Ian Meru, Richard Ronkinko, ITX Addict, John Ocea, and Christian Espinosa. Again, thank you so much for your support. It really helps us out a ton. Thank you so much.