When my hubby starts "wiggling his whiskers" over my latest purchase (waste of money) - I have been known to remind him of all the great bargains he bought from online lists "that just need a little fixing" that ultimately end up going out in the trash, or cost more to fix than he paid for it.
Cones - I have one of the older "metal" or whatever style but I can't remember where (or how many years ago) I bought it. The neck of it even got bent in a move and we just straightened it out again and it still works fine. I get discouraged at the plastic ones but I still have 2 of them and they work for general sewing, but if I am doing heavy sewing, I revert to the metal one for stability.
Marysewfun