I have curly hair that I blowdry and flat iron every day. For years, I would buy the cheaper $20 irons only to have them completely break after a few months. I would guess, on average, I was spending $60-$90 a year on irons because they would keep breaking (and of course, because they were cheap they had no warranties). I decided to plunk the $100ish on a Chi turbo and I've never looked back. I purchased it back in 2006, and it's still going strong this day. No replacements!! There are several Chis out there and I went with the Chi Turbo because it not only heats up extremely fast but it also has a dial for you to change the temp so it doesn't feel like you're frying you hair as much as a set-temp one. I know it's a lot of money, but it's totally worth up. Add up what you're spending on low quality irons in a year and for how many years you've been doing it. Enough said.