That cheap fusion splicer from Amazon actually held up for 6 months

I was always told you gotta spend at least $5k on a fusion splicer, but I grabbed one off Amazon for $800 last summer just to see. Ran 200 splices on a job near Rogers Park in Chicago and the loss readings were solid. It finally crapped out on a rainy Tuesday, but it paid for itself twice over. Anyone else try the cheapo route or am I just lucky?