I work on pressure washers (some call them Steam Cleaners). I have done so since about 1975 when the primary maker was Citation, and one belt driven pump model (well two if you had to have steam along with your high pressure hot water.
Forward to current. The worst thing to EVER happen to pressure washers was the advent of the direct drive pump. A pump spinning 1750 or even 3600 rpm just can't live like one doing 850. But the worst thing YET, is how they weld themselves onto the shaft of the electric motor or gas engine.
I have one right now that we took in trade. It has a not even six month old motor. Meaning the pump was off only six months back. In trying to remove the bad pump, the front of the motor where the bearing rides snapped. Now the motor is shot too. Belt driven stuff NEVER has these problems.
A lot of what happens in the world today is improvement. But when something is changed drastically for the sake of profit... something is bad wrong!
Flashlight related: I was in a Big Lots today poking around. I found a Rayovac 2AA rubber light for a buck and a half. I find it to have a very similar beam to the Rayovac Value Light 2AA I keep near my couch, which is to say not bad at all! I bought a 4 pack of .98 "turbo Cell" AAs, and some 1.49 "Fuji Novel AAs both made in Indonesia. The fujis SEEM a tad more powerful than the Turbos, but it could be just my imagination...