Here's my experience.
I never use impact tools on non-impact, chrome sockets. That said, I've only broken one chrome socket, a no-brand name about 10-13mm made in Taiwan in the mid 2000's, but can't recall the circumstances.
GarageJournal wisely warned me to avoid anything electric or electronic at Harbor Freight, although the free LED lights work okay (so far). There's a sale now for a basic tool set, 3/8" 6-15mm for $4 with lifetime warranty.
https://www.harborfreight.com/40-pc-38-in-14-in-drive-sae-metric-socket-set-62843.html
It's hard to pass that deal up. Just in case, try to buy only lifetime warranty stuff there, which isn't hard to do. And sign up for their e-mail/text alerts about sales. There are free items, now flashlights, tarps, and tape measures for any purchase and 20% off coupons all the time for most items. Flat rate, 3-5 business day shipping is $7, which is cheaper than gas/bridge toll for me, so I use that to avoid having to make a special trip just to shop Harbor Freight. FYI, their customer service phone line takes the better part of an hour to contact. And scan your receipts, because some fade (though giving them your phone number on purchase and warrantying bypasses the need for warranty exchanges, though I always like paper documentation in hand).
I've bought some Harbor Freight tools and had problems with torque wrenches and a screw extractor set. I exchanged both (screw extractor had 90 day warranty) without any problems. I lubricate all Harbor Freight ratchets upon purchase, which makes most of the ratchet less loudly.
I have a Home Depot Husky 111 piece mechanics tool set I paid about $45 for last year. I leave it at school and it has light use in my auto class, but I have no complaints about it. Apex makes Husky and GearWrench, though I don't know about the quality level of each.
I have a Husky torque wrench without receipt (vintage early 2000s) that Home Depot replaced last month after my printing their current torque wrench policy: warranty in store, no receipt or questions asked. They did NOT give me a receipt, telling me the packaging suffices to warranty it. Um, no. Here's what happened.
This past Thursday, I brought the new Husky to my Home Depot Pro shop. I showed them the box and website about in store, no receipt, no questions asked. Two cashiers argued with me about some novel store policy that it has to be returned to Husky and were impervious to my proof. One went to a manager who "made an exception this time for you." I was pissed. However, she gave me a receipt for the new one, which I scanned at home and put the original in my Tool Warranty file.
A few months back, I was looking at flex head ratchets. The Husky brand had a big head and was $30 something. Tekton was about half the price and much leaner.
Tekton.com has some great deals on socket and ratchet/socket sets. I'd seriously look at those, because the prices are hard to beat (except for Harbor Freight, but I acknowledge that the extra price is worth it).
Tekton has 10% back rewards, no sale tax, free shipping, lifetime warranty, and no hassle warranty. The trick is to set up a free account with them for free shipping, then you can order any items without having to pay shipping.
Avoid current Made-in-China Craftsman until they either REALLY improve the quality and/or return to the US for manufacture. I kid you not that I cut my finger on a ratchet head at Sears a few months back.
Presidents' Day, Father's Day, Black Friday, and after Christmas are the times to shop Home Depot and Lowe's for tool deals. However, keep your eyes open when shopping there. A couple months back, Home Depot had an unadvertised display of 5 rubber grip gloves for $10, which I bought.
Oh, no conflicts of interest to disclose for my discussing my experienece.
