There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
If you insist on going with a set, nonstick https://www.amazon.com/Simply-Calphalon-Nonstick-Piece-Cookware/dp/B001AS94TY/ or stainless clad aluminum which is going to last you a lot longer than any non-stick pan will, https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-MCP-12N-Multiclad-Stainless-12-Piece/dp/B009JXPS6U/
If you're cool with not a set: Start with an 8 inch and 12 inch carbon steel (or cast iron, I prefer the steel) skillet, look in the $30's for those. Grab lids from wherever you want, an 8 inch lid is an 8 inch lid, etc. Grab an enameled dutch oven, ~6 quart, shouldn't cost more than $60. Lodge brand is good for both the dutch oven and carbon steel skillets. For smaller saucepans, go with whatever you want, they're usually more forgiving, but I'm not a fan of teflon for those, sometimes you want to just use a fork or whatever and not worry about scratching it up, so go with stainless clad aluminum, the Cuisinart 719-18 Chef's Classic Stainless 2-Quart Saucepan with Cover is likely perfect, look for those around $30.
This is almost everything you'd ever need. Then just pick up one non-stick pan and maybe a cast iron skillet
Teflon was a great example of this, it increased person‘s introduction to cancer inducing agents.
Cast Iron is expensive, but after continuous use and repetitive seasoning is can become as non-stick as you will ever find.
A good quality pan is what you are looking for, don’t look for one that’s “non stick” you will find yourself dependent on it.
My best suggestion is learn how to cook, learn how to deglaze a pan while using it, overall have fun doing so.
The secret to to keeping things from sticking is fat and proper pan temperature.
For my credentials, I was a cook for over a decade, and worked my way through the ranks to Chef. We never used a non-stick anything.
Asking this out of curiosity though: the T-fal set's description (linked in my original post) says "Hard Titanium nonstick interior". Looks like this is some form of regular non-stick (not sure if it's still Teflon), reinforced with Titanium particles. Do you have any dope on this?
Once you you scratch past that enough the non-stick factor will disappear.
Its best to learn how to deglaze and cook properly than to depend on something that you have no real way to know about long term affects on the human body.
You can buy triple plys but they are expensive and there's the possibility you leave them on the burner and get distracted when there's nothing in the pan which breaks the lamination and leaves you with a crap, expensive paperweight.
Finally, hardly anyone needs all the pans included in the usual "full cookware set" so unless you're flush with cash and can afford the eye-wateringly expensive ones get yourself a decent saucepan and frying pan for less money and that will cover you for pretty much anything you would do.