Brand-name Computers:are They Really All That Bad?

[MrSnrang]

I'm asking because I've never had a name-brand desktop and this computer I have now is officially dead. It's gone. I can slavage the hard disks, cooler, and CD drive.

I'm faced with a dilemma here: Build one from scratch and have fun, or buy a cookie-cutter manufactured system.

Can anybody give me the pros and cons of each?

[sibeymai]

I've used out of the box IBM desktops and laptops for the last 20 years. Never had a serious problem with any of them. Not one hard disk failure (I know I shouldn't say that....tempting fate). They come with Windows pre-installed, can be recovered to factory build state, have inbuilt backup and recovery and security. Excellent service and parts availability if you need it and optional extended warranty and onsite service options. Building a Pantip special really doesn't compare unless you like the nuts and bolts aspect of it. For a plug it in and go option I can't fault IBM.

[bazmlb]

I'm asking because I've never had a name-brand desktop and this computer I have now is officially dead. It's gone. I can slavage the hard disks, cooler, and CD drive.

I'm faced with a dilemma here: Build one from scratch and have fun, or buy a cookie-cutter manufactured system.

Can anybody give me the pros and cons of each?

Open up most of them these days and you will find a MSI board or similar, the only real advantage of the tier 1's is you get warranty and service thats meant to be better.

its not as bad as it use to be where you bought a compaq and had to buy compaq parts as nothing else fitted, those days are over luckily.

If you need good service go Tier 1, if you want a custom system thats tailored for you then build it yourself or buy from a small shop

[Firefoxx]

There are still remants of the old proprietary days of brand name computing. The PSU, for example, is usually a very strange unit... many times the size and shape will be quite out of the ordinary. The insides tend to be cramped, and fixtures can be proprietary. Other than that, they're pretty good.

Of course, for us tech geeks, not being able to specify each and every aspect of our machine is unacceptable.

You say you can salvage the cooler? Exactly what is the cooler? For beer? If it's the CPU cooler you're talking about, chances are it won't fit on a new computer. The fixtures change from CPU to CPU, and it can be worse with name-brands.

[astral]

For a desktop I would suggest DIY.

However be careful about using old components.

They are probably much slower and will slow the new machine down.

For a laptop I always go for branded.

I travel a lot and need to know that I can always get service, no matter where I am.

[lunatic69]

I would suggest if you know how to assemble a computer then choose the best parts for it and do it yourself.

If you don't know anything about it then buy a name-brand computer.

If you go for the big names like IBM, Dell or something like that you cannot go bad, but personally i don't think that none of those computers are worth there money. These big companys just buy allot of parts at cheap prices and most of the time the only thing they make is the motherboard( or some Chinese companys make it cheap for them) Most of these computers are even assembled in China, Singapore, Taiwan or where ever it is cheap to do this. The only advantage is that they advertise with a good support and garantee (but that is only advertisement...if something really goes wrong your <deleted>..ed and most of the time it is a softwareproblem that you can solv yourself)

You can also ask somebody to assemble a PC for you, just choose the best parts at Toms hardware page and assemble them, this way you can tune it for the new comming windows vista edition and then your save again for the next couple of years.

Good luck

[Thaising]

DIY is the route to go as suggested by astral, you can pick and chose whatever parts to suit your computing need. Furthermore, you could always upgrade the hardware if needed. Most branded hardware sold in Thailand is fully covered with warranty.

[Lannig]

I'm asking because I've never had a name-brand desktop and this computer I have now is officially dead. It's gone. I can slavage the hard disks, cooler, and CD drive.

I'm faced with a dilemma here: Build one from scratch and have fun, or buy a cookie-cutter manufactured system.

Can anybody give me the pros and cons of each?

Brand computers:

The pros: a real warranty, a legit Windows (this makes a difference these days, M$ is getting nasty), cleanly installed, without the zillion of annoying "utilities", fancy screen savers and all the crap that Panthip shops insist on putting on every computer they sell, usually better quality components - maybe not the high-tech ones, but the ones that do fail (don't know about you, but the rate of power supply and fan failures I see on locally assembled computers is getting really annoying)

The cons: after the warranty, somtimes it's impossible to replace a failed part with "commodity" parts, especially power supplies, floppies (they still sometimes put floppies in, do they? ), sometimes even CD/DVD drives and of course in many cases motherboards. Upgrades can be more problematic for the same reason. If you're the kind of guy who can hold a screwdriver, some brand cases are a real nightmare to open... they have all kind of stupid tricks that make you ruin your fingers or break something when trying to.

As for the brand, I have had good experience with DELL, mixed experience with HP/Compaq when managing desktop farms.

I'd stay away from IBM for desktops. I've seen a lot of trouble, especially with their disks. Anyway, this is Lenovo now right?

Just my two satangs.

--Lannig

[The Coder]

The one thing you really can't overestimate on a brand name computer is all the components have been tested to work optimally well together. I can't tell you how often I have introduced a new component only to have a new annoying problem.

Just take RAM for instance; I've always liked lots of RAM, putting more on my systems than most other people. One time the RAM I bought was too much for the 5v line on the power supply to handle. Didn't help that I had a 600 watt power supply; the ampucity of the motherboard was overloaded so I couldn't use all the RAM. Another time over the course of a year I burnt out a Intel motherboard because I had fully populated the RDRAM slots with big 1066MHz sticks which turned out to be an achilles heel of that motherboard. My latest RAM fiasco was buying 2 gigs of PC-3200 RAM only to discover delving into BIOS it didn't auto configure at the high speed it was rated at and is slightly unstable if forced there so have to settle for slower speeds it defaults to.

A sucker for punishment, I still DIY. But wouldn't recommend it unless you are a techie and even then it might not be worth it to you. There's boatloads of compatibility problems out there just waiting for you to stumble over.

[OneeyedJohn]

Was in ur situation last month, running around all the shops, checking internet for what to buy or build.

The choice is huge..brand/DIY, so u have to stop somewhere and make a decision. If money is no object its easier, but I prefer DIY as u can keep up to date more easily with h/w improvements.

I'm not technical so shall not answer questions

[h90]

some adds/experiences

Brand computers:

The pros: a real warranty,

I heard horror stories from good brand names, and I had some very good experiences from parts in panthip place (exchange without any questions

a legit Windows (this makes a difference these days, M$ is getting nasty), cleanly installed, without the zillion of annoying "utilities", fancy screen savers and all the crap that Panthip shops insist on putting on every computer they sell,

I have seen laptops with 20 GB full with just windows and hidden partions with recovery disks on brand names (I guess it was my acer) with a lot alerts in the system/hardware settings due to missing/wrong driver on a brand new expensive brand laptop. On the other side the last panthip placa installation was nearly clean. I told them they should not install anything and specially nothing in thai language and it was OK

usually better quality components - maybe not the high-tech ones, but the ones that do fail (don't know about you, but the rate of power supply and fan failures I see on locally assembled computers is getting really annoying)

specialy the fans

The cons: after the warranty, somtimes it's impossible to replace a failed part with "commodity" parts, especially power supplies, floppies (they still sometimes put floppies in, do they? ), sometimes even CD/DVD drives and of course in many cases motherboards. Upgrades can be more problematic for the same reason. If you're the kind of guy who can hold a screwdriver, some brand cases are a real nightmare to open... they have all kind of stupid tricks that make you ruin your fingers or break something when trying to.

As for the brand, I have had good experience with DELL, mixed experience with HP/Compaq when managing desktop farms.

I'd stay away from IBM for desktops. I've seen a lot of trouble, especially with their disks. Anyway, this is Lenovo now right?

Just my two satangs.

--Lannig

[Firefoxx]

Fans in the cases and the power supplies are only as good as what you pay for them. Thing is, people tend to go for the zingy specs, and then go totally stingy on the case and PSU. There *are* good cases and PSUs out there, it's just that because the demand is so low (because of the above mentioned buyer's tendency), they're not available at every store. *DON'T* skimp on the PSU and case. *DON'T* skimp on the mouse, either, it's your main interface to the computer. *DON'T* skimp on the monitor, it's what you STARE at all the time.

People these days expect to spend 99% on the internal components and leave a miniscule amount for "everything else" and expect a good running computer because of the "nice specs". It doesn't happen that way folks. A rusty old VW chassis with a V8 engine is still a rusty VW... it'll run fast, but fall apart fast too.

Basically, if you know *what* you want and *how* you want it, then a assembled computer is the way to go. If you want to be cheap, then you shouldn't blame the computer for breaking down.

[Lannig]

Good point Firefoxx, but as you mention good quality cases, power supplies and especially fans are really hard to find here.

Recently I was asked to help supervising the built of a custom-made computer for a friend. I told the shop guy at least 10 times that I wanted a ball bearing fan on the CPU (in Thai). He just couldn't find any.

--Lannig

[francois]

hi'

the best brand of computers is yours, choose parts and assemble it all, it's not this difficult neither take long time

francois

[Firefoxx]

There are good fans sold at the mod stores, in Pantip and IT Mall. Of course, they're a bit expensive. I just buy second-hand Japanese fans from Chinatown.

[soic]

Can anybody recommend a decent dealer for a desk top in BKK? I need to get one for my wife, so that we can communicate via email when I'm at work. I won't need it to do too much.

Thanks!

[Sakeopete]

As for desk tops I think building a custom one is best. If you consider the name brand makers competition is based on specs and price. You will often find that starting with a base budget you can make vast improvements on components for little additional costs. Example is hard drives the cost difference between 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm is small but brand name manufactures will put the cheaper components in because that small cost difference times thousands of units is big profit. Most consumers don’t know because they just list the basic specs when advertising. You may be able to make a far better computer yourself and not exceed your budget too much.

Also be careful of warranty agreements, my brother bought a new Dell desk top in Canada. The DVD player didn’t work right out of the box after the torture of dealing with Dell’s customer service they sent him a replacement DVD player that was refurbished. He called them and asked why they sent a refurbished replacement for his brand new computer. Dell responded by telling him to look at the purchasing agreement that was a microscopic #5 font that states dell has the right to replace new components with refurbished ones.

[soic]

As for desk tops I think building a custom one is best. If you consider the name brand makers competition is based on specs and price. You will often find that starting with a base budget you can make vast improvements on components for little additional costs. Example is hard drives the cost difference between 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm is small but brand name manufactures will put the cheaper components in because that small cost difference times thousands of units is big profit. Most consumers don’t know because they just list the basic specs when advertising. You may be able to make a far better computer yourself and not exceed your budget too much.

Also be careful of warranty agreements, my brother bought a new Dell desk top in Canada. The DVD player didn’t work right out of the box after the torture of dealing with Dell’s customer service they sent him a replacement DVD player that was refurbished. He called them and asked why they sent a refurbished replacement for his brand new computer. Dell responded by telling him to look at the purchasing agreement that was a microscopic #5 font that states dell has the right to replace new components with refurbished ones.

I wish I could, but I'm not that knowledgeable and I don't have the time. I just need to find one that the Thai wife can use to send me emails when I'm away at work. We live in Thailand and I work in Iraq.

[Gary A]

When I was living in the US I bought an HP off the shelf box. It is a P3 933 with 512 RAM and an added a 64MB video card. Yes I know, not the greatest but it always worked. I carried it over here in my checked in luggage. Since then I had a new one built;

Intel 3.0 GHZ/256/800 CPU

ASUS P4P800E Deluxe Motherboard

Seagate ST380013AS Serial STS/720 Hard Disk Drive

1 Gb PC2700 DDR Memory (Nanya)

ATI 9600SE 128M DDR V/D/VO Video Card

Mitsumi FX5411W 54X CDR

Mitsumi 1.44 FDD

Antec CA-3700BQE 350 Mid-Tower Case

Foxconn 3.2GCPU Fan

I gave the old HP to a friend of mine and it is still working perfectly while my new one has had a CPU burn up, the video card went bad and I have to keep the case open and use a 12 inch fan to keep it from overheating and shutting itself down. Maybe the off the shelf factory boxes aren't too bad ???