laptops: go cheap or go branded?

[badkuk]

primary concern ko kasi is support and repairability, after my cousin's horror story last year; the Twinhead laptop conked out at around 1-2 months after the warranty lapsed. Nung dinala namin sa repair shop, baka raw ung mainboard na ang tinamaan, which would cost around 25k.

in addition, ang sabi is mahirap daw maghanap ng piyesa for the cheaper brands(Neo, ECS, etc.) since they tend to phase out models faster, and use new components for their newer units. ang advise sa akin is to get a brand with a local service center para hindi ganun kahirap maghanap ng piyesa kung sakaling masira.

on the other hand, the cheaper brands are BYO(build your own); di ko lang sure if this is what i read about Intel's CBB(Common Building Blocks) initiative or not. pero ung impression ko is that it would be easy to replace/upgrade components on your own. kinda contradicting to what the technician said.


comments?

[kimpOy]

i went the branded route...just 1 notch up sa entry level...

[CoDer]

Go the branded route it's a lot safer. However, if budget is your primary concern then you can always take the risk.

[Alpha_One]

on the other hand, the cheaper brands are BYO(build your own); di ko lang sure if this is what i read about Intel's CBB(Common Building Blocks) initiative or not. pero ung impression ko is that it would be easy to replace/upgrade components on your own. kinda contradicting to what the technician said.

The problem with laptop parts is that most of them are NOT standard. With the exception of hard drives and memory, NONE of the parts in a laptop are inter-brand compatible. Strictly speaking, processors are also upgradeable, but not always.

Intel's Common Building Blocks does NOT contradict your technician's observations/experience, because the compatibility problem is not there in spite of the CBB. The CBB exists because of the problem.

Anyway, if you're not the tech-savvy DIY type person, I would highly recommend the BRANDED route. I personally go the CHEAP way because I'm the type who does all of my own tech support. I appreciate that not everyone has the time/knowledge/patience.

[KrisKros]

I've had my laptop since 2003. HP Pavilion. So for no major problems..except that my batter won't charge anymore..which is ok since I only use it for home use. And I dropped the laptop..which landed on the socket..which pushed in dislodging the socket piece inside. Repair cost 1.5k.

It's better to go branded, if you go cheap, you take the risk of it breaking within a year. Then risking repairs or risking having to buy another laptop. Branded ones are built to last.

[boybi]

Go branded, mas walang sakit sa ulo.

[BoEinG_747]

mag branded ka na nga lang baka iyon natipid mo na pera ay kulang pa sa pag paparepair mo kasi baka madali masira ang mga el cheapo na notebook

[Lucius]

BRANDED! Sure na sure ka pa.

[wildthing]

I am for the go for the cheap brands...firstly because my budget was small, secondly, due to my work I know that my laptop will only last me 3 years (at most 4 years), then I have to upgrade.

Considering such, i reviewed the available low-budget laptops in the market...in my assessment, NEO was the news player and should theoretically be still in the market within (after) 3 years. So nag-match...

another out of the blue quest ko was that i tried to review the neo line-up...they ended up with generic laptops outside philipines (the model I look was available in taiwan at different brands)....apparently NEO was buying their laptops from OEM/Generic laptop manufacturers....hence even if they change model fast, I could still get parts (batteries or lcd screen) from outside the philippines (via internet) within the next 3 years.

so far my unit was one of those with the wifi ready units of neo and have been serving me well for nearly a year na....I did have a problem on my second unit which had motherboard problem within six months period and slight use...but NEO immediately replaced the board with no hassle (except the people manning their SM Megamall branch was a bit low IQ - duon lang ako nairritate).

its been more than 3 mos without the hassle naman ung second unit ko after the repair....I am keeping my fingers' cross that no further problem of similar nature happens to my laptops after 1 year warranty coverage.

bottomline, I am happy with my decission as of this time....

the specs of my unit (at the time purchased) could amount to almost 100k and I got my unit at an SRP of 60k (but i further got a 10K discount for surrendering/trading-in an non-working computer).

[sHoCkAbSoRbEr]

Get the branded one! Reliable and sure good after sales support. You'll get direct replacement for defective parts faster, less headache. Normal warranty period for branded is 3 years on parts and labor.

[froshie1]

primary concern ko kasi is support and repairability, after my cousin's horror story last year; the Twinhead laptop conked out at around 1-2 months after the warranty lapsed. Nung dinala namin sa repair shop, baka raw ung mainboard na ang tinamaan, which would cost around 25k.

in addition, ang sabi is mahirap daw maghanap ng piyesa for the cheaper brands(Neo, ECS, etc.) since they tend to phase out models faster, and use new components for their newer units. ang advise sa akin is to get a brand with a local service center para hindi ganun kahirap maghanap ng piyesa kung sakaling masira.

on the other hand, the cheaper brands are BYO(build your own); di ko lang sure if this is what i read about Intel's CBB(Common Building Blocks) initiative or not. pero ung impression ko is that it would be easy to replace/upgrade components on your own. kinda contradicting to what the technician said.


comments?

pards for personal use po ba ito or company use - like magrerecommend ka ng mga laptops for your company?

[mikmik316]

I would rather get a unit that can give me a longer warranty for better peace of mind... Asus gives 2 years warranty... branded units from Acer sometimes have 3 years warranty built-in for the hi-end unit... HP, IBM & Apple can provide 3 years as long as you buy the upgrade warranty...

Intel has the VBI notebooks (Verified by Intel). For the Philippine market, interchangeable ang LCD, battery, keyboard, Optical Drive. Chassis & Motherboard you have to buy as 1... Memory, CPU & Hard drive you can put in anything you want in any combination...

Neo sources their notebooks from Tier 2 Taiwan manufacturers... The branded notebooks like HP, IBM they get from Tier 1 manufacturers and rarely from the Tier 2... so this means get Tier 1 notebooks from Asus, Compal & Quanta... other than those Taiwan brand names give them some doubt on their build quality & support...

My suggestion just make a scorecard of what you want putting side by side the specs, warranty & support... Dun mo malalaman ano ang sulit... I did my comparison when we bought our laptop... My choices are the Acer, Asus & VBI... I chose the VBI coz the specs of my notebook are similar to Macbook Pros worth at least 2,000 USD but I got mine for only 60k...

[wildthing]

good input sir....btw what does TIER means sa Tier 1 and Tier 2 that you mentioned...

[Syuryuken]

Iba pa rin ang tibay ng branded.

[CVT]

IMHO,- branded ang kunin. Less to worry.....

1801:fuzzy:

[boybi]

good input sir....btw what does TIER means sa Tier 1 and Tier 2 that you mentioned...

Tier 1 manufacturers produce the best quality units with better QC that is required by well known brands like HP, Dell, etc.

Tier 2 makes cheaper ones.

[1D4LV]

depends...

if it is my personal unit, i would go for a branded one. the one that i can use and even hand-over to my kid for the next 5 years.

if it is given/assigned to me by my office, i would go for a non-branded one, so i can have it changed after two years.

personally, i have used around 5 brands of laptops. of the 5, the then IBM ThinkPad was the most durable. i really don't know the quality of Lenovo laptops now. Second most durable is Toshiba, lasted around 5 years. the third is a Compaq. while the most non-durable is Acer. after around 8 months of using, the joint connecting the screen to the main body cracked.

i am using now an Asus laptop. mukhang matibay naman. i've been using this for 8 months already.

[3sgTe]

ei mga guys san po ba nag papatanggal ng gasgas sa laptopb casing? or painting center?? any one knows where?? dame na kc gasgas laptop ko

[mbeige]

Tier 1 manufacturers produce the best quality units with better QC that is required by well known brands like HP, Dell, etc.

Tier 2 makes cheaper ones.

Whatever you do, do not get a DELL!!! Our experience has so far been so bad sinusuka namin sila.

HP/Compaq/IBM/Apple/Toshiba are some that come to mind. For warranty, depends on the use. Like our Dell experience, the computer had problems right after its warranty expired. Nasira yung motherboard dahil sa nasira yung cooling fan. We replaced the board and the fan, and the fan went bad right after its warranty expired as well!! We did not have the extended warranty thinking since it was a Dell, it shouldn't have problems. We've had our Compaq computer now and it's been problem free since we bought the CPU.

In comparison, my old Compaq laptop has some LCD problems but it's working properly aside from that LCD problem. So does my mom's HP laptop, my sister's Compaq laptop, and my dad's old Toshiba laptop (Win 95 pa!). My dad gave me the Compaq laptop when he got an iBook, and that's what he uses.