Have you sworn off any PC brands?

[insert my usual brand lecture]

The one laptop manufacturer I have never had problems out of is Toshiba. I have a Qosmio gaming laptop form 2010 that still runs like a champ. Unfortunately only having a 360m GPU in it sucks!!! My wife and son are also using Toshiba laptops that are 3-4 years old and neither of them have ever had a problem.

Hate HP and Dell.

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HP and Acer

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Probably going Asus next time (after two straight Acers).

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I bought 2 Asus flips for my 2 high schoolers this past school year and I'm very happy how they held up with wear/ tear and performance. Parents who paid more than twice as much for the surface pros were not as fortunate(wear and tear).

I'm still running my old Acer but its getting time for a new laptop and will likely be an Asus. I did some research this past week and the 2016 Asus flips are getting good reviews(Amazon).

Its just aggravating that an Asus with 250 SSD drive is going to be $200-$300 more. Apparently Asus still makes it difficult to switch out the HD drive to SSD on your own but not as bad as earlier models.

I've sworn off Nvidia due to anticompetitive business practices and overcharging

Build your own.

How to build a PC

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Build your own.

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I think this thread refers mostly to laptops, where differences in design matter more.

In the Windows PC market, swearing off entire brands really just unnecessarily limits your options and statistically increases the chances of your next laptop disappointing you, unless you buy high-end. Dell, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS, Sony, and Lenovo outsource both design and manufacturing to a handful of ODMs such as Quanta, Compal, Wistron, Pegatron, and Foxconn (odds are 90% of the electronics in your home contain some Foxconn components) -- pretty much all of those ODMs have HQ in Taiwan and production facilities in China.

It's incestuous, too. None of the main ODMs are exclusive to one PC company, and none of the PC companies exclusively use one ODM, neither for design nor assembly. Some of these ODMs are even spin-offs of existing PC companies. Acer, for example, spun off Wistron 15 years ago as the exclusive designer and manufacturer of Acer products, but has had contracts with the other big brands for years. Pegatron's parent company is ASUS but still manufactures for Dell and Acer, among others.

As for what ODM made what specific models for what specific brands in a specific year, your guess is as good as mine.

When it comes to the individual internal components, the list of manufacturers is even shorter. Foxconn and Pegatron are going to make the PCBs. The various processors (CPU, graphics, WiFi, sound) I'm sure you can figure out.

Keep in mind that it wasn't always this way. It's been a gradual transition over the last 10 years or so. All of the main factors/variables that could influence quality disparities between entire brands have reached total convergence. The new variables are almost entirely based on the different families of mobile computers out there, especially when comparing designs in the same price range (e.g., a super-portable ultrabook with lower specs vs. equivalently priced standard laptop with beefier specs in a thicker, heavier shell).

Most of the above also applies to the much-revered MacBooks, but there are a couple of important distinctions that contribute to their overall higher customer satisfaction. For one thing, Apple doesn't compete in the low-end market. If they did, they wouldn't be able to do it any better than the other companies unless they were willing to sell at much lower margins. Secondly, Apple only outsources manufacturing/assembly. Design remains in-house, so Apple has more control over the user experience and perception of quality, and they historically haven't overcrowded their product lines with contrasting designs. Focus is important. Unfortunately for Apple, it's hard to protect that design when it reaches China; when a company like HP wants to start selling a high-end ultrabook with an aluminum unibody design, it's relatively easy and cheap to get both a legally distinct spin-off of that design and the end product from the same gigantic, not-so-ethical supplier that makes them for Apple.

Same here. I love my dell. I refuse to by a mac.

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Have you sworn off any PC brands?
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Build your own.


I think this thread refers mostly to laptops, where differences in design matter more.

In the Windows PC market, swearing off entire brands really just unnecessarily limits your options and statistically increases the chances of your next laptop disappointing you, unless you buy high-end. Dell, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS, Sony, and Lenovo outsource both design and manufacturing to a handful of ODMs such as Quanta, Compal, Wistron, Pegatron, and Foxconn (odds are 90% of the electronics in your home contain some Foxconn components) -- pretty much all of those ODMs have HQ in Taiwan and production facilities in China.

It's incestuous, too. None of the main ODMs are exclusive to one PC company, and none of the PC companies exclusively use one ODM, neither for design nor assembly. Some of these ODMs are even spin-offs of existing PC companies. Acer, for example, spun off Wistron 15 years ago as the exclusive designer and manufacturer of Acer products, but has had contracts with the other big brands for years. Pegatron's parent company is ASUS but still manufactures for Dell and Acer, among others.

As for what ODM made what specific models for what specific brands in a specific year, your guess is as good as mine.

When it comes to the individual internal components, the list of manufacturers is even shorter. Foxconn and Pegatron are going to make the PCBs. The various processors (CPU, graphics, WiFi, sound) I'm sure you can figure out.

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TV manufacturing is the exact same way....you can possibly buy a few hundred dollar vizio with the same screen that is in a 3,000.00 Sony, etc...