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| Brands; What to Buy...What NOT to Buy | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 6 2009, 04:40:14 PM (265 Views) | |
| landbeforetimelover | Feb 6 2009, 04:40:14 PM Post #1 |
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Littlefoot
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I've decided to compile a list of good and bad brands for consumer electronics. Let's get started then. Desktop Computers Good Brands: HP, Compaq, Acer, Packard Bell, Micron Bad Brands: Dell, Gateway, ALL Other Off-Brands Laptop Computers Good Brands: Toshiba, HP, Acer Bad Brands: Dell, Packard Bell, Gateway LCD Monitors Good Brands: HP, Proview, KDS, Acer Bad Brands: Dell, Gateway, All Other Off-Brands HDTV's Good Brands: Samsung, Toshiba Bad Brands: Not known yet. I haven't tried any other brand of HDTV Hard Drives (Internal) Good Brands: Seagate Bad Brands: Western Digital Hard Drives (external) Good Brands: Seagate Bad Brands: Western Digital DVD Players Good Brands: Panasonic, Toshiba Bad Brands: Not known yet. Haven't had any real trouble with DVD players yet. ____________________ These are all my personal experiences. Please don't argue. It'll do no good. These are NOT facts, they're my opinions. I'll add more to this list as soon as I can think of more to add.
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| action9000 | Feb 6 2009, 06:05:42 PM Post #2 |
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Cera
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Let's see, my turn! LCD Monitors Good: Samsung Almost as good: NEC Bad: Should be obvious: cheap brands like Xtreme. ![]() TVs: Good: Definitely Samsung HDMI cables: The cheaper, the better. Rocketfish is probably the best bet. Monster is stupidly overpriced! It's a DIGITAL signal. The cable won't make a difference! Hard Drives (Internal): good: Honestly, I don't think there is a good brand. I found a huge list of Seagate HDD models which supposedly have up to a 30% failure rate! Unfortunately, I own 5 of them. One of them has died in less than 2 years of use so I'm a pretty accurate proof of that statistic. ![]() Western Digital: Had two of these, both died within 2 years. A truly good Hard drive: Get a solid state drive if you don't need a boatload of space. They have the durability that mechanical drives just don't. Too bad they're still so small and expensive. Motherboards: Good: Asus not as good in my experience : Gigabyte. I currently use one in my main computer, already had one die on me. Same problem in my last computer: Went through two before I got one that worked. My old systems all use Asus and they're happy as can be. Computer Speakers: overpriced for the sound quality: high-end Logitech or Creative systems. get a receiver and an entry-level set of bookshelf speakers or tower speakers for the same price. They'll kick a lot more ass. ![]() Good value: middle-range PC speakers, up to about $60 at the most. Sound good for the price. Again, Logitech and Creative are okay choices in this price range. Home Theater Speakers: This is really personal taste. I havent' seen a bad brand of speaker, it's really just what kind of sound you like. A/V Receivers: Bad: Sony! The lower-end Sony receivers have a pretty short lifespan before they start giving you trouble. Car Speakers: Good brands: MTX Audio (awesome value for middle-of-the-road pricerange), Phoenix Gold (higher-end and expensive though) Bad Brands: Lots! ![]() JVC, Pioneer, Low-end Alpine, Infinity (not bad but the small speakers suck and the brand tends to be expensive. If you can't use the 6" or larger speakers, avoid Infinity. The 5 1/4" and smaller all suck :p) Just bad brands of stuff in general Nexxtech! Absolutely useless products! They just don't work! MadCatz: I've never bought anything from them that is any good. |
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| DarkHououmon | Feb 6 2009, 06:48:17 PM Post #3 |
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"Be prepared, Snappy boy. Your luck has run out..."
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Wish I could offer a list of brands that I think are good/bad, but I haven't really tried a wide variety of things. Not to mention, I'm not really in control when it comes to computers. My brother and dad usually are. |
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| Petrie. | Feb 6 2009, 07:27:59 PM Post #4 |
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GOF Founder
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From my experiences, these are good: Desktops: Dell (my seven year old Dell is still chugging) Laptops: haven't found one Computer Speakers: none These are Bad: Desktop: can't tell; family has had more DIY computers than not Laptops: Dell (my last one had three motherboard replacements--thankfully all under warranty) Computer Speakers: just about everything; they're made for overcompressed pop--high bass and treble, no mids |
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| Mumbling | Feb 7 2009, 01:41:05 AM Post #5 |
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Rawr.
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I agree with you on the desktop Petrie. Dell is working perfectly fine for me. It's on my room and never give me any trouble at all so far. |
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| landbeforetimelover | Feb 7 2009, 01:57:13 AM Post #6 |
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Littlefoot
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The reason I said Dell desktops are bad is because of the way they've turned as of late. They were great up to 2004-2005. Then everything went to crap when they started using cheapo off brand ram and hard drives. Now when you buy one new, you'll be lucky to get a year out of it before the hard drive AND the ram need to be replaced. Dells that are newer than 2004 are the #1 thing I get in my shop because they just don't last anymore. <_< Gateway was never great but they've become just as bad if not worse than Dell. Dell actually used to be a nice respectable brand, but not anymore...... |
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| Mumbling | Feb 7 2009, 02:40:52 AM Post #7 |
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Rawr.
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Hmm ah I see. Yes mine dates from quite a while back so I understand now. |
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| TheNumberOneShmuck | Feb 7 2009, 07:15:15 AM Post #8 |
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\_O__/ *Orton pose*
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I got my Dell in October '06, and it works just fine. I've added 2 gigs of RAM and another Hard Drive, but the originals are still in there, and still working. The only thing I've changed is the graphics card, upgraded from a GeForce 7300LE to an 8800GT (the original worked properly, I just wanted a better gaming experience) and the power supply (only because the 8800 required a better one; like the card, the original worked properly) last Summer. The only thing that's crapped out on me is a Dell monitor, and that was a used one from '04 that my friend gave me (I didn't get one with the computer). |
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| Petrie. | Feb 8 2009, 08:42:09 AM Post #9 |
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GOF Founder
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Well, you can't get a $400 computer without cheaping out on components somewhere or cutting corners. That's the bigger problem...you can't get really reliable good stuff anymore because all that is made is garbage. |
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