PC Peripherals What do you prefer, branded or assembled?

There is one more point to add here. Branded PCs are usually cheaper than assembled ones in the US. They have managed to get the price point to the stage where its more expensive to go custom for the general public.

Is that the case here (yet) ?

perhaps not as import duties might kick in (on the whole as opposed to less to no duty on parts) making branded more expensive than assembled :)
 
blr_p said:
perhaps not as import duties might kick in (on the whole as opposed to less to no duty on parts) making branded more expensive than assembled :)
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yup thats right,,import duty + taxes:mad: makes branded comps costlier than assembled
 
An assembled pc gives you more control over a lot of things that a branded pc may not offer you. Some times the branded pc maker are out to fleece you. They charge a bomb for making partitions and what not.

The warranty on each individual component is also stripped. for eg, a hard drive bought seperately will give you a 5 year warranty, however the same component with the branded pc will be at a maximum of 1 year unless you purchase additional warranty.

Take this into consideration and the Indian conditions where humidity and temperature may have a hidden hand in PSU, motherboard failures.

I would advise a assembled pc bought under some expect advice from TE.
 
I'll prefer a branded CPU & Monitor/keyboard/mouse from elsewhere.
This arrangement is just to reduce headache of getting one assembled & later running around the assembler!
 
prandi said:
yup thats right,,import duty + taxes:mad: makes branded comps costlier than assembled
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I expect Dell, HP, gateway etc must be swearing a lot louder than you :)

Their model is a stunning success wherever there are no excessive import duties.

The problem here is that assembled is considered cheaper which is already the more expensive option abroad and branded is higher still :(

SharekhaN said:
The warranty on each individual component is also stripped. for eg, a hard drive bought seperately will give you a 5 year warranty, however the same component with the branded pc will be at a maximum of 1 year unless you purchase additional warranty.
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Thats another major point, tho it applies globally not just uniquely to India.
 
I would like to touch on certain points based on my own experience. See my comments in red.

H@cKer said:
Advantages of branded PC

1. Come with Preloaded Operating system.

The cost of the same is included in the cost of the system along with additional service changes for loading the OS

2. Quality assured because manufactures of Banded PCs are expertise in this industry.

Not necessarily, I have seen the internals of many a Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM and Apple Mac and all of them reflected lack of quality in both choice of components and care with assembly. The internals screamed that the focus was purely on lowering cost. Do note many of these systems were acquired from outside the country. So its definitely not a matter of poor quality builds in India.

3. We can expect good performance.

No care has ever been taken in optimizing the performance of their systems both at hardware level and at software level. The hardware is not always well balanced. They pair a powerful processor with minuscule amount of RAM and then sell off by marketing the processor. I have seen systems with DVD ROM Drives connected in slave mode. poor quality cables, useless fan positioning, The focus is purely on using as min raw material as possible and then they pre-load the systems with lots of junk that hogs up the system and totally useless.

4. Good Service support.

That is very subjective and especially in a country like ours. When the support is really worthwhile, they have probably changed a lot of money for it separate from the cost of the system. While most components individually have 3~5 years warranty. The typical branded system comes with 1 year paid/free warranty and any thing above that is charged separately.



5. Come with PC restore CD.

Disadvantages of branded PC

1. 20 to 30 % expensive when compare to an assembled PC



The difference can be much more higher than 30%. Some years back I got a quote form dell for a high end PC for which they quoted 1,45,000 with extra charges for additional warranty. I assembled a machine that was about 2.5 times as powerful for 80k.



2. Difficult to upgrade.



In many cases expect for RAM and some other small things, its impossible to upgrade due to the poor internal build. Also you will void what ever warranty if you get components from outside and getting same thing though the manufacturer will cost 3~4 times the market cost.



3. Not possible to customize the configuration



These days you do get the option to configure the system with most manufacturers, but the cost incurred for those choices has no valid pattern matching the market rates.
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^^So true .. the internals are build inorder to hinder the upgradibilty path..

Branded PC just looks shiny and attractive, from inside there is nothing to offer :| I have had a branded PC and I know how good their service and performance is :|

Quality is third grade.. Go to high end braded companies websites like HP and Lenovo and check their configuration. Which is so unbalanced .. Who will buy a Q9400 with 9400GT ? Their clear intention is to trick end user.. They include product which baffles end user with specs.. Say a 9400GT with 1gb Vram which may attract lots of buyers but only a experienced guy will know how good the extra 1gb will do to a card like 9400GT..

And who cares about OS in a country like ours ? Genuine guys can buy Windows if they want :p
 
Well, assembled is always good but in a place where the service centres are accesible.
In a remote place, where there are no authorized service centres and just the retailers, its advisable to go for branded ones.
U won't have to worry about going here and dere for service and support and just stay at home and get things done...:cool2:

Nothing can beat a branded PC when service and support comes. No everyone lives in a place where the service center is dere...:no:
 
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