02 Oct BRAND NAME COMPUTERS… WHO’S CHOICE?
Brand Name Computers
The advent of information technology has made our marketplaces a noisy business arena; the world is busy shopping for man’s greatest inventions – ‘The
Computer’. In the early days of computing, when computer illiteracy was in vogue, there was a popular saying among computer shoppers that “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM” In this clause, it is clear that most people liked to purchase brand-name computers rather than their generic counterparts; The Home-built Computers.
But as computer literacy expands and as the information age gradually emerge, computer upgrade began to play a key role in the market as people now know they can upgrade their almost obsolete veteran machines. Therefore, the idea of Home-built became a wide known choice not only by computer technicians and professionals but also to every layman on the streets. Whether we like or not; ‘Home-built are here to stay’.
Why do people still prefer a name brand in this computer age? What are the facts behind both brand-name computer and its home-built counterpart? Does the brand name companies provide great deals for their highly priced products? This essay intends to favorably answer some of these questions and also give answers to the big question: ‘why and under what circumstances are people likely to buy brand-name computers rather than home-builts?
People are likely to buy a brand-name computer, if the facts and figures are convincing enough to help them make the right choice. The best way to begin this
essay is to start a search into this ‘choice’ and thereby taking a thorough look at the facts and figures that stands behind the reason why people make brand named computer their one stop choice.
People are likely to buy a brand-name computer, if the facts and figures are convincing enough to help them make the right choice.
A case study is given by unknown researchers; of two computer users who had opposite views about brand named and home-built computers respectively. They both decided to buy computers of the same configuration and capacity. So, a brand name was picked and a home-built configured. Each machine was similarly configured to reflect the average entry-level business standard. This included the minimum of a Pentium III 500Mhz processor, a 40X CD-ROM, a large hard drive, 64 MB of RAM, a 17” monitor, a network card and a video card containing 8Mb of RAM.
After purchase and installation, it was found that a brand name cost $355 more than the home-built counterpart; about 25% price difference. Both systems were put into similar maximum office use, after about five months of usage; the home-built started developing problems that resulted in the outright changes of some vital hardware {all at owners’ expense}. The brand name developed its first problem in the ninth month after purchase and was adequately taking care of by the warranty agreement that span through the first year of purchase.
The facts are obvious and the figures tenable: stability and durability of a computer depends on the quality of each hardware component. Brand name
companies hardly ever use very low-quality hardware but a home-built component cannot be quality guaranteed, as it’s a game of luck. The figures show
15% price difference during purchase but evaluating the after-effect expenses of the home-built cannot be over emphasized.
The advantages of Brand name computers
The advantages of a brand name computer will be enumerated as the favorable circumstances surrounding the reason why it is the people’s choice.
In an article written by Phil Moura entitled: Brand-names or Home-builts? www.sysopt.com, convenience, easy purchase (whether online or at authorized dealers shops), technical support, user-friendly documentations, ready to use computers etc., were the reasons why people buy brand-names.
Apart from the fact that you do not need to go through the trouble of doing much research and decision making which hardware components best fit your computing needs, you do not need to employ an expert to help search and install an operating system or an office suite. It saves you lots of time to do other
meaningful things. According to Phil: ‘If you are the kind of person who doesn’t have much spare time, then you should consider purchasing a computer rather than building one, because setting up a machine and loading all the necessary software is a task that takes many many hours’.
Considering the user-friendly documentations that comes with brand-name computers and the fact that they help you know about your gadget is an added plus for the beginners. These documentations educate you on how best to maximize the use of the machine, thereby, impacting knowledge. The technical support provided by the manufacturers which span between one year to entire lifetime (via the net) and the standard warranty on component parts\ labor which span between 1-3years are back-up services such companies provide for a return value for money. An advertising quote from Compaq on PC Magazine
www.pcmag.com. Says: “Buy direct from us and you’ll get something no other computer manufacturer offers: access to thousands of authorized Compaq resellers, who can install these new computers, help set up networks & integrate software applications, identify appropriate hardware & software solutions and answer technical questions at no extra cost.”
Software applications has made computer purchase an inevitable task for every business venture whether small or large scaled. It has been proven that the
productivity of software applications depends greatly on the capabilities of the hardware components and brand-name computers have been a software friendly side. Even software companies prefer to test-run software newly developed on quality computers and only brand named ones can guarantee that trust. Another tag for brand-name computers is: ‘TRUSTED COMPUTERS’.
Another tag for brand-name computers is: ‘TRUSTED COMPUTERS’.
The common brand names
But above all, you are sure you are buying the best quality from a branded company whose reputations are determined by the quality of its products. The durability, compatibility and quality of brand-name computers are its greatest advantage over home-built. The most mentioned disadvantage of brand name computers is its price. If the case study in a few paragraphs above is carefully studied, it can be concluded that the cost of a name brand (which can last the entire decade), is worth the price at the end of the day. People are obviously not willing to spend a fortune in order to purchase a new computer but are aware of the risk of the cheap ones. Over the past few years, with the advent of the sub-$1000 PC market, brand name companies have began to offer great deals as prices have continued to drop. The competitions raging between various name branded manufacturers like Dell, Compaq, IBM, Gateway, etc., have ontributed to the drastic fall in price. Promotion activities now every where on the Internet by these brand named manufactures as marketing strategies are signs of good times to come. Therefore, performance plus price equals unbeatable value. Let us consider all the numerous advantages of a brand name computer as a deficiency in home-built; can you make a choice now?
Finally, brand name computers - worth it?
Finally, a survey was done to determine the effect of brand-name computers on small-scale businesses in my area {an averagely informed and fast developing
vicinity in central Lagos, Nigeria}. Three cyber cafes were considered separately, namely; Means cyber café, The DOTCOM People and Gift Ventures. These cyber cafes are situated at about sixteen square kilometers from each other and each have a minimum of fifteen computer systems networked together and connected to the Internet.
Means cyber café’s computers are all brand named, The DOTCOM People’s computer systems are all locally configured, while Gift Ventures paraded a mix of both brand- named and locally configured computers. After few months of business operations by all three cyber cafés, it was noticed that Means cyber café had an increasing amount of customers as the days pass by, though their tariffs were 5% higher than the rest. The DOTCOM People (who had the fastest Internet connection among the three) started having problems with their systems as costumers complained about the mal-functioning effect of the computer systems, thereby loosing a great deal of money. The last cyber café stood at the middle of the two extremes. Most costumers would wait for the so-called currently engaged ‘good’ systems (the branded ones) rather than work with the available ‘lowly rated’ ones gradually loosing some customers.
This survey clearly concluded that only quality computers are good enough for healthy business sustenance, which is recommended for developmental
advancement in our cherished societies. Concluding, I hereby urge you to consider the odds of both brand-named computers and its generic counterparts, then make a sincere compares as to what should be the peoples’ choice. However, an article written by an unknown author entitled: Name Brand-How
Safe? www.bestpricecomputers.ltd.uk/guides/namebran.htm, who argued the ‘big deals’ with brand name suppliers but surprisingly confessed that these companies with a reputation for quality do take quality seriously, and do build their computers to pretty high standards-usually. This web page exposes shocking ‘truths’ about branded computers but I guess this is a marketing strategy to get undue attention. It was also stated that many computer enthusiasts and professionals choose NOT to buy a name brand computer. Do they know something we do? But if the facts enumerated in this essay are considered by anybody who wants a computer, then the above quote is just mere myth.
Forthwith, I rest my case and ultimately declare brand name computers the peoples’ choice.
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