Hello folks,the title's said it all.do they really matter for systems with same chipset,processor and ram? That is,totally the same specs,but different brand?please lets clarify this issue individually.
Yes. It comes down to the quality of the build and the warranty you are going to get from the at manufacter. Like is the warranty just local or international. And how good is the the international warranty as there is no point in getting a internation warranty if there is no offices outside your country. This also comes down to the level of driver support too.
I'm a Computer Tech for the last 10 years. Tell you this, I have seen enough Compaq Persarios come into my shop for repear to know that i don't want to have one for myself.
The other thing to keep in mind is whether or not is a consumer or coperate model. Company's like HP, Compaq, Acer and Toshiba does this.
Consumer models are the notebooks that are designed just for the home user. You will normally only see these notebooks in a mass murchant shop (not your local computer retail shop). They are build cheaply to keep price down. They also have a habbit of breaking easily or shortly after the warranty has expired. And don't be suprised if there is no driver support of any other OS expect for the OS you purchased it with.
Eg. Compaq Persaro, HP Pavillion, Acer Aspire, Toshiba Satelite (not to be confused with Satelite pro)
Corporate Models might be a little more expensive and the Consumer model, however they have been build to last.
Eg. HP, Acer Travelmate, Toshiba Satelite Pro/Tecra
Also, most laptop only offer 1 year warranty. If manufacturer, like MSI or Asus, offers a standard of 2 years warranty on all models, it shows a faith that the company has in the produce that it will not fail.
Brands that I go for are
Toshiba (not Satelite or Qosmio), MSI, Lenovo, Asus
Brand that I would stick clear of
Compaq - Just garbage.
Acer - Not much better than Compaq, but filled with bloatware
Sony - Good Notebook, but over priced. No online driver support.
Dell - Sell directly to end user and does not support the local IT Businesses (Big or Small). Spare parts from dell can be costly.
NEC - Nice notebook. Spare parts are extremely expensive. Thier RMA team is a pain to deal with.