Branded or Assembled?

Should your next PC be a branded one, or a locally assembled one? There are compelling reasons for both, depending on what your needs are

It is no secret that assembled PCs come cheaper than branded ones. Does it mean that they are of lesser quality? Or, could it be that the vendors of branded ones make you pay that extra money just so that they can spend it on salaries and advertising? Before delving into this, let’s define what we mean by assembled or branded.

For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll take assembled to mean PCs sold by vendors who typically operate from not more than one shop; definitely in not more than one geographical area. On the other hand, we’d call those vendors branded, whose brand is available in more than one geographical area. Thus, IBM, Compaq, HP, Dell, Acer, Wipro, HCL, Zenith and Vintron are ‘branded PCs’. Within this group, there are at least two sub classifications–national brands and MNC brands.

Take any PC. It has seven major components: motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard disk, CD drive, floppy disk, and monitor. The interesting fact is that none of these components are manufactured by any of the brands–exceptions being Acer and Microtek. Most PCs use standard components manufactured by Samsung, Seagate, or Asus–and there is absolutely no difference in the components available to one vendor from another. Only when the quantities are large enough (as is the case of MNC brands), is customization done. Even then, these customizations are unlikely to be about basic performance; rather about manageability. So, it is unlikely that just because you buy a ‘brand’, you get better performance.

That brings us to service. One of the standard claims of all brand vendors is that they provide better service. But the PCQuest Users’ Choice survey just does not bear that. Assembled PCs have consistently scored higher in service levels. The small operation, that is the local assembler, would almost always be able to respond faster to your service request than would a larger, layered, brand organization. Also, the personalized service that the local assembler can easily deliver would take significant investments in systems and training for the big brand to duplicate.

The local assembler is also flexible when it comes to being at the top of the technology curve. While big brands, particularly MNC brands, waits for international and national launches to percolate, the assembler simply picks up the latest motherboard and CPU and offers top-of-the-line systems as soon as they are available anywhere else.

Does this mean that the big brands offer no advantages? Far from that. If you are a large organization spread across the country, then you could go crazy dealing with a different assembler at each location. It’s only the multi-locational brand with which you can make one deal for all locations. Also, I am told that if the numbers are right, then even the biggest brands would be more than willing to cut a deal that could leave many assemblers shaking their heads in wonder!

On the personal front, if you have a transferable job, then it might be easier to get warranty service from a brand, where ever you are, than have to hunt for a new assembler at every location. Also, these days when more and more PCs are being financed, it’s easier to get a branded machine financed.

Bundled deals are the final sweeteners in the pie, for branded machines. Normally, branded PCs come with an assortment of bundled software–some of which need not be useful to you. Some offer more, some offer less, but mostly they do. And often they offer you good package deals on things like printers and UPSs. They are able to do this, because they pick up large volumes and negotiate volume discounts with the the manufacturers.

So, when you are getting ready to buy your next PC, take all these into consideration, and decide wisely.

Krishna Kumar