Do you use original brands or not?

[Blanchey]

When it comes to electronics brands, in how far do you guys use the original accessories (chargers, headphones, etc)? I got an iPad & MacBook, and I only purchase original Apple accessories, but my friends are always telling me off that I pay too much for those. How do you go about it?

[Ritho]

I research all my purchases to get the balence between the best value and best quality. Some times that means buying the origninal name brand whatever, sometimes I have found that consumer reviews for after market stuff is better both in value and quality. (of course this means you don't by all the latest stuff when if first comes out. I would rather let the other impulsive consumers find out if something is a lemon ) It just depends. I am sure you realize that most brands do not make their own electronics and accessories, but commission them out to manufactures. So some times the brand makes a mistake and chooses a manufacture that does not produce the quality their customer expects.

[J_L]

I usually never do that, unless alternatives aren't available. Not worth the money imo.

[George]

I found this the other day. I guess it's a pretty good response to the question above:

http://de.acidcow.com/pics/20100909/mac_01.jpg

[1002richards]

George,
Interesting reading, thanks for that.

Richard

[Blanchey]

@George: I don't fully agree with the article though. I've always owned a PC, but had to replace this one at least every 2 years, not to mention buy all the software for it (anti virus software! microsoft office!).. and at the end of 2 years, my pc would be completely worn out. Then I purchased a Mac, which cost me 1200 US dollar, but I've had the thing for almost 5 years now and it still as new. Not a bit slower, no viruses, easy upgradeable. So... I do believe that paying for a Mac is not a waste of your money.

[JTAlsman]

*note I've been a PC owner/builder for 15 or so yrs now...

but it can also go the other way then the anti-MAC link above...

I'll just bring up one of many reasons MAC lovers love apple... OS upgrades.

Lets see, Windows latest version Windows 7 has Starter Version,Home Basic,Home Premium,Professional,Enterprise,and Ultimate...upgrades run from 99 to $220 on average...

MAC has just announced their newest OS- OSX Lion,... one version, all the bells and whistles, $29. Did I mention, there is only ONE fully functional, non crippled version?

take note Microsoft....

[Remah]

Originally Posted by Blanchey

@George: I don't fully agree with the article though. I've always owned a PC, but had to replace this one at least every 2 years, not to mention buy all the software for it (anti virus software! microsoft office!).. and at the end of 2 years, my pc would be completely worn out.

There is something wrong with these statements!

Why buy new software when you can continue to use the old software on a new PC? There are several reasons why that can be difficult to achieve but very few of those problems would be insurmountable. After the first time you could have made sure that it would be easier next time.

How can your PC be "completely worn out"? What specifically was the problem? There are very few moving parts to wear out. Electronic devices can be worn out by out of specification conditions particularly fluctuating electrical inputs.
In my experience, the average PC runs for a decade although its useful life is usually much shorter because it becomes functionally obsolete. Many problems are found quite quickly after a PC is purchased. Most PCs die because of inadequate maintenance or inappropriate usage. For example, they overheat because of dust build-up or clogged vents.

With a bit of oblique thought I came up with some scenarios that might wear a computer out at least a bit:

• I had too little RAM in the PC so the virtual memory was thrashing the disk all the time (and it took 14 minutes to boot to the Windows desktop).
• I think that hitting a PC makes it work faster.
• I wore out the optical drive drawer because I was swapping music CDs everytime I wanted to shuffle to the next song.
• My disk was too small so files were highly fragmented and I was continually running out of disk space.
• To save power I was switching it off every time I left the room for more than five minutes.
• My PC sat on the floor on the high-static carpet at the limestone quarry I own.
• My incontinent cat liked to sleep on the warm system unit.
• I'm always getting viruses so I scheduled the scans to run every hour.
• I connected the PC on the same circuit as my arc welder.

[Remah]

Originally Posted by Blanchey

When it comes to electronics brands, in how far do you guys use the original accessories (chargers, headphones, etc)? I got an iPad & MacBook, and I only purchase original Apple accessories, but my friends are always telling me off that I pay too much for those. How do you go about it?

I've found that the best accessories do come from the original vendor but only if two conditions are met:

• the accessories are not rebranded third-party products
• the original brand has a reputation for quality components

Apple is a good example of a quality brand that is not famous for it's component quality so much as for its functional quality. The latter is what we pay for.

Apple makes serious compromises in their physical product in order to achieve their overall design aesthetic. An obvious example is their use of hard soldered batteries in the iPods. You never have to open them but if they stop working you are expected to replace the whole device.

In comparison, I've found Sony components to be very good but their design/marketing teams lack that je ne sais quoi in functional imagination.

[J_L]

Originally Posted by JTAlsman

Lets see, Windows latest version Windows 7 has Starter Version,Home Basic,Home Premium,Professional,Enterprise,and Ultimate...upgrades run from 99 to $220 on average...

MAC has just announced their newest OS- OSX Lion,... one version, all the bells and whistles, $29. Did I mention, there is only ONE fully functional, non crippled version

For students, you can get Windows for next to nothing. If you like OS upgrades that much, then you'll love Linux or BSD.