Let's see, my turn!
LCD MonitorsGood: Samsung
Almost as good: NEC
Bad: Should be obvious: cheap brands like Xtreme.
TVs:Good: Definitely Samsung
HDMI cables:The cheaper, the better. Rocketfish is probably the best bet.
Monster is stupidly overpriced! It's a DIGITAL signal. The cable won't make a difference!
Hard Drives (Internal):good: Honestly, I don't think there is a good brand.
I found a huge list of Seagate HDD models which supposedly have up to a 30% failure rate! Unfortunately, I own 5 of them. One of them has died in less than 2 years of use so I'm a pretty accurate proof of that statistic.
Western Digital: Had two of these, both died within 2 years.
A truly good Hard drive: Get a solid state drive if you don't need a boatload of space. They have the durability that mechanical drives just don't. Too bad they're still so small and expensive.
Motherboards:Good: Asus
not as good in my experience : Gigabyte. I currently use one in my main computer, already had one die on me. Same problem in my last computer: Went through two before I got one that worked. My old systems all use Asus and they're happy as can be.
Computer Speakers:overpriced for the sound quality:high-end Logitech or Creative systems. get a receiver and an entry-level set of bookshelf speakers or tower speakers for the same price. They'll kick a lot more ass.
Good value:
middle-range PC speakers, up to about $60 at the most. Sound good for the price. Again, Logitech and Creative are okay choices in this price range.
Home Theater Speakers:This is really personal taste. I havent' seen a bad brand of speaker, it's really just what kind of sound you like.
A/V Receivers:Bad: Sony! The lower-end Sony receivers have a pretty short lifespan before they start giving you trouble.
Car Speakers:Good brands:
MTX Audio (awesome value for middle-of-the-road pricerange), Phoenix Gold (higher-end and expensive though)
Bad Brands: Lots!
JVC, Pioneer, Low-end Alpine, Infinity (not bad but the small speakers suck and the brand tends to be expensive. If you can't use the 6" or larger speakers, avoid Infinity. The 5 1/4" and smaller all suck
)
Just bad brands of stuff in general
Nexxtech! Absolutely useless products! They just don't work! :blink:
MadCatz: I've never bought anything from them that is any good.