The Gang of Five
Howdy, everyone!

The member joining awards for 2019, 2020, and 2021 have been posted. We admins would like to thank each and every one of you who have made the forum their home over these years. It is because of people like you that the forum is the welcoming place that it is. :)

The forum supporter awards for those who maintained the forum on Patreon in 2023 will also be up shortly. Again, thank you all for what you do to keep our little corner of the Internet online!

landbeforetimelover

  • Member+
  • Littlefoot
  • *
    • Posts: 8495
  • Littlefoot
    • View Profile
    • http://www.thelandbeforetime.org
I've decided to compile a list of good and bad brands for consumer electronics.  Let's get started then.

Desktop Computers

Good Brands:  HP, Compaq, Acer, Packard Bell, Micron

Bad Brands:  Dell, Gateway, ALL Other Off-Brands

Laptop Computers

Good Brands:  Toshiba, HP, Acer

Bad Brands:  Dell, Packard Bell, Gateway

LCD Monitors

Good Brands:  HP, Proview, KDS, Acer

Bad Brands:  Dell, Gateway, All Other Off-Brands

HDTV's

Good Brands:  Samsung, Toshiba

Bad Brands:  Not known yet.  I haven't tried any other brand of HDTV

Hard Drives (Internal)

Good Brands:  Seagate

Bad Brands:  Western Digital

Hard Drives (external)

Good Brands:  Seagate

Bad Brands:  Western Digital

DVD Players

Good Brands:  Panasonic, Toshiba

Bad Brands:  Not known yet.  Haven't had any real trouble with DVD players yet.

____________________

These are all my personal experiences.  Please don't argue.  It'll do no good.  These are NOT facts, they're my opinions.  I'll add more to this list as soon as I can think of more to add. :)


action9000

  • Member+
  • Cera
  • *
    • Posts: 5741
    • View Profile
Let's see, my turn!

LCD Monitors
Good: Samsung
Almost as good: NEC
Bad: Should be obvious: cheap brands like Xtreme. :p

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. :p  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. :p

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. :p :D

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! :p
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 :p)




Just bad brands of stuff in general
Nexxtech!  Absolutely useless products! They just don't work! :blink:  :p
MadCatz: I've never bought anything from them that is any good.


DarkHououmon

  • Member+
  • Littlefoot
  • *
    • Posts: 7061
    • View Profile
    • http://bluedramon.deviantart.com
Wish I could offer a list of brands that I think are good/bad, but I haven't really tried a wide variety of things. Not to mention, I'm not really in control when it comes to computers. My brother and dad usually are.


Petrie.

  • Hatchling
  • *
    • Posts: 0
  • It's good to be the king!
    • View Profile
From my experiences, these are good:

Desktops: Dell (my seven year old Dell is still chugging)

Laptops: haven't found one

Computer Speakers: none


These are Bad:

Desktop:  can't tell; family has had more DIY computers than not

Laptops: Dell (my last one had three motherboard replacements--thankfully all under warranty)

Computer Speakers: just about everything; they're made for overcompressed pop--high bass and treble, no mids


Mumbling

  • Administrator
  • Littlefoot
  • *
    • Posts: 9022
    • View Profile
I agree with you on the desktop Petrie. Dell is working perfectly fine for me. It's on my room and never give me any trouble at all so far.


landbeforetimelover

  • Member+
  • Littlefoot
  • *
    • Posts: 8495
  • Littlefoot
    • View Profile
    • http://www.thelandbeforetime.org
The reason I said Dell desktops are bad is because of the way they've turned as of late.  They were great up to 2004-2005.  Then everything went to crap when they started using cheapo off brand ram and hard drives.  Now when you buy one new, you'll be lucky to get a year out of it before the hard drive AND the ram need to be replaced.  Dells that are newer than 2004 are the #1 thing I get in my shop because they just don't last anymore. <_< Gateway was never great but they've become just as bad if not worse than Dell.  Dell actually used to be a nice respectable brand, but not anymore......


Mumbling

  • Administrator
  • Littlefoot
  • *
    • Posts: 9022
    • View Profile
Hmm ah I see. Yes mine dates from quite a while back so I understand now.


TheNumberOneShmuck

  • Spike
  • *
    • Posts: 383
    • View Profile
I got my Dell in October '06, and it works just fine. I've added 2 gigs of RAM and another Hard Drive, but the originals are still in there, and still working. The only thing I've changed is the graphics card, upgraded from a GeForce 7300LE to an 8800GT (the original worked properly, I just wanted a better gaming experience) and the power supply (only because the 8800 required a better one; like the card, the original worked properly) last Summer. The only thing that's crapped out on me is a Dell monitor, and that was a used one from '04 that my friend gave me (I didn't get one with the computer).


Petrie.

  • Hatchling
  • *
    • Posts: 0
  • It's good to be the king!
    • View Profile
Well, you can't get a $400 computer without cheaping out on components somewhere or cutting corners.  That's the bigger problem...you can't get really reliable good stuff anymore because all that is made is garbage.