I posted this question a couple of days ago on Twitter and got a barrage of really insightful responses. Why do brand names have a huge influence when picking a laptop but not a desktop?
Many years ago, when I bought my very first laptop, I got a white label unit. It was affordable (30% less than equivalent branded units), had decent specs and passable design. Today, I no longer find those kinds of laptops in stores.
In the case of my desktop PC, I bought might from parts and assembled them myself. No branded cases and no familiar logo to speak of. Today, you will still see these types of bundled and unbranded desktop PCs everywhere.
So, if a person enters a store and wants to buy a laptop and a desktop, the more likely scenario is this — he gets a banded laptop (Dell, HP, Apple, Samsung) and then picks an unbranded desktop PC. The customer completely skips the Acer Aspire, Dell Inspiron and HP Pavillion — all very trusted in the desktop PC market.
Very curious buying behavior right? Well, we asked people why it is so and here are the top 3 reasons we got:
1) The laptop brand is a status symbol, a desktop is not. People bring their laptops everywhere and when everybody else is looking, the owner wants to make the best impression possible. A laptop’s brand is oftentimes a measure of that — social status. It means “I can afford!“.
2) Laptops are generally more expensive than desktop PCs so people treat buying a laptop more like an investment. Investments of this magnitude oftentimes rely on brand reputation. Premium price for a premium quality. This includes warranty, customer support, after sales, availability replacement parts and service centers and over-all customer experience.
3) Owners can identify themselves with their laptops but not their desktop PC. Let’s admit it, at one time or another, we get excited to name our laptops the day we bought them.
Go chime in on the comments why you think this is so.
Don’t slam those apple fanboys, they will hate you for posting they own the most stupid piece of recycled parts from obsolete pc parts then painted white and sold at one thousand times the price to those nitwit people who are either gay or more gay. HAHAHAHAHAH.
Ahaha nice na Entertain ako sa post nyo ha hehe
Mine is Asus laptop K53SV-SX803,,,i7 cya, Nice specs and durable cya.. pero nsa gumagamit din yan.. Bago ko cya nabili Read muna ako post nung mga users at comments nila, to be sure na sulit ang bili ko.. High and medium settings cya sa lht ng LatestGames .. mura pa.. : )
Laptop or Desktop? dpende nlng yan kung sa pangangailan or purpose ng pagGAmit.. tsaka minsan wala sa brand yan.. : )
may naaasymble ba na laptop? parts by parts?
yung branded desktop naman is sobrang mahal, x5 ang presyo compare sa clone cpu…
para saan ba yung mamahalin na laptop, pero ang gumagamit naman ay walang alam kung di mag facebook or magsusurf lang nang net…
kalimitan kasi nang mga feeling rich na pinoy, dapat branded at mamahalin na laptop ang gamitin, para in sa uso at makasabay sa tunay na may pera… hahay…
Ako I am after the Specs, Cooling system and Warranty! For how long tumatagal Desktop PC nyo? eh how about yung warranty ng Parts? have you ever experience na after 1 year sira na agad PC desktop nyo? tapos hindi na mapalitan yung parts kasi its either out of warranty or obsolete na. tsk tsk. People buy laptop kasi portability tapos wala ng hassle sa pagbuo kasi hindi naman lahat techy eh. yung iba basta magamit okay na yun. tska mas mura na kasi mag laptop today compared dati. also you can get the same performance ng desktop(high-end laptops), heck there are even better laptops than your desktop.
Yung mga bumibili ng laptop just for status symbol.. mga mayayaman lang na hindi gaano techy. more for show off lang. tsk tsk. bbli ka nga ng high end MacBook Pro/Retina. tapos ano? Facebook lang gagawin mo? sana nag cherrymobile/Myphone/ ka na lang and even cdr king fastphone can surf facebook. hahaha
nakakatawa yung alienware.. yung mga friends kong talagang “hardcore gamer” ay nag cucustomize talaga ng pc, so yung branded spare parts na yung inaatupag nila, hindi yung mga alienware na yan, plus pinas to bro, im sure pahirapan yan if masira.
search mo bro, razer blade laptop.. baka marami kang pera pang bili nyan. hehe.
I wanted a Toshiba laptop. I ignored Acer, Dell, Sony, Neo and HP. Asus and Lenovo were my alternatives. I toyed with the idea of a Samsung, Fujitsu and MSI. I ignored Dell and HP because I’ve used them at work, masarap ibato sa elevator shaft. I ignored Acer because it couldn’t withstand gentle to normal use from friends – after 3 years, mukhang laspag na and these just do the regular surf/download routine, di man lang RPGSs. I ignored Neo and Sony because of bad online reviews. I didn’t buy MSI because the built of their units felt cheap in person. In the end I bought a Toshiba pa din. I based my choice on specs, price and reliability based on reviews (from experts, users and even reviews from online stores like Amazon and Bestbuy customers). What I don’t do is bring it to coffee shops/restaurants/malls. What’s the point of going out if I’ll be hunched over my laptop? If someone needs to reach me about work, that’s what my office issued BB is for. I bought a laptop because it was expensive and tedious putting together a cpu on my own, plus an OS costs an arm and leg pala. The laptop gave me 650gb of storage, 8gb of ram, 1gb dedicated videocard, a home premium ed OS – all the things I needed for home computing since I’m not into gaming. I think seeing laptops as a status symbol of sorts is as obsolete as the Palm. Kahit mura na laptops ngayon, people still want to get their money’s worth so relying on branded laptops is a practical approach. After all, these companies invested in their products to build good will and good reputation. I think non mainstream brands are more ideal for hardcore users who experiment a lot or love to modify their machines.
i’m not on the brand,i always choose the specifications it has, the mobility, and the productivity it can provide me, not always the high prices one. I always bought ACER which is cheaper and high end capabilities.
Yung marunong mag-assemble ng desktop hindi mo na kailangag tanungin yan, dun kaagad ang punta nyan wala ng dalawang isip. Yung hindi marunong at walang alam… Uy HP, Uy Dell, Uy Etc..
For laptops, a wise buyer will always search and read reviews. Yung gusto lang ng pang-display pupunta lang sa mall at maghahanap ng magandang brand, titingnan ang itsura at kulay. Yun yung mga nagtatanong sa store na “Mabilis ba yan?” Bang! alam na!
Yan na yun! Sapol na Sapol mo!
I use Macbook Air 2011, hahaha.
Reason no. 1 is actually more of filipinoism than knowing which practical-with-good-specs laptop to buy.
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I hope the admin of this site would improve the comment box by making it as facebook social plugin. :)
I have an Asus laptop. So, how do I come across? Poor?
I’m not surprised that a handful of buyers get “branded” and “expensive” laptops just to show them off in public (like coffee shops). What surprises me are some comments that would suggest it’s “embarrasing” to use non-branded laptops in public.
I got a free netbook from a carrier. it’s unbranded and “cheap-ish” looking. but I like bringing it with me at coffee shops because of it’s portable size and weight. and I never felt embarrased around I-devices around me. Because it can actually do what I expect it to do — and that is, to browse the Internet, while I’m sipping my Cafe Latte.
You cant fully assemble a Laptop of your choice spec. There is no casing being sold and monitor to come with it.
with a cheap desktop would have readily replaceable cheap parts if and when the fail.
with a cheap laptop ( not as cheap as a desktop, of course ), it’s gets more expensive ( relatively, to make a replacement, and not always possible ).
in addition, laptop architecture is subjected to more heat, so the chance of cheap material failing is higher.
Yeah, brand really matters when it comes to laptops because it is very noticeable as compared to that of a computer.
Laptops is like All in one. You can’t customize a laptop. So brand matters.
The brand AND model will tell you how good your laptop is.
In desktops, brand matters too but for every particular piece of hardware.
Desktops/PC are highly customizable so, you don’t expect a single brand in a computer.
Unlike the desktop, laptop parts are more expensive and hard to come by.
Laptops are carried around, its internal and external parts have to be sturdy and of good build quality.
A more reputable brand like Asus is preferable.
If the motherboard of the desktop is broken, it can be inexpensive and easily replaced.
If the motherboard of a laptop is broken, it’s very expensive to replace.
As for me, pare, I would identify more with the desktop that I assembled from scratch than whatever branded laptop or tablet I have, just as I prefer custom ROMS in my devices than the stock ones.