I am in the market for a notebook on the light side (3-5 lbs), perhaps
12-14", 1GB RAM, DVD player for demos, 80-100MB hdd, 3 year warranty, and
had considered Dell mainly because of the extended warranty (I had problems
with a Sony Vaio that cost me quite a lot of money after the 1 year
warranty expired.) Dell seems to be fairly reliable, and if not, at least
there is an extended warranty.
I have used ASUS mb's forever and presently all of our desktops at home
have ASUS mbs, but I have no experience with their notebooks.
Anyone out there have anything to contribute? Also, I hear that they can
be purchased "barebones" so that I can build it as I like it. Anyone have
any recommendations for resellers?
We are reputable dealer and have found ASUS notebooks to be reliable as
anything else. Check out our web site (
www.kc-computers.com)
or e-mail us for more info (
[email protected]).
Dell and many other vendors do NOT make their own notebooks.
There are only a handful or notebook manufacturers in the world.
See more info regarding that below:
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Virtually none of the "Name" brands manufacture their own laptops, with the
only exceptions being IBM, Asus, Twinhead and Apple, and even IBM, Twinhead
and Apple do not make all of their own.
All of the rest buy their laptops from what is called an Original Design
Manufacturer (ODM). These ODMs sell their computers to several different
OEMs who then install the Hard Drive (usually an IBM or Toshiba), Processor
and System Memory. They then put their label on it and market it.
For example:
An ODM named Compal makes some of the DELL, Hewlett Packard and Compaq line
of laptops
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Original Design Manufacturers - ODMs
ODMs are the true manufacturers who actually cast, and assemble the main
unit which includes the motherboard, outside casing, and display. A few
examples of ODMs are Quanta, Compal, Clevo, Mitac, Asus, Aopen (Acer),
Uniwill, and TwinHead-- probably companies you have never heard of before.
But you have definitely seen their systems under other well known brand
names. ODMs are usually located somewhere in Asia, and may have distribution
centers in the US. ODMs distribute their product to Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs).
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
OEMs add the ram, processor, hard drive, and software to the systems. The
OEMs perform final assembly and stick their label (Brand) to it, and call
themselves manufacturers. Their products are then sold directly to
dealers/resellers like
KC Computers or directly to the public (ie. DELL).
IBM buys from Quanta and and Arima.
DELL buys most of their systems from Aopen (Acer), Compal and Quanta.
So if you purchase a Compal or a Quanta notebook, you're getting a 'brand
name' notebook without the 'brand name' price.
