Do you always buy the big name for electronics or is price king?

[yoda313]

So do you buy based on brand or price when it comes to consumer electronics? Do you loyaly stay with the same company for everything? Do you pick the lowest price in all circumstances? Is it a mix?

What determines your choice of producer? Reputation? Features? Availablility?

[cdubya]

actually i use user reviews to judge my buys.. i did a lot of research here with the exception of my standalone player it was more of no other choice buy lol as it was the only one availible but i'm not regretting its purchase. however for things such as music, movies, dvd's etc.. nothing beats a fellow shopper's opinion as they aren't bought to say the product is great when it's not.. you instead get a valid review.

[edDV]

Why are you setting this up as brand name vs. price?

Good products are often independent of both. Over time name brands will buy out the good products and put their name on them (e.g. Sony using Lite-On for DVD writers or when Sony decided to manufacture VHS blank tape in Dothan, Alabama when all else was lost).

In other cases great products will be ripped off by others without compensation that did nothing to contribute to development (e.g. the list is endless)

[yoda313]

Why are you setting this up as brand name vs. price?

Well I always think of those as being hand in hand. Generally the name brand items are more expensive than lesser brand names.

[edDV]

Why are you setting this up as brand name vs. price?

Well I always think of those as being hand in hand. Generally the name brand items are more expensive than lesser brand names.

Expensive maybe but separate from innovation. A brand name company often fails to generate a successful new product in fast moving technology. Mostly their products are second rate or worse.

[redwudz]

I generally stick to name brands. But I do research every alternative. If I want, say a DVD player, I look at all brands that are out there, with my wants or needs for a player to set the criteria for the search. Then I look for reviews or someone that has some experience with the players that meet my criteria. Then I filter it all and make my decision.

After all that, then I check for the low price and decide if I trust the site that quoted the price.

I've been wrong a few times, but that's usually because I didn't spend enough time doing my research.

[Chopmeister]

I don't think that it is an "either or" question - what I buy depends on the circumstances. I will pay a premium for a good brand that has reviewed well, has the features I want, and generally does what I want it to do. I will also buy cheaper non-top-brand where for instance I just want a stop-gap until prices fall, I am buying a second unit for occasional use in the spare room or my bedroom, or where they do something the branded ones don't do (I have a bulletproof chinese knockoff in my bedroom that is region free, plays Divx and JPG discs, has 5.1 sound outputs, and even takes USB flash drives and camera memory cards that I bought in a grocery store for next to nothing. It dramatically outperforms the 3 year old branded unit I have in the living room which cost more than 10 times as much! Finally, there is a corollary to these general rules - I never EVER by anything branded Sony. I don't actually care if a Sony unit seems far the best on price/performance/features, I just find the way they treat their customers and their general attitude (rootkits, Arcoss, DRM mania, closing down Lik Sang etc) truly repugnant.

[cyflyer]

Personally, when it comes to electronics, I find truth in the saying "the cheap product is the most expensive". Name brands are always better in every way. You cannot beat the years of experience that the Japanese big names have gathered. Their products are refined works of art compared to the cheapos. I suppose we are comparing with the cheaper Chinese stuff flooding the market these days, which tends to be a lower grade imitation/copy of Japanese big name stuff.

[SingSing]

On occasion, I will buy cheap but never chessey.

[Epicurus8a]

Middle-of-the-road. You get what you pay for when you buy cheap stuff, IMO. On the other hand, when you buy top-of-the-line goods, you generally pay a lot more, but don't get much more when compared to middle-of-the-road products. Additionally the top-of-the-line stuff is more expensive to repair or replace.

[FulciLives]

I buy the best product I can for the money based on user reports etc.

Doesn't matter to me what the brand is ... I mean who ever heard of "Oppo Digital" yet they make one of the best DVD players on the face of the planet (well at least for the money).

Although I will say that I tend to shy away from what I consider to be "shitty" brands like Goldstar or GPX or Emerson and stuff like that.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[edDV]

Personally, when it comes to electronics, I find truth in the saying "the cheap product is the most expensive". Name brands are always better in every way. You cannot beat the years of experience that the Japanese big names have gathered. Their products are refined works of art compared to the cheapos. I suppose we are comparing with the cheaper Chinese stuff flooding the market these days, which tends to be a lower grade imitation/copy of Japanese big name stuff.

I would agree with that opinion for complex products like high end camcorders or HDTV sets where technology is still evolving and proprietary technology can offer benefit (e.g. Sony WEGA deinterlacers or SXRD projection). Once the component parts become commodity like a current 1366x768 LCD-TV, the advantage passes to the box brands like Visio who can offer better parts through shorter distribution channels for less money and often with better support (e.g. Costco).

[mats.hogberg]

I buy based on price and features - and user reviews. Never on brand. Best bang for the buck is my philosophy. Also, life span is rarely of any concern, as todays hi-tech is sadly outdated low-tech and in dire need of replacment long before even the warranty is out.

/Mats

[MJA]

Thanx to Sony and Philips I no more buy anything based on "buying based on big brand name)

[SingSing]

In electronics, top brand often means Sony, or IBM. Which were able to command a price premium, and reality suck. IBM no more making PC/Laptop. Sony is surving on Playstation drofit.

[Paul_G]

I always buy the cheapest - regardless of name

Cheap items do everything i need, so why bother shelling out top dollar for a name.