Take your pick!!. Review on Branded Vs. Assembled Computers

The one big question in the mind of a person who decides to go in for a personal computer is whether to go for a branded pc or an assembled one. This one is dedicated to all such people and hope I can shed some light on this topic.

Branded System:

A branded computer is one in which all the components are not sold individually but provided under one brand name and the buyer has to pay the price fixed by the company. The company concerned gives a certain guarantee and all services are done by them. One can choose from the list of configurations provided by the company and they are not flexible to our needs. Such systems are costlier than assembled pc’s but one is assured of service from the company. Also only original software is loaded on to the system by the companies.

Assembled systems:

An assembled system is one in which the customer buys the individual components like the processor, hard disk, cd drives, floppy drives etc. and assembles it either by himself or with the help of a skilled technician. Here one has the flexibility to choose components from different companies i.e the best in the market. This procedure tends to work out cheaper than branded systems. The major drawback here is that one does not get an overall guarantee for the system but gets it only for individual components. So if any problem arises one has to dismantle the faulty component and get it serviced from the manufacturer.

Some general advice:

•While taking a branded system ensure that all the accessories like    headphones with microphone provided by the company are given to you.

•Also ensure that on site service is available.

•While going in for an assembled system make sure that only original hardware is assembled by the technician and not cheap duplicates.

•Preferably assemble one from an established shop so that you can consult them in future.

•Also request for original software to be loaded on to the system

Hope I am of some help in this regard. Personally I vouch for an assembled system as it gives the user more flexibility and the extra bucks saved can be invested on better accessories and hardware like graphics packages.