Question Are you a brand loyalist?

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SHaines

Community Manager
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Apr 1, 2019
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With tech evolving every day, we're seeing big leaps forward in the tech we take for granted. For the most part, we tend to pick the best available item, regardless of brand. However, some of us may still have some preferences for specific items.

Do you consider yourself a brand loyalist for any of your tech? If so, why that brand?

For me, I've broken the habit of buying Sony headphones every single time I upgrade. When I was younger, Sony was the only name brand I could afford, so I just got used to using their equipment for pretty much anything related to music. I did use them pretty much exclusively for about 30 years though.

How about you?
 

fifis599

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Nov 1, 2018
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For video cards, I always look towards Nvidia no matter what. I know the 5700XT is a monster, but I think it's the green that sucked me in. I'm an Eagles fan and a Zelda fan so I'm more partial to green than any other color and looking at my EVGA 1070 FTW glow in my case just makes me smile. I'm also partial to EVGA products because I've never had problems with any of them (motherboards, power supplies or video cards) and it's an American company. EVGA, AMD and Corsair are my go to's anymore though if for no other reason than they're American companies that make good products.
 

fast85foxgt

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Jul 10, 2018
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I guess so.. My first 2 GPU's were both Zotacs(current is a FE 2060S). My keyboards, mice and headset are Logitech, and my monitor is Asus. However I would purchase either Aorus, MSI, EVGA in certain areas without hesitation. (I also really dig how some certain cards look like ASRocks, Powercolor, the PNY 1080s etc)
 
Yes and no. I stick with brands I know are reliable. I won't buy a SOYO or shuttle mainboard. I won't buy a Sun Star Power Supply. I'm not going to be buying a CORN GPU even if it's a RX580 for $100.

AMD (Preferred) or Intel (CPU)
Asus/Gigabyte/MSI/Asrock (Motherboard)
Corsair/Seasonic (PSU)
MSI/EVGA/Sapphire/Power Color (GPU)
G.Skill, XPG, Geil (Memory)
Samsung, Intel, Mushkin, Crucial, WD (SSD)
Seagate (HDD)
Thermaltake, Phanteks, Fractal Designs (Case)
Logitech/Corsair (Mice/Keyboards)
Cooler Master, Corsair (Heat Sinks)
Cooler Master, Noctua (Fans)
 

hashme

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May 11, 2019
12
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With tech evolving every day, we're seeing big leaps forward in the tech we take for granted. For the most part, we tend to pick the best available item, regardless of brand. However, some of us may still have some preferences for specific items.

Do you consider yourself a brand loyalist for any of your tech? If so, why that brand?

For me, I've broken the habit of buying Sony headphones every single time I upgrade. When I was younger, Sony was the only name brand I could afford, so I just got used to using their equipment for pretty much anything related to music. I did use them pretty much exclusively for about 30 years though.

How about you?
I've been an Intel fan since the start and always stuck to Nvidia.
 

Avaninja

Commendable
Aug 23, 2018
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1,535
With tech evolving every day, we're seeing big leaps forward in the tech we take for granted. For the most part, we tend to pick the best available item, regardless of brand. However, some of us may still have some preferences for specific items.

Do you consider yourself a brand loyalist for any of your tech? If so, why that brand?

For me, I've broken the habit of buying Sony headphones every single time I upgrade. When I was younger, Sony was the only name brand I could afford, so I just got used to using their equipment for pretty much anything related to music. I did use them pretty much exclusively for about 30 years though.

How about you?
No i am not
 

scodd

Distinguished
Mar 2, 2011
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18,545
Guess I am a Raspberry Pi loyalist. I pre-ordered the first one the day the site went up, July 2011, I think it was, and have stuck with them since. I was also loyal to Arduino until I but bought my first 2560 clone the other day.
 

mihen

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Oct 11, 2017
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Things change over time. Hitachi Deskstar is probably the most reliable HDD now if anyone still shops for HDDs. Fortunately for them the only ones who buy HDDs are ones who buy them in bulk and look at the data.
 

bit_user

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Hitachi Deskstar is probably the most reliable HDD now if anyone still shops for HDDs.
Didn't they become HGST, which was then acquired by Western Digital?

I recently bought two WD Gold drives - one HGST (2019 model) and one non-HGST (2017 model). The HGST one runs faster, cooler, and quieter.

Regarding speed, since both are 7200 RPM, the additional speed is presumably coming from increased platter density. The difference is about 9 vs. 11 hours to do a full surface scan. I didn't benchmark random IOPS, though.
 

Zerk2012

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Ambassador
About anything but the Devil ASUS they at one time were a great company(6/7 years ago) now they sell subpar items for more money than you can get the same parts for made with better components. Unless you pay the ridiculous price of their top of the line items that again you can get just as good from other brands for less money. Their customer service has also just gone to nonexistent.

Prefer Intel recommend AMD for budget builds (I have both) No name memory is out of the question great for the price till you have to pay shipping to hong kong to get it replaced. (GSkill is my go to)

Video cards team green here AMD just drops the ball to much on drivers I mean really almost a year to almost fix the 5700XT drivers. Green team 1. MSI 2. EVGA nothing after that. AMD cards Sapphire that's it.

Motherboards, GB, Asrock, MSI, depends on the price range and the chipset.

Power supplies Seaconic or Seasonic re-brands.

Drives again skip the no brand, WD, Samsung (has been overpriced lately), Crucial depending on the type.

Coolers most AIO are just Asetek re-brands. My personal PC's are running a Cryorig R1, Asetek 240mm form a Cyberpower build that was replaced for a customer.
 

King_V

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Ambassador
I know I've banged this drum a whole lot . . but I can't grasp the whole complaint about AMD drivers.

I've been wrestling with the Nvidia ones tonight - that 90s era GUI and sluggishness and flickering when you hit Apply and how slow it responds, is absolutely maddening.
 
Jun 3, 2020
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I'll have to admit to some brand loyalty. I prefer ASUS motherboards, EVGA NVidia graphics, AMD CPUs and Corsair RAM. I did break with my preferences and recently bought a MSI GTX 1660 Super GPU and while I'm happy with the product, I'm less than pleased with the long wait for my rebate from MSI.
 

Terry1978

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Apr 25, 2015
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Yes i will always use specific brand for a specific part of hardware its like a car when you drive a good one your stuck with the make ofc that dose not mean that we should not read reviews of hardware and i am a big fan of reviews !!!
Example : for some months know i have been colecting new parts to build a pc so i whent for msi or asus i ended up with asus my 3therd motherboard from asus .
For gpu i swiched to evga i think i have made a mistake there but we shall c i was always a asus GPU fan in previus builds i have gone changed without any problem 5 or 6 gpus all of them asus . Dont think i will ever go for a diferent brand of motherboard ever i am used to the bios in asus motherboards as for the gpu i may sell it and get a 2080 ti in christmas asus probably .
With my psu since i have hade the corsair HX850 FROM 2013 and my second psu from corsair with no problems i whent throu the reviews on a website similar to newegg ,was guted to c that the reviews on the PSU i whanted to by where very mixed and mostly negative so i did my reasearch asked around and ofc opened a thread in tom's HARDWARE and found a solution .
conclusion is that it is not an easy task if you are building a pc or looking for a part to replace dose not mater if it is head set keyboard / mouse or whatever consumer must consult a reliable source (forum) where there is respetfull specialists and get an answer before spending $ example the mistake i have done geting a specific gpu paying 650euros for it and after geting it reading the reviews people are complaining about coil wine and fan noise ect ect ... at that price you expect the product to be perfect !!! the task is not easy for evry diferent part there is an expert that loves to dive into a new model and explore its components and quality build so reaserch is a must before parting with the dolar / euro lol z
So in regards to the question yes for motherboards and gpu asus i am loyalist and maybe for lian li also lol
for the rest REASERCH first
 
I tend to be brand Loyal.
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS
CPU: INTEL
PSU: CORSAIR
RAM: GSkill
GPU: EVGA - My last motherboard upgrade was to an ASUS RoG Strix Z390-E Gaming MOBO. I got an ASUS RTX 2080 SC Graphics card installed it and the Computer would not power up. Put the GTX 1080 back in and it was fine, so got a replacement card and with the same results, wouldn't power up with that card in there. Went back to the GTX 1080 and decided to just leave things alone. Had someone ask me about the RTX 3080 and I said that if it won't power up with the RTX 2080, doubt that it will power up with the RTX 3080 ( which isn't out anyway ).
 
May 7, 2018
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As far as PCs (laptops) go, not really. I've owned an HP netbook and an HP Chromebook, but the latter rattled my cage with two defects (display and wireless card) right out of the box. So since Sonu quit building VAIO, I am switching to Asus because I have two atill-working Nexus devices from them and I've seen their commercial all-in-ones from the mid-2000s survive hell.

So I can't say I've been in the game long enough to know, but typically I'm a loyalist: General Motors for 30 years, dumping them for Tesla. Sony for life. Duracell in every flashlight. New Balance on both feet.

Crucial is probably my only PC-related brand I will stick to. So far so good. I used to swear by Logictec but I'm dumping them now and starting my own peripheral company in 5 years. If you can't join them, beat them.
 

bit_user

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typically I'm a loyalist: General Motors for 30 years, dumping them for Tesla. Sony for life. Duracell in every flashlight.
Until this year, I'd have considered Tesla. But not as long as Elon Musk has anything to do with them. That guy is losing his grip on reality. He pressured California to open up, and look at them now. He's gambling with lives that are not his own. Consistent with this, their self-driving fatalities showed their early ADAS tech was too primitive to be used in the way they deployed it. Irresponsible, at best.

As for Duracell, I've had a couple bulk packs from Costco where many/most batteries leaked long before the claimed expiry date. Luckily, the worst I lost was just a few relatively inexpensive flashlights and worklights. I even tried cleaning off the fluid and using contact cleaner on the metal of one, but the damage was too bad.

Crucial is probably my only PC-related brand I will stick to.
I've done well by them, but a co-worker had 2 out of 2 Crucial SSDs fail in the first couple months. I think maybe M200's, but I'm not sure. It was 2-3 years ago.
 

KawaTom

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Jan 17, 2020
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I dont care about the branding on anything. The only ones i tend to be loyal to is local brands but also they have to delivery.

I have had Ford(european) , Volvo, Mazda, BMW, Saab and Audi for cars.
Yamaha, Triumph, kawasaki,harley, Suzuki and aprilia for bikes.

I always laugh hard when i see android and Apple fan boys start theyr banter against each others and i just think they are a tool for the companies.

Mod Edit for Language
 
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Benjamin22044

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Aug 17, 2020
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I actually almost always owned HP devices in my life and I think they are quite good. A few months back. I was using an HP Chromebook 11A that was powered by a MediaTek chipset and was pretty good with the features. Even its battery life and the storage was also quite good. However, since my niece needed one, I gave it to her and she is pretty happy with it.
As of now, I have an Asus Chromebook and this is also quite good. Even this one contains a Mediatek SoC and the brightness of this device is far better. Also, the cost is a bit less than the previous one.
 

wolfhors3

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Apr 29, 2020
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I am not a brand loyalist and as far as laptops and maybe PCs (not sure about that), no one is, or maybe we all are. I did a little research and all laptops, yes ALL, are made by 3 companies in China. One is called Fox , I think, and I forget the name of the other 2. Dell, HP, Samsung or whoever just gives specifications on sys specs or price and china makes them with the respective companies name on them. So we all have chinese laptops. Scary , huh?
Please, feel free to do your own research and let me know if that's changed recently.
 

Endre

Reputable
I am not a brand loyalist and as far as laptops and maybe PCs (not sure about that), no one is, or maybe we all are. I did a little research and all laptops, yes ALL, are made by 3 companies in China. One is called Fox , I think, and I forget the name of the other 2. Dell, HP, Samsung or whoever just gives specifications on sys specs or price and china makes them with the respective companies name on them. So we all have chinese laptops. Scary , huh?
Please, feel free to do your own research and let me know if that's changed recently.

China is the #2 economic super-power of the world. And it keeps growing!