Good brand

[Anesu]

Hello guys im considering buying a new laptop bt not sure which one is the best brand between Mercer and Dell

[Blurock]

Depends on your requirements, speed, computing power and price range. There may also be other brands that will suit your purpose.

[Mike C]

Hi Anesu - we bought our daughter a Dell laptop about a year ago and she uses it extensively. She has been very happy with it. I have always used HP's and have been very happy with them. Can't speak about the Mercer and I have never owned that brand.

[Just Gone]

I have always had hP and have always been very happy with it.

[Petrichor]

I am a big fan of Dell, however, I have been using an HP for the last 2 years and have not had any issues, so can recommend HP as well. My wife has had a Fujitsu Siemens (bought at Makro) for the last 4 odd years and I must say it is also good value for money.

[Tim the Techxpert]

Hi There Tim from MTN Business here.
Looking through the threads everyone has been pretty happy with their choice.
I have used Mecer technology and been pleased with them. Certainly fair value for money.
Dell provides superb next business day service to fix hardware issues and that I used that recently when my hard drive decided stationary was the way of the future. New hard drive delivered the next business day.
HP sservice and reliability is also good.
My son has used ASUS as well and been pretty pleased with that.
The best choice is for the latest technology with good service should you need it and all that to fit in the budget of what you want to spend.

[Blurock]

My wife has a PC which reminds you of a desert. Poor quality, very, very, extremely poor service. I have noticed that their local service centre has either relocated or closed. They still have the naming rights for some stadiums though.

[kleva]

Wow, everyone different, so let me tell you my opinions if you interested (THis is based on laptops, not desktops/servers - my attitude changes a bit then):

Dell:
* Never been very happy with them, become very much a "Brand" corporate from what they started off in the old days. Found that it's not always easy to get parts locally and very few generic parts work (In car terms: like a SAAB).

HP:
* Brilliant, love them if you can afford them and afford to maintain. Many places support and your choices are wide. Still "Brand" but great multiple option support. Not cheap but good quality (In car terms: like a Merc)

Mecer:
* Low price, but although fairly generic they only have 1 warranty/support route through a company that doesn't have the best reputation. I personally avoid all products from them, they are a bit to big to look after the little guy, and a bit too small to deal with the really large corporate work (in car terms: like a Tata)

Acer:
* Lot of generic fit, but the support can be weak unless you know not to use the sharks out there. Have always been able to get an old Acer back to life and functional, can get parts local and international at reasonable cost (not cheap, just reasonable). One negative is that they are tending to overclock all their current stuff, which can lead to overheating, but if you are aware of this issue you can easily make these last 2x longer than any other (in car terms: like a VW)

In the last 10 years I have only purchased Acer for personal use, and HP for business use. But do not discount Lenovo products (old IBM) as a alternative to HP. Cheaper but not quite as reliable as the old IBM stuff.

So there you have my opinion and what I would happily say to any client/friend. The choice is ultimately yours, but I would highly try dissuade you from a Mecer or similar SA only brand.

[Blurock]

I have had good service from my Acer and HP products. They build computers and do not manufacture fridges and stoves, TV's and unrelated stuff.

[tec0]

I would always recommend HP as they tend to last. With a bit of tweaking you can use generics on the servers that said it is not always a perfect fit. Never had an HP die on me. I do agree with statements about Acer they are tuff reliable.

If you are thinking about HP look for a pavilion they tend to be a power house and can handle a hell of a lot of abuse before giving up the holy smoke.

But go for what you can afford. Just make sure about the warrantee and always ask for a direct support number before you buy to make sure that the person that sells you the notebook gives you the full warranty/guarantee and not just half of it.

[adrianh]

What's in a brand anyway...they use 99% of the same components. Don't buy cheap and don't buy too expensive. Decide on your specs and the money you are willing to spend. Then find out from the retailers / internet which brands / models fit into your price / performace bracket. Once you've established the particular brand / models then read some reviews on the net and speak to the retailers and find out whether they know of any issues with those machines.