Big brand-name swing going on????????

Dooin' it · 09-01-2003, 11:01 AM

Back when..........(ya' know......waaaaaay back in the 90's? LOL!).......it used to be a safe bet to just go Asus or Gigabyte or Abit..........now I see these massive swings of dominance going to alternative brands.........

MSI
DFI
No-name this
No-name that

Somebody like MSI is rather commonplace now but I remember years ago queries about MSI would turn up answers like "MSwhoo?" Anyway, the latest run-in with my board knowledge (or lack thereof) is when I hear these guys (the ones "in-the-know") at the local computer whorehouse talking about................

"Stay away from those 2 Gigabyte boards.......they suck"
"Stay away from that Asus board.....it sucks......oh, and that Asus too......it sucks even worse!"
"Watch out for that Abit board.......they've had lots of problems & the reviews are really bad"

What the heck's goin' on?? I used to think that regardless of my fondness for Gigabyte, I could at least always get a solid board from them and NO MATTER WHAT........Asus was ALWAYS a dead-ringer for a good board even buying with a blindfold on! What's happening??

kopfjaeger · 09-01-2003, 11:23 AM

My guess is that this is nothing new, nor is this something exclusive to the computing community. Each industry runs through its cycle of being great - turning complacent or arrogant - putting out junk (computers, motorcycles, television series....). Some recover gracefully and others don't, having had their 15 minutes and no more.

It can also be a factor of manufacturers trying to cut costs in a time when the computer hardware industry has razor thin margins. They use one chip manufacturing plant to make their name, but try another, cheaper, one for their next product. It could be that their original plant now has labor and/or quality issues.

To stay good, and on top at all times, requires a management team that drives cutting-edge R&D, insists on Quality Assurance and watches every cost center to remain price competitive. Could simply be that your fair-haired boys are slacking off.

elroy · 09-01-2003, 11:39 AM

The amount of mis-information in the computer business is amazing. Years ago I had dealers at a show tell me you couldn't run windows on a Cyrix machine, just wasn't compatible. Yea right IBM spent $2 billion on a plant to build obsolete junk. Re: Abit, their boards will perform, that is why they gained the status they have but they definitely have quality issues. I read an article written by a tech at a large shop who said their shop quit carrying Abit due to the large number of defective boards they received. Always remember the person telling you these things may have an agenda of his own, maybe he makes more $$ on certain brands, maybe he has a large inventory he needs to move etc. These guys don't have time to research a particular board like you do. They have a businesss to run and 100 machines to repair.

dr_roberts49 · 09-02-2003, 08:07 AM

Sometimes it's the luck of the draw. We all tend to hear more from customers who get a bad board. It's a numbers thing. The more popular the board, the more sold. When someone gets a bad one, they tell you about it. It's common to pay more attention to the bad, vs the good. Now that's not true all the time, but just take a look at the bashing Microsoft gets.

Robert

BTW

I just installed a new ABIT IS7 for my new P4, and didn't have a bit of trouble with the hardware.

Gait_Keeper · 09-02-2003, 08:13 AM

sometimes you here 4 bad reports on a board, but don't hear the 40 good reports, or the 40 happy people are too busy using their boards to report their bliss.

plus all the things said above

Omardeth · 09-02-2003, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dr_roberts49
Sometimes it's the luck of the draw. We all tend to hear more from customers who get a bad board. It's a numbers thing. The more popular the board, the more sold. When someone gets a bad one, they tell you about it. It's common to pay more attention to the bad, vs the good. Now that's not true all the time, but just take a look at the bashing Microsoft gets.

Robert

BTW

I just installed a new ABIT IS7 for my new P4, and didn't have a bit of trouble with the hardware.

well put .... take ecs for example . the k7s5a varant boards are all over the place . millions apon millions have been sold . and all you hear about is how bad they suck . if they sucked so bad how do they sell millions ? you just hear about the ones that have problems . rarely do you hear from the people that have no problems .

Gait_Keeper · 09-02-2003, 08:32 AM

K7S5A v1.0 18 months no problems

AMD 1800+ (1527Mhz )
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
512Mb pc2100
3 lighted fans
sound card
video card
ethernet card
usb web cam
usb all in one printer/scanner/copier

case dropped twice, last time 4 days ago hehe

machine left on during heat wave, 6 days of 95+ degrees
man