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How Much Are You Paying For A Nameplate?
Matey-O writes: "I realize most of you built your systems youself (with mad overclocking style) but if you've purchased a fully built system receintly from Compaq, Dell, HP or Apple, you may have a computer built by Quanta, a very quiet, very successful Taiwanese manufacturing company. NY times article here." (This is true at least of notebooks.)
Having run tools like dmidecode across a lot of systems the laptop market definitely has a lot of rebadging going on. Taking apart other devices shows its nothing new. HP printers are full of canon parts, HP's early digital cameras are Konica, Dell laptops don't all seem to be made by Dell. Most vendors desktops at the lower end are handled by big .tw build to order houses.
Its not cost effective to run a computing hardware company in the USA
One of the other big names is Compal.
Read this for more information and specific model numbers.
I just bought a "Toshiba 3005" from them, and since they don't come default operating systems I didn't have to may the M$ tax and get an extra battery instead.
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It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
I don't know the situation in the US or elsware but in Jamaica the #1 selling desktop by a huge margin is Dell. They actually have a market share in the 50% region. Next in line is Compaq at about 10% followed by all the local white box clones which share most of what's left.
Why the wide difference? Dell has an agreement with a local company to honor the Dell onsite warranty. This means that when your system goes down someone comes to your house with a spare part (after you talk to tech support on one of a very few 1-800 numbers which is free from Jamaica).
IBM, Gateway and most clones don't give you that so if you need that level of support you haven't really got a choice.
I still buy parts and asemble for 70% of the cost and just deal with the local wholesaler for the waranty on each individual part.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
The story, no registration required.
And before someone tries to scold me for this again: This is from a partnership that NYT has with Asahi.com, and it adds Asahi.com's ads to the page. Instead of "paying" with your registration, you're "paying" with the act of barely glancing at Asahi.com's ads for a split second before moving on to the actual story. And the New York Times seems to be fine with it, because they set the whole thing up.
Yes, yes, I do. Enjoy.
Just look at the serial number. If it starts with QT, it was made by Quanta.
Quanta also built the Netpliance I-Opener and the Gateway Connected touchpad. Both of which run QNX. Theres a hacking group that stays up to date on various projects on the message boards here. Im not sure what else Quanta has built, but the I-Opener is really built like a tank.
There is no spork.
IBM notebooks....... I work with an IBM business partner....some are made by Quanta
I worked for Dell, specifically in the Latitude Home / Small Business division, back in 1998 and was shown all the different models on the market released by various OEMs. Then I was given a spreadsheet with system specs which included a column for 'manufacturer' - Quanta and a couple of other names were listed.
:)
Working with the latest laptops, hardware still in beta testing, helped me understand the relationship Dell had with the Taiwanese manufacturer. Dell engineers worked very closely with the engineers on the other side of the world, and we changed specifications when necessary. This is, of course, to be expected - hopefully an OEM doesn't just buy a few hundred thousand laptops without testing them first
One item we changed comes to mind immediately - the rubber feet on Inspiron 7000's were originally made of a material that marked nearly every surface we set them down on. Many people had multiple black spots and marks where the systems sat on their desk. Ick.
Another important matter is support - some people might know that the same company makes systems for multiple OEMs and might even release systems under their own name with the same specifications, but I'll take the system with OEM hardware support that rocks - every support system might have glitches, but after working in Dell's support division, and using them in my current position for three years, I'd prefer to stick with them. I won't say no one is better, or dell never screws up, but they support their product well, very well, in my opinion. Overnight parts when available, Complete Care for LCD breakage and spills that can turn in a system into a paperweight very quickly.
And as far as OEM designs go, the Latitude base framework is hard to beat - there are perhaps a dozen models with interchangeable batteries, optical drives, floppies, power supplies, etc. Supporting them in the office is pretty simple - even if you've been buying the newest models for three years you can use the same spare parts for each as parts wear out. Every office has the same stack of power supplies - sales dorks always leave home without them. Support staff in each office has a very common experience. I don't know of another OEM, perhaps Sony, with such similarity between models. If there are, hey, hit reply.
In addition to the name plate, you are also paying for support. I doubt that the service is as good when you buy computers direct from the manufacturer at a discounted price. Laptops, in particular, tend to break and usually cannot be fixed by swapping out parts, like a desktop system. I've had to return my DELL Inspiron 7K two times (once for a keyboard problem and once for a display problem). In both cases my laptop was returned to me in two days. For desktop systems, the support is not important to me as I can fix 'em myself.
I've both built my own, and bought from manufacturers. What I'm paying for when I buy a Dell computer, be it a laptop or a server, isn't so much the name as the support. Buying a box from one vendor instead of buying all the parts from different vendors gets you out of the "It's not our fault, blame the mobo manufacturer" "It's not our fault, blaime the CPU manufacturer" crap.
Plus, the Dell 1U servers look way cool....
- "That's just the kind of fuzzy-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten."
What exchange is this company's stock listed on if any? Does anyone know the ticker? Thank you.
I personally think their stuff looks bad. Though cheaper material, the badges here are at least much more colorful.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
The goal of the automaker is assembly only. They want all parts outsourced and shipped in to assemble. This is a great deal for the automakers with suppliers constantly trying to outbid each other on contracts. As there is always someone who thinks he can do it cheaper, the suppliers must agree to unreasonable demands to cut costs. Indeed, the automaker demands a price reduction every year (notice that the price of a car goes up every year). It's hardly up for debate, they simple deduct there %2 annual price reduction from their cheque to the supplier regardless of what the invoice said. Don't like it? The automaker can, at any time, give the job to someone else.
I'm sure the computer hardware industry works in a similar fasion.
UNIX/Linux Consulting
From this part of the Quanta Site.
The chairman announced openly that we are 7-11, the president is busy at the production line in daytime and comes to the R&D to burn the other end of the candle in the evening. We work day and night and night and day to overcome all odds with Quanta...
The market was still small when Quanta decided to develop portable computers, desktop PC was still the mainstream on the market. Apart from LCD and HDD, which are exclusive parts to portable computers, all other parts are the same to that of the desktop computer. The situation is like putting parts of an Infiniti Q30 into a Nissan Sentra. The difficulties at that time is understandable. However hard it was, Quanta's R&D history was started then.
"Do the best to realize your dreams"
As a conclusion, portable PC R&D is brain-consuming work, and many of our colleagues have had their hair turn gray. However, when we see our dreams come true, no one has any regrets and we just keep trying a new task.
Under the direction and insistence of bosses, Quanta's R&D has been running toward practicability, with some differences from others. Low cost and suitability for mass production have been the highest commands of R&D. With cooperation from world leading manufacturers, Quanta products have earned some credits and praises from world famous computer magazines. It is not only recognition of the R&D work, but also a drive for Quanta's efforts on sales achievements.
If R&D is the locomotive, we have been guiding Quanta through all odds over the last decade. We will never spare any time as long as the R&D work continues.
You forgot about the killer hidden cost: labor.
And you are forgetting the tech support center's secret weapon: automation.
The crew at the company I work for can do a Win2k install by installing a CD, attaching a network cable and powering up. About 90 minutes later is a full standard 2k install, including all the apps and service patches and whatnot we've standardized on. If we had exact hardware across the board we could Ghost it even faster.
That $300 labour charge is only incurred when you have to babysit the install. Hell even my Slackware-based firewall installs go in in about 15 minutes now because I use custom tagfiles and a few of my home-rolled packages.
At "The Register" (circa early 99)
"Everyone knows that Taiwanese companies make notebooks for big companies like IBM, Compaq, Dell and HP. But which company makes what? Here's the OEM list, courtesy of a Taiwanese wire. Quanta makes Gateway, Dell, IBM, Apple and Siemens products. Acer makes IBM and Hitachi products. Inventec makes Compaq notebooks. Compal makes Dell and HP notebooks. Arima makes Compaq notebooks. Twinhead manufactures for HP and Winbook. Clevo makes Hitachi notebooks. Mitac manufactures for Sharp. GVC manufactures for Siemens, Micron, Apple and Packard Bell. And FIC manufactures for NEC and Packard Bell. ® According to the survey, total notebook from the small (240 miles long) island amounted to 5,420,000 in 1998."
I bought my first PC from Quanta back in 1994 and it is still running with mostly original parts. They were inexpensive but certainly didn't create junk. I wouldn't be too upset getting their parts under another label.