Author Topic: Who Really Built Your Computer?  (Read 10568 times)

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Oceander

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Who Really Built Your Computer?
« on: September 18, 2016, 02:17:30 pm »
Do you know who really built your computer?  Most of us own computers sold by HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, and the like.  They may sell them, and they may brand them, but they didn't build everything they sell.

Some of the brand names do build (assemble) their own systems, but others buy systems that are in fact built by other companies.  Those other companies are known as the original design manufacturers, or ODMs.

From Wikipedia:
Quote
Original Design Manufacturer

An original design manufacturer (ODM) is a company that designs and manufactures a product as specified and eventually rebranded by another firm for sale. Such companies allow the firm that owns or licenses the brand to produce products (either as a supplement or solely) without having to engage in the organization or running of a factory. ODMs have grown in size in recent years and as of 2015 many have the scale to handle production for in-house the products that are branded by the buying firm. This is in contrast to a contract manufacturer (CM).

This model is especially used in international trade, where a local ODM is used to produce goods for a foreign company that sees some advantage in the transaction, such as low labor-inputs, transport links or proximity to markets. Innovative and/or patented technologies developed/owned by the ODM are another cause for this product distribution model. ODM models are also used where local ownership-laws possibly prohibit direct ownership of assets by foreigners, allowing a local firm to produce for a brand company - either for the domestic market or for export.

While the brand names are well-known, the actual manufacturers are not.  Here is a list (courtesy of Wikipedia) of the major ODMs and the brands the manufacture for:
Quote
The vast majority of laptops on the market (94% in 2011) are manufactured by a small handful of Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturers (ODM), although their production bases are located mostly in mainland China.

Major relationships include:

  •     Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
  •     Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
  •     Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
  •     Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP, Dell and Lenovo
  •     Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
  •     Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
  •     Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP
  •     Clevo

Now for the fun part:  some of these ODMs also sell under their own name, or under the names of lesser known brands.  They sell the same computers they manufacture for the big brand names, they just come in different, usually less beautiful, cases.  They also sell for less; after all, with a brand name you're not just paying for the hardware, you're paying for the brand name.  Of course you're also paying for a supposedly higher grade of customer support, but - as anyone who has called customer support can attest - the promise of support is often more illusory than not.  You also tend to get a much higher degree of customization than you get with the big brand names.

You won't find these systems in places like Bestbuy, but you can find plenty of smaller resellers who do.  A good place to get an introduction to what's out there is a forum I used to frequent quite often:  notebookreview.com

These systems aren't for the faint of heart, but for those who don't mind a little DIY when it comes to their computers, you can get systems that you cannot find elsewhere.

Offline Blizzardnh

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2016, 04:16:54 pm »
I build my own desktops from the ground up , laptops I buy broken ones off ebay and fix them.
both ways are cheaper than store bought.

Oceander

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2016, 07:07:21 pm »
I build my own desktops from the ground up , laptops I buy broken ones off ebay and fix them.
both ways are cheaper than store bought.

Certainly.  But for those of us who don't have your talents, the next best will have to do.

Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2016, 08:31:22 pm »
Certainly.  But for those of us who don't have your talents, the next best will have to do.

I think most products are the same way. Appliances, etc. I was wandering through walmart one day and they had a 28" Visio TV for $110. I added a HP elite 8000 for $120 and that is my bedroom computer. It works well enough to conjure demons with the fractal image generator I downloaded.
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Blizzardnh

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2016, 08:43:36 pm »
I think most products are the same way. Appliances, etc. I was wandering through walmart one day and they had a 28" Visio TV for $110. I added a HP elite 8000 for $120 and that is my bedroom computer. It works well enough to conjure demons with the fractal image generator I downloaded.
have fun life is short.  :beer:

Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2016, 09:06:12 pm »
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Frank Cannon

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2016, 09:14:54 pm »
I know who built my computer. Mervin Poindexter from Freemont CA....


Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2016, 09:18:34 pm »
I know who built my computer. Mervin Poindexter from Freemont CA....



If Frank Cannon had a son.
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Frank Cannon

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2016, 09:22:15 pm »
If Frank Cannon had a son.

With Rosie O'donnel.

Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2016, 09:29:24 pm »
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Doug Loss

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2016, 09:42:50 pm »
My last computer (other than a netbook) that I didn't build was an AT&T UnixPC, probably 20 years ago.  Other than that, I've advocated that people should always look at ODMs for laptops before buying them from major brands.  You can often get exactly the same hardware for significantly less.
My political philosophy:

1) I'm not bothering anybody.
2) It's none of your business.
3) Leave me alone!

Offline DB

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #11 on: September 18, 2016, 09:46:28 pm »
I still have my IBM PC-1 and Dell 386-20 MHz (with i387 math coprocessor), and they were made in the US. I suppose it is even likely the CPU die were made here then too. The Dell had 16 MB of memory in 1987 - if I remember correctly that memory upgrade cost something like $5k...

I also have all my old computers from the IBM PC-1 on... All of them still worked when they were put on the shelf... Some day I'd like to fire them up again... It will be like going on an Archaeological dig...

Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2016, 10:50:59 pm »
I still have my IBM PC-1 and Dell 386-20 MHz (with i387 math coprocessor), and they were made in the US. I suppose it is even likely the CPU die were made here then too. The Dell had 16 MB of memory in 1987 - if I remember correctly that memory upgrade cost something like $5k...

I also have all my old computers from the IBM PC-1 on... All of them still worked when they were put on the shelf... Some day I'd like to fire them up again... It will be like going on an Archaeological dig...

A dinosaur hunt. Didn't Trump's sons shoot a triceratops recently?
« Last Edit: September 18, 2016, 10:51:40 pm by bigheadfred »
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Oceander

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2016, 01:51:59 am »

Oceander

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #14 on: September 19, 2016, 01:52:50 am »
My last computer (other than a netbook) that I didn't build was an AT&T UnixPC, probably 20 years ago.  Other than that, I've advocated that people should always look at ODMs for laptops before buying them from major brands.  You can often get exactly the same hardware for significantly less.

I think you can also get a better range of options on the hardware so you can customize the system more to your liking.

Offline Suppressed

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #15 on: September 19, 2016, 10:27:40 pm »
It works well enough to conjure demons with the fractal image generator I downloaded.

@bigheadfred

I'm curious about specifics here.
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Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #16 on: September 19, 2016, 11:34:49 pm »
@bigheadfred

I'm curious about specifics here.

I downloaded Apophysis 7x. Fractals interest me. I was dinking around and came up with this.



She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley

Offline Suppressed

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #17 on: September 20, 2016, 07:06:48 am »
I downloaded Apophysis 7x. Fractals interest me. I was dinking around and came up with this.



Great!  I'll have to check it out.  I used to love PLAYING with Fractint  http://www.fractint.org
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“In the outside world, I'm a simple geologist. But in here .... I am Falcor, Defender of the Alliance” --Randy Marsh

“The most effectual means of being secure against pain is to retire within ourselves, and to suffice for our own happiness.” -- Thomas Jefferson

“He's so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent.” --Foghorn Leghorn

Offline montanajoe

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #18 on: September 20, 2016, 07:21:04 am »
I build my own desktops from the ground up , laptops I buy broken ones off ebay and fix them.
both ways are cheaper than store bought.

Do the same..

Oceander

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #19 on: September 20, 2016, 11:32:12 am »
Just to chime in (johnny come lately), I haven't built any of my own systems, but I have taken several notebooks apart and (successfully) put them back together, usually to replace the internal hard drive, but twice to replace a bad motherboard.  I've never tried to reseat a cpu yet, but at some point I may get the gumption up to build a custom system from the cpu on up.

Offline Cripplecreek

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #20 on: September 20, 2016, 11:47:55 am »
Same with lots of products.

When I worked for Astrocap making truck caps and lids we also slapped Leer logos on some of them.

When I worked in plastics my department's primary job was for Cadillac but I occasionally worked on parts for Mercedes, Toyota, Ford, Jeep etc. In the molding department their primary job was for Ford F150.

Offline Suppressed

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #21 on: September 20, 2016, 02:57:30 pm »
Just to chime in (johnny come lately), I haven't built any of my own systems, but I have taken several notebooks apart and (successfully) put them back together, usually to replace the internal hard drive, but twice to replace a bad motherboard.  I've never tried to reseat a cpu yet, but at some point I may get the gumption up to build a custom system from the cpu on up.

Building a desktop, I can handle.  But putting together a puzzle known as a notebook?  Forget it!
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“In the outside world, I'm a simple geologist. But in here .... I am Falcor, Defender of the Alliance” --Randy Marsh

“The most effectual means of being secure against pain is to retire within ourselves, and to suffice for our own happiness.” -- Thomas Jefferson

“He's so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent.” --Foghorn Leghorn

Offline Dexter

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #22 on: September 20, 2016, 07:08:13 pm »
Certainly.  But for those of us who don't have your talents, the next best will have to do.

Repairing laptops is tricky, but building a desktop is simple. For those that don't know you can typically build a computer for half the price you would have paid off the shelf. There are endless resources out there to learn how. You can find step by step guides. Once you get the hang of it you will feel silly for getting ripped off on every computer you've ever owned.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2016, 07:12:22 pm by Dexter »
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Offline Blizzardnh

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #23 on: September 20, 2016, 10:50:29 pm »
Building a desktop, I can handle.  But putting together a puzzle known as a notebook?  Forget it!
yes desk top way easier than a laptop.

Online bigheadfred

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Re: Who Really Built Your Computer?
« Reply #24 on: September 20, 2016, 11:35:16 pm »
yes desk top way easier than a laptop.
@ Dexter @Suppressed @montanajoe
I am going to look into it. My grandson is continually kicking me off mine to play games. Maybe it is a project we can do together.  I have an old pavilion.  Anybody got directions to a website or such to begin with? Be nice to do a gamer type build.
She asked me name my foe then. I said the need within some men to fight and kill their brothers without thought of Love or God. Ken Hensley