On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:34:33 -0700 (PDT), Rick R. wrote:

  

Is anybody still really producing their own computers or are we already living in the    

brave new world where even brand name manufacturers only pillage the OEM market and then slap their respective label on the assembled box?!!

Years ago, there was big news about IBM suppling DELL with components. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/08/nofear.ent.idg/index.html?eref=sitesearch We all know that when we open up our laptops the HHD are Hitachi, Fujitsu or Toshiba or someone else. IBM doesn't make HDD anymore they sold it to Hitachi. Intel is OEMing thier wifi and other cards under DELL, IBM, Toshiba and other names. The list is endless.   

Up until now, SONY certainly has been a reliable provider of the batteries' PARTS. (They supplied the INTERNAL portions of the batteries, not the assembly or casings.) They have lost a lot of prestige over this, articles in Japan are appearing asking what happened to the vaunted Japanese production values.   

IMHO, most computers are now generic things (especially desktops) and there is no particular value to a name other than service or ego. You might as well buy a SystemMax or CyberMax kit as much as a DELL if it has the components that you want in it (it is easier to find out what the MB and other parts are in a third-party builder than a first tier company). IBM/Lenovo laptops have not been noted particularly for their speed/performance or price. "WE" bought them because they are generally more OS agnostic than some others - but we have modems, bluetooth and fingerprint scanners that don't work (which would be unacceptable to a 'windows' user). There are lots of people with BAD thinkpad experiences, just as there are people with bad DELL, Gateway, Toshiba or Sony experiences.