Help me convince someone clevo and OCZ notebooks are not "no name" brands!

I was DEAD SET on the OCZ Whitebook, or the nagamaki from killernotebooks but my parents told me they were too 'no name'.

i was furious as it was the perfect notebook! crossfire 3870s! quad core ! 1.5in thick! backlit keyboard!

Apparantly, they would only trust some company like Dell or HP, Acer etc.

COuld you please post some comments that might persuade them to understand these custom laptops are not 'no name' and that they are quality notebooks and that we wont get ripped off by killernotebooks.

thanks!

 

um... your parents are probably just victims of mass marketing and have brands stuck in their heads.

thats unfortunate because they would be appalled if you point out the BBB (Better Business Bureau) reports and the reseller ratings of the big brands (Sony, HP/Compaq, Sony, etc...).

And you compare that to the great vendors with BBB accreditation and near perfect reseller ratings from the Clevo Guide, then its clear that the smaller guys give you better service/support... as well as having competitive pricing.

We went over this here as well:
Is Sager as good as it seems?

 

Or you can just go to your local Best Buy and pickup a Gateway P FX with 9800M GTS or Toshiba X305.

 

Drawing generalizations and associating them with specific brands is good marketing at work in the minds of consumers.

 

I have a background in marketing for two years now... its amazing how brands are so important to people.. becomes apart of them.... funny and sad.

 

I think you have to choose ,just the opposite of what your parents would choose.
Don't just buy a big name model
Your young, Take some risks.

As my grandfather used to say
If everyone liked the same things
Everyone would be after you grandmother

 

you missunderstood me. i know all about sagers, i know they are a reputable brand. My parents dont though. and they are payign for the laptop.

Im Australian

 

Well, to start with, give them the first part of Gophn's Clevo Guide. Next, ask them if they've ever heard of Compal, Arima, MSI, Quanta, Wistron, Mitac, Inventec or ASUS, or if those are also no-name brands.

When they say "no, those must be other no-name brands" (although they might have heard of ASUS before), gently explain to them that, on that basis, _Dell, _Sony, _Apple, _HP, in fact all of the big name-brands, are in fact no-name brands because the no-name companies listed above, along with Clevo and some other Taiwanese companies, are Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and are the actual technical designers and real manufacturers of most of the computers that they think of as name-brands, then hand them a copy of the article Who Really Makes Laptops? from off of XoticPC's website.

In short, if they believe that they know and can trust the so-called big name-brand companies, such as _Dell, _Sony, _HP, _Toshiba, and the like, then they can certainly trust the companies that actually design and manufacture the products sold under those brands, can't they? If so, then they should have no reason not to trust Clevo just as much.

 

That's alright, they're welcome in Bestbuy stores, too, ya know!

 

haha i meant i live in sydney

 

While you're showing them the ODMs, I would compare Dell's reseller ratings to PNB's or XoticPC's on reselleratings.com

 

i wanted to go for the alienware m15x coz its 'alienware'.. then something struck me.. why pay so much for such small performance?

oh and you do know that there's this 30-day moneyback gurantee right?? if you or your parents are not happy with it when it arrives, you can half a full refund on your machine the 1st 30 days!!

but of course, why refund something so awesome??
price-wise, specs-wise..

 

OCZ bought out Hypersonic which is a Clevo reseller. And according to what OCZ has been planning they may very well wind up in Best Buy then you can show your parents and say "Best Buy has them!"

 

GAH! Wish i lived in Sydney....anyway

Like everyone said, best thing to do is educate your parents with as much "official" documentation as possible. Go to the BBB, Reseller rattings, ALL THE REVIEWS!

I for one hate dell with such a passion that it might melt my keyboard. Just wait for the first time they have to call customer service and u have to talk to a guy who can't speak fluently enough to ask for your name and service number :confused2: *Bang Head Against Hard Wall Over and Over*

Of course getting a Dell would help you learn how to trouble shoot a lappy...

 

lol, got here too late. Looks like you got plenty of material to confront your parents with now.

Just remember, alienware and voodoo used to use clevo's. That was back when they were ok to deal with. They have now gone to make their own through Quantas and are crap now.
Just use your young creative mind to convince them that clevo is the way to go.

 

Yeh thanks guys.

An issue that theyre worried about is that killernotebooks might steal money or something like that from their bank account. Their very paranoid about buying online

 

Dell and Toshiba already steal money from you with the prices they offer those low grade parts for. Especially the memory. Argh.

Show them the testimonials. Show them the resellerratings. Write up a proposal of the Pros and Cons of buying from the Sager/Clevo resellers and buying from the Dell brands.

Whatever you do, don't succumb to mediocrity and pay premium for it.

 

I second what Deathwinger and the others are saying about this situation. I have not yet received my Sager notebook from PowerNotebooks, but I am already pleased with the level of service I have gotten from them. I would not hesitate a single moment to recommend them to anyone!

 

If they're paying and want you to get from a big name brand, why not just get a Dell XPS M1730 with SLI 8800M GTX? It's faster than dual 3870s and the M1730 looks better.

 

You'd think that if he stole money in the order of thousands per customer, he'd have been reported, shut down, and charged by now

 

mate, the aussie dell site lists the m1730 as 2700$ starting price. Oh and the upgrade to 8800gtx' is 700$.

And the m1730 looks and screams gamer. And its 2.1in thick

 

bump......

 

if i were you, i would go and buy it myself

 

You know it's worth learning how to form these arguments yourself. Everything you need to say has already been said in this thread.

If the sole issue is fear that you'll get ripped off, tell them to pay with a credit card. There are built in protections against that sort of thing. In other words, if they do rip you off (which they won't) then you're not left holding the bag.

 

You should do what I did. Tell your parent that you've do extensive research, and have talked to various people with relevant experiences to said products. Tell them that you are totally confident in the quality/legitimacy of the product, and that they should have faith in your judgment.

 

So you're telling the kid to lie to his parents? I like it.

Seriously, show them a 'price versus specs' comparison of the configuration you want and a Macbook Pro. Include benchmarks and reviews of previous Sagers.

 

there not that tech savvy and are pretty stubborn about their beliefs. they feel that they will get money stolen from them if they use their credit card with an 'unkown' online dealer *sighs*

yeh, im compiling a document with reseller rating comparison, bang for your buck comparisons and everything else.

if that doesnt work, ill have to settle with the acer 8930

 

i think its ok to lie to them if they are really being that stubborn...also if u order by credit card you might be able to dispute IF something goes wrong

 

they are no name brands....

best argument is show them Voodoopc and say they use them...

Voodoopc.com seem to me to be a amazing brand.. (thats way out of my money range)

also if your from sydney humm... mabye show them the 2nd of 2 active ressellers in Australia pioneercomputers who have massive contracts with the Australian government and sell clevo based notebooks..

OCZ notebooks are no name brand thou.. tbh ... as they have not been tested and its a first step for OCZ in the notebook case arena.

One thing els to consider is how knowledgeable are you with hardware.? .. my dad was a tech drafter and designer for telstra phone and data sistems.. however he still trusts my pref and choices in PC hardware .. at the end of the day clevo is a fairly enthusiast brand and if your financier does not think you knowledgeable enough and demands u go for a big brand.. u may as well get a cheap Dell 1730 .. (as a Australian)... which is a good choice any way considering the price of clevo systems in Australia.


P4laptops.com.au have delayed my np8660 order 2 times already... and i still haven't seen it.. so maybe they did steal my money lol..

Metabox the australian Clevo builder.. is very no name thou... their website is not even updated for the past fue years.. and they prob deal with very low volumes .... i will be most intersted with the build quality of my Metabox m860tu from p4laptops.com.au and i will do a big full review for you so you can show it to your foks and maybe increase your chances of getting one?

 

Then tell them that and hit them the facts!!

It's bull; and if they're that stupid, it's time for them to learn a lesson about the modern world. Hit them with the facts!!

I had to convince my parents to get a NP5796 as well, but I just hit hit them with the facts and showed them how little they knew about the laptop business, and how much I learned from the people who DO know something about it. And now they have confidence in my judgement.

P.S. If you're in Australia, why don't you buy from xoticpc?

 

cause killernotebooks are going to sell the ocz whitebook and xotic are not. and xoticpc's shipping to australia is about 250$ and killer's is 80$

on a side note: wow, powernotebook's reseller ratings are phenomanal!

 

I have the same problem (not to hi-jack this thread). Already made the pros and cons up for my grandfather (both in a hardcopy and in a powerpoint presentation. Small roadblock for me is this:

He holds my $$ (which i can dig, keeps me from being impulsive), but pays for everything he's ever owned in cash. No money orders, no bank checks, just plain old hard cash. His rationale is anything that runs through a CC or a check can have its account # hacked and thus he can be compromised. With cash there is no trace. He also doesn't know the first thing about computers (turning one even to "on" freaks him out). This is going to need a thesis... Help!

Jason

 

Dude what ever u do don't import a American laptop into Australia.. u will get like 300-400 import taxs on top of currency conversion..and ontop of shipping .. making it totally not worth it

if u want a clevo get it from p4laptops.com.au much cheaper than importing.

p4laptops are really the only well priced option in Australia. if your parents dont trust them you going to have to not get a clevo.

 

The dollar, with its weakness right now, is going to make it about as fair a fight for his australian dollar as it's going to get. 2 years ago the australian dollar was about 60c USA, now it's hovering between 94c and 97c US / $1AUD. Although the taxes may break it, he's got the best currency equivalent now that he's probably going to get for a while. I'm split as to what to do, but i'm leaning towards "go for it"

 

our GST import tax on hardware is 10% ... shipping it back to USA for repair is 500 for both ways...

its not a good idea seriously.. don't do it i've researched it long ago. Also the path shipping takes to get here basically ensures its going to get damaged in south east asia ;( as has been reported by afue who did the same last xmas on this forum the standards are just not high enough for such sensitive items..

regardless if u want to compare a m860tu is 2699 AUS from p4laptops .. and all Australian taxes are applied after currency conversion.. so add 10% onto a American reseller and then convert it.. and add shipping and other taxes.

and all this is before u consider such things as power bricks and the right power cables and warrenty.

I live in perth and i see the ITC and Metabox (which i think is where P4laptops operate from) offices every weekend when im going out ... if thats not enough to ensure your percents worries that the site is not a scam.. then they really should just go get a generic hp dell or mac for you importing is hole new level of risk..

if all goes to plan ill do a review on p4laptops(store) Metabox(builder) on Wednesday or Thursday when i go pick up my m860tu 9800mGT

 

what? Killernotebooks cover the warrantyshipping

 

He's right, cash has no trace, and checks have a larger paper trail, and credit cards an even larger one. Is it a good idea to buy an expensive item without a paper trail? If you give your cash to someone and he takes it and runs, who will give you that cash back? On the other hand, if you use a credit card, you have a giant corporation backing any misuse and covering you if anything goes wrong, including insuring the item, extending warranty for the item and the like. If your account number gets stolen, the credit card company handles it (as long as you keep track of your account, notify them, etc.) There is a much larger risk to cash transactions/debit cards, and even checks (checks/debit are probably the worst option of all three).

Does he keep his money in a sock under his bed? What will he do if a burglar comes in and steals the sock? Or if the house burns down, and his money along with it? Does he not have health insurance and pays for all medical expenses from that sock fund? Does he think this is a good idea? Does he not have car insurance? If someone hits his car who pays for it if he refuses the idea of any corporation insuring his items? Using a credit card is like having insurance automatically and relying on a corporation to take care of you.

 

He keeps it in a bank account (savings) but doesn't use personal checks, if he absolutely has to he will get a bank certified check. He has insurance, but chooses not to use it and pays everything outright (he feels that it's one more way to jerk ya around, and if he doesn't have to deal with it, he won't). To him, it's a piece of technology that anyone can hack, grab your information, and run like hell with it. He's old-school in that regard, and when he puts money in, he gets a copy of the check he put in and keeps it in a secure, bolted down file cabinet with a copy of every check to 1954 with the account #'s last 5 digits whited out. Same for any check he has to use.

If you use a credit card, all you need is one person with a **** good memory, some computer skills, and they can run roughshod on ya without you knowing it until you get the bill and wonder where everything went. Furthermore, he HATES any debt... a credit card allows debt because you owe money to some entity down the road, whereas with cash, once it's paid, you don't owe anyone, anything (your time, money, etc.) and that makes him happy.

(Unfortunately, as long as he's holding the $$ for me... I don't have as much say in the matter as I'd like)

 

And whats wrong with sending a certified check through your bank (which has them paying with your money, but it seems like they sent the check, actually, some business only take this) and you send the order number in additional information?

And what about taking the amount of money you need to purchase it from your account, and then doing a wire transfer outside of your account (so it just looks like a Mr. Anonymous is sending off the money with the order number, yes they may have your signature if you are asked to sign anything but they'll never get your bank account #)?

 

Don't have a bank account in my name at this point. I'm saving it, gonna put it in at the end of the year to one, but b/c of a fiasco i had at my last bank, he may have to put his name on it as well.

 

Yep, my parents are like that, and it's a healthy attitude unless it's taken to an extreme. That is, debt IS bad and shirking one's responsibility (like say, by carrying a credit card balance) is bad as well, but taking advantage of credit is not inherently bad. Explain to him that 1) credit cards these days don't have negative aspects (unless you get one with a monthly fee or a very bad card, i.e. last resort debt consolidation ones from disreputable banks), 2) they come with a lot of protections (extended insurance, protection from sketchy vendors), 3) most have free rewards associated with them (I make several hundred dollars off of my credit cards per year for free, no yearly fee card, I never carry a balance, etc) and 4) the credit card companies are the last people that want to LOSE money so they will pursue fraud a lot better than you can.

Most large banks/issuers have fraud protection mechanisms in place so if someone does steal your credit card number and run rampant, they will automatically stop the card after a large transaction (or attempted transaction). This can be a hassle for the legitimate user on large purchases as well But current major issuers (like say, Chase, Citibank, etc. - in my experience Discover was the most overly secure) are very conservative with what they might see as suspicious activity. On top of that, you can request additional safeguards on your credit card from your issuer (call them up, tell them "anything over XXX charge" automatically stop, or "if there are more than Y number of charges/day" stop the card, and the like, or "I will never make a physical purchase unless I'm in city or state Z" or "stop any internet purchase unless I call to OK it first." Just don't forget about restrictions you set up with your bank unless you want to be barred from the card yourself

Re: certified checks and wire transfers... they're good alternatives for people that insist on using cash (I guess?) but neither come with any protection of getting your money back in case of fraud, bad vendor, etc.

Ganzonomy: I guess in your case the best course of action is to use a postal money order, but I suggest convincing him that credit cards are the most secure method for transactions, especially large ones, instead.

 

his is to the extreme... this is a guy who bought for his business a fully-loaded international 7600 rolloff with 2 briefcases full of unwrapped $50s and $100s. I want an account with Chase, but i had a fiasco with HSBC where my ex cleaned me out and left me on bad terms with that chexsystems thing, so i'm not fully trusting of banks either... this was back in 2006, and i got most of it back, but still the fact she can get into an account where she has no existence or ties to it... leaves me wary of banks)

Hence why i may have to use my gramps as a co-owner

 

You can also get single-use numbers from credit-card companies and banks that will allow a transaction to be processed through ACH (the clearing system through which most CC transactions go) without ever exposing yourself to being compromised because the number is, precisely, useable only once, and thereafter is void so anyone using it will get nowheres (except, perhaps, redflagged for attempted CC fraud).

Also, even if your CC account gets compromised and someone runs the bill up, you have two weeks (I believe) from the date you receive the statement to question any item, and if you didn't authorize the charge you're not responsible for it - same thing goes for regular bank accounts like checking accounts.

These methods are more secure than, e.g., using a bank cashier's check or a wire transfer because once the check's been cashed or the wire transfer's cleared, there is less protection and less ability to recover your funds in the event that the payee absconds without delivering the promised goods.

Another way to make payments that come with protection in the case of a defaulting payee is through paypal.

 

No CC's on my part, i don't want one... How about a USPS money order?

 

It's another way to get money transferred, but like a cashier's check, it doesn't carry many safeguards against a defaulting payee - all that it guarantees is that the money will get to the payee, not that the payee will perform his/her part of the bargain.

 

I think your grandfather is in the mafia, by the way.

 

sorry tarentum... neither he nor me are italian, and we're both jewish

 

Could always be the Kosher Nostra, I suppose?

 

nope, he's just extremely old-school with finances...

 

:laugh: :laugh: Good one. Especially with your name.