Question: How important is the brand when buying a laptop?
Arthur Goldstuck: It’s mostly about preferences. However, the brand can have an impact on productivity and overall experience if you are part of a specific ecosystem or family of devices, like Apple or Huawei. Both provide tight integration and interaction between their laptops, tablets and smartphones.
That said, it’s not necessary for the smartphone to dictate the brand of laptop you buy. Any half-decent laptop should connect to any smartphone via Bluetooth. The ecosystem does, however, make it all seamless.
The brand becomes important when it comes to service and reliability. All the major manufacturers have a significant presence in South Africa, which means after-sales service is usually available, although experiences differ.
Local brands like Mecer, from Mustek, are especially reliable, certainly if one runs into problems, due to having direct access to the manufacturer.
* Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter on @art2gee
