Comments on: Walmart sets the record straight on its $298 laptop

By: Fim Art

Fim Art — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:40:09 +0000

It’s quite interesting that an officer from Walmart responded to your post. That’s a great testimony to the power of Web 2.0. It also testifies to the customer service orientation of Wal-Mart that they care what is being written about them on an independent blog. I wish more corporate organizations are like that.

By: Pgarcia

Pgarcia — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:48:04 +0000

Of course, the fact that the same factory makes PCs for a number of different retailers doesn’t mean the quality of all the PCs is the same. Obviouly they can use different type of parts the expensive one’s for expensive computers and so, and I’ really dessapointed in general with the factory warranties that only helps you when the computer you bought died, when it don’t turn on anymore, do not replace or fix internal errors without even miss all the programs you installed on your PC.

By: william

william — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:27:02 +0000

I agree on Kevins comment about quality, the manufacture alone does not dictate the quality of the product. Most manufacturers especially those who build laptops for various companies build or should I saw assemble based on the clients requirements. So in most cases the components inside make all the difference in quality. However an inexpensive laptop is a must to let those less cash rich to be able to join in mobile computing.

By: william

william — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:25:52 +0000

I agree that quality that the manufacture alone does not dictate the quality of the product. Most manufacturers especially those who build laptops for various companies build or should I saw assemble based on the clients requirements. So in most cases the components inside make all the difference in quality. However an inexpensive laptop is a must to let those less cash rich to be able to join in mobile computing.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:48:16 +0000

I’m going to take issue with Ryan Halford’s first point. The fact that the same factory makes PCs for a number of different retailers doesn’t mean the quality of all the PCs is the same. Why do you think some PCs sell for $300 or $400 and others sell for $2000? It’s not because Super Expensive Retailer decides to sell a PC for $2000 and Big Discount Retailer decides to sell the same exact PC for $400. It’s because the one factory uses different components for different PCs. It’s because the $400 PC uses cheaper (and probably lower quality) components and the more expensive PCs use higher quality (thus more expensive) components. So, yes, if the factory makes a $300 PC for Walmart and a $300 PC for Best Buy, the two PCs are probably comparable in terms of quality; but a $300 PC is probably not comparable in quality to a $1000 PC.

So, your original point about the HP pavilion is not negated by Halford’s point. Based on your description of the Pavilion, I’d say that your original point is probably correct: it was a cheaply made PC, and one of it’s cheap components was most likely the cause of the problems you saw.