Most clone and locally assembled notebooks are very new to the market and it is very difficult to establish their reliability compared to that of brand-name notebooks, and users should be more aware of this, said Christopher Riley, CEO of Pretoria-based notebook and accessories retailer, The Notebook Company (www.notebook.co.za).
"Frankly, it is very difficult for us, on behalf of customers, to establish the reliability of clones and locally assembled notebooks. Clone notebooks are manufactured by component companies and the seller just puts their logo on it. This means that you do not have the same type of quality control and testing as you would with a tier one international brand.
"Secondly, the only support provided for these notebooks is usually by the smaller distributor. These are mostly carry-in warranties and they usually only have support centres in the Johannesburg area. This means added costs to the client if he needs to courier his notebook to them. They also normally do not have warranty upgrade options. If we compare this to, let`s say, Acer, they supply a free one-year fetch, repair and return warranty anywhere in SA as a standard.
"This has to tell you something about the manufacturer`s trust in its own product and its technical infrastructure as well as parts availability in the future," said Riley.
"Personally I would urge all notebook users to stick to an International brand which has the technical infrastructure to give you excellent support and provide spares availability for at least four years. Clone and locally assembled machines cannot do this. The total cost of ownership is much higher in the long run."
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