At H Power Computing, we use computer components that are manufactured by major brands you can recognize. While it would be more cost-effective to purchase generic components and make a bigger profit margin, we believe that the quality of the service we provide is more important. Many computer repair companies use generic components entirely, charging their customers the same price they would for quality components. Others use generic part for so-called ‘mundane’ components to reduce the risk of malfunction. However, there are distinct differences between generic and name brand components that we care about.

The primary difference between brand name PC components and generic version is support. Well-known companies are always looking out for their own reputation, so there are better warranties against malfunctioning parts. And if something does go wrong with a component, a major manufacturer is more likely to provide premium support and quickly resolve issues. Generic brands rarely offer full product support and a malfunctioning component is simply a loss – there is no way to recover the full cost. Some generic motherboards do not even include a brand and no support is available. So, when technical questions come up, there is no help from the manufacturer to be found.

In addition to support, generic components are often made of inferior materials. This results in an inferior product. Inferior products malfunction more often and wear out faster than quality components. So even if quality parts cost a bit more on the front end, they are almost always worth the investment in the long run. Using brand-name components allows us to feel confident that your PC will continue to operate as expected for a long time to come; without unexpected interruptions and without component failures that can bring down the whole system.

Compatibility is sometimes an obstacle, but generic versions of components generally cover every type of part one might need for a PC – custom built or out of the box.  Novices building a custom computer will often have issues with RAM, motherboard, and video card compatibility (among other things.)

In some cases, generic components are as good as their major-brand counterparts. (Stress ‘some cases’.) For those mundane components that are typical of all computers, it may be less risky to use a generic part. Just like shopping generic brands at a grocery store – it’s a risk to buy certain items with a generic label. Sometimes, it works out. But when it doesn’t, it’s not a $5.00 item on which you’ve lost money. It’s more likely to be a $200 item with no technical support.

The problem is you never really know how well a generic component will perform under certain circumstances and in certain environments. The brands of components used by H Power Computing are high-quality parts delivered from well-known, trustworthy manufacturers. This enables us to be sure that any computer repairs we perform or customer models we build are set up to work at optimum performance for their function.

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