Made In China. Electrical Appliances. Spin Off Thread.

[chris49]

I'm spinning off the "Buying Appliances" thread.

 

I guess most of us would identify a brand like SONY, as being a good standard for comparison. I always found them good, very good product. But for a long time now, SONY, like Toyota, others, will assemble products in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia. Chinese components?

 

I went over to Korean, also about 20 years ago. LG, Goldstar, Samsung, found them great also, LG covered a nice range, TV, Ref, Air Con, Washing machine. Components from? I dunno, China maybe?

 

Then more recently, with the SONY Bravo series and maybe Samsung, JVC, leading the way in flat screen, they have models going well over 100k....as much as 150-160k pesos.

 

Then you have all the mid level brands. 30k ranging up and down. Phillips, most definitely a Euro brand, usually well priced and quite good. The tag said made in China.

 

Then more recently as the name brands shot up. The "Made in China" dropped rock bottom. As such you can get a 40 inch flat screen, around 18k, tops and many models scaled down from there. Small TV's 3k and so on.

 

I just saw one. JBC, I think it was,special offer, 2 flat screens for 23, 000.  40 inch and 28 I think.

 

So what do you say guys. Are they all the same or similar on the inside?

 

Any anecdotal experience. Pro or con?

[expatuk2014]

There is a good video on youtube called made in china factory to the world.

That will give you a good idea about the quality of a lot of the stuff such as irons-blenders etc !

I have a philips Shaver which I have had now for quite a while ( made in china ) if I buy the " genuine branded replacement cutter heads "

the cost is just over 3000 pesos ! A " generic set is 430 pesos " and they are exactly the same !!

 

made in china take an Apple Ipod , yes  folks I own an Apple product ! :dance:  on the back is states

" designed in california assembled in China " Even the dell laptop I am using to type this is made in china !! "

Bought it 3yrs ago still as good as new only upgrades it from windows 7 home to windows 7 pro.

 

My sister in law recently bought a LG tv from SM " Because LG is Korean like her mobile "

when she got home and asked me to assemble it for her , when I told her " oh it say made in China " she said " naks "

But its a good TV has internet- cable ready-HD-USB inputs etc etc

just try and go into a store and insist on buying something  Electrical thats not made in China, you will find it very hard !

Edited August 10, 2015 by expatuk2014

[Methersgate]

Like others here I have lived in China.

 

There is a huge difference between:

 

1, Assembled in China under very strict supervision, with key widgets imported from elsewhere to cut down on copying, and subjected to stringent quality inspection. Example - the iPhone in your pocket.

 

2. Made in China using Chinese sourced components, but to a foreign design, under supervision. Example - middle range televisions, many brands of sportswear and adventure clothing.

 

3. Made in China for export by a Chinese company. Example, the cheap smartphones on sale in the Philippines.

 

4. Made in China for the local market. Luckily you won't see these.

 

1. will be fine.

2. ought to be OK

3. won't last long...

[BrettGC]

Goldstar is now LG.  Goldstar had such a bad reputation in the 90's they changed the name.  I own an LG phone, computer monitors and TV and after reading reviews, and using them all for a couple of years now I find them to be the best quality on the market, particularly the monitors and TV.  They surpass the much more expensive other Korean (Samsung etc)brands as well as the Japanese and are a fair bit cheaper (Samsung comes to mind).  My LG phone is the best smart phone I've ever owned (LG G2), had it a couple of years now and a much better experience than my previously owned HTC's and iPhone.  

 

I do have a Philips monitor as well and it's actually pretty crappy.  As to their other appliances I couldn't say, I remember when they were "The thing" back in the 80's and 90's.

 

I bought a "MyPhone", last time when in Phils for my Globe and Smart sims (it's dual-sim) and it was significantly cheaper (less than half) than any other similarly spec'd phone.  It is barely adequate for the listed specs but does the job.  MyPhone is built in Phils and tailored for the local market there.  

 

I've had a Hisense (Chinese) fridge for about 4 years and it's going great guns still and was about 2/3 of the price of any of the big names.

 

The latest batch of Chinese branded and manufactured (Lenovo etc) are actually getting pretty good wraps on the review sites right now.  

 

 

I guess best advice is to do the research, ask people and stay out of single brand stores where the sales people are paid to sell you the cool-ade :thumbsup:  

[scott h]

I am no electronics expert, nor a very good comparison shopper. All I really know is that well known brands names are usually well known for a reason. That and the old adage, "You get what you pay for". So far in regards to all the electronic appliances we have purchased since moving here (oh the wife is a brand name snob by the way) from TV's to DVD players, to toasters to air conditioning units to cloths washing machine ad infinitum. The only one we have had a problem with is the Made In America washing machine. (and yes I was smart enough not to say "I told you so!" to the wife).

 

I have companioned shopped all the brand names at the major appliance centers here in Metro Manila. I have found they all carry the same brand names and all the prices are with in a couple of hundred pesos of each other.

 

But HEY!!!! The good news is, is that most of us are retired and what can be better than being here in the Philippines than walking around an air conditioned mall, with our lady on our arm, cool drink in our hand, being fawned over by young pretty sales ladies. (wear your sunglasses at all times so you don't get caught ogling), looking at things you might or might not buy :cheersty: .

[BrettGC]

But HEY!!!! The good news is, is that most of us are retired and what can be better than being here in the Philippines than walking around an air conditioned mall, with our lady on our arm, cool drink in our hand, being fawned over by young pretty sales ladies. (wear your sunglasses at all times so you don't get caught ogling), looking at things you might or might not buy

 

All of a sudden retirement became even more attractive than it already is!

[Thomas]

Toshiba harddrives are made/assembled in Laguna, Philippines   :)

 

The Philippines even export rather much electronics, so I suppouse there are more.

[Dave Hounddriver]

The Philippines even export rather much electronics

 

I once came across a small factory, in Cebu, making furniture for export.  The quality was excellent but when I tried to buy some they would NOT sell to me.  No way, no how.  Everything was already accounted for and marked for export and they could not sell it in country.

 

If you are talking export quality electronics I strongly suspect you will have the same result if trying to buy Philippine made in Philippines.  But if others here have better luck, (other than just quoting Google sources), lets hear it!

[Thomas]

 

The Philippines even export rather much electronics

 

I once came across a small factory, in Cebu, making furniture for export.  The quality was excellent but when I tried to buy some they would NOT sell to me.  No way, no how.  Everything was already accounted for and marked for export and they could not sell it in country.

 

If you are talking export quality electronics I strongly suspect you will have the same result if trying to buy Philippine made in Philippines.  But if others here have better luck, (other than just quoting Google sources), lets hear it!

I don't know in Phils, but years ago I knew of some factories in Thailand, which produced for the brand company, but after they had made the order, they made EXTRA with same material and in same mashines   :)   (but at least the sports gear they sold to Europe they HADN'T branded.) I'm not sure about clothes. They had the brand, but I don't know if they were made in same factories or if someone else made very good copies. They had very high quality.

 

(That Toshiba production in Phils I just happened to know,, because I knew a Filipina, who worked there   :)

[OnMyWay]

1, Assembled in China under very strict supervision, with key widgets imported from elsewhere to cut down on copying, and subjected to stringent quality inspection. Example - the iPhone in your pocket.   2. Made in China using Chinese sourced components, but to a foreign design, under supervision. Example - middle range televisions, many brands of sportswear and adventure clothing.   3. Made in China for export by a Chinese company. Example, the cheap smartphones on sale in the Philippines.   4. Made in China for the local market. Luckily you won't see these.   1. will be fine. 2. ought to be OK 3. won't last long...

 

I agree with the other posters about LG (Lucky Goldstar).  I was first impressed with the LG washer and dryer I bought in the US, and here I have an LG TV, LG washer and LG frig.  I have been happy with all of them.  I'm not sure which fall into the category 1 or are actually made in Korea.  I recently read an article about Korean cars.  It seems that Korean industry made a conscious decision to focus on quality and not price about 10-15 years ago.  That is why the Hyundai's and Kia's are now top quality, but the prices also followed the quality up.  I think the appliances followed this as well.

 

If the price diff is not too much, I will choose the perceived better name brand.  I don't mind buying the cheapie stuff as long as I know it will be a disposable purchase.  If I want to have something last a long time, I will ante up for the higher prices.

 

Here in the Philippines, LED TVs still cost quite a bit more than the U.S., but prices of cheapies and name brands have come down a lot.  On smaller models, the price diff is not that much and I think I would by the brand name.  However, on the really big screens, the prices are still a bit ridiculous.

 

Regarding Phillips, they have good worldwide marketing and my perception is that they are a quality brand, but I was never impressed with their flat screens in the U.S.  And most of their prices here in the Philippines are far higher than similar products.

 

If I am looking for quality and willing to pay for it, I do a lot of research before a purchase.  It is harder to find reviews of the cheaper Chinese products but sometimes you can.  I use Amazon a lot to read product reviews.  Recently when I was shopping for a juicer I found a Philips juicer that was very interesting.  That model is not sold in the U.S. but it is in Europe and they have it on Amazon.UK.  Luckily I read the reviews and found out the juicing was great, but the motors were frequently burning out in a week or two!  Crossed that one off the list.

 

So for a juicer I ended up with a Dowell, made in China clone of a top American brand.  The quality seems good but only time will tell.  This China product is too expensive (about p9000) to be disposable so I hope it it is a category 2 product.