In message , John
wrote


The conclusion being that "Brand" has nothing to do with "Manufacturer"


It is not unknown for a manufacturer to buy in third party goods and
re-brand them as their own.

A recent example of the use of branding to sell to different markets is
with the Freesat boxes. You can buy a Humax box, a Bush box, a Goodmans
box or a Grundig box. Each has a different price tag. Three of the
boxes are however exactly the same design, the same electronics, the
same software and come from the same assembly line. The only difference
being the logo on the box and in the handbook. You can also tell by the
time and date of publication that it took someone around 15 minutes to
re-brand the instruction manual. (By the way, the Humax box is the odd
one out).

Even 15/20 years ago a common VCR chassis was sold with up-market and
budget end of the market branding for different prices.

These days a brand name doesn't mean much but nor does a manufactures
name. Judge each individual piece of equipment on its own merits. Even
if a manufacturer has a range of goods it doesn't mean that each one in
the range shares the same parentage or technology.
--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com