Question of the Month: When choosing test equipment or tools, how important is the company’s brand?

Specs and value are paramount for me, but I include things like reliability in my requirements that can be associated with brands. I do research though to try to ensure I will get what I expect. I don't walk around in name brand clothing and I don't drive a high end car brand. That said, I respect brands that have built their reputation by making superior products.

I thlink this ties in perfectly with my view as well.

I would not by an unknown, randomly-named brand (such as flood Amazon and EBay) but I have no issue with buying a product from a new brand has decent reviews.

The brand is where I start, especially if I am satisfied with the performance of the equipment I have. It is hard to ignore price when making personal purchases. In the company, you could use ease of support by sticking with one brand. That argument doesn't fly with the missus if the money to make the purchase is coming off her new kitchen range.

Most of my gear is brand centrix, for the most part, my gear is HP and my scopes are Textronic and my DVMs are FLUKE most of my stuff was used and picked up at auctions. I trust those brands. I have weirder stuff, but mostly that is/was a one-off. And I fell in love with this piece of gear: Racal-Dana 9015A Series Microprocessing Timer / Counter when I worked at Huges Aircraft decades ago. Also, eBay has for the most part been good. 

Same here, I always try to buy a brand because firms have their reputations to uphold in their brand, so you know if the product will be competent or not. Especially with complex products, where you cannot immediately test everything, and you need to trust the instrument will work correctly in all the niche features as well as the basic features that it supports. The brand provides that trust. Having said that, in the absence of a brand, or for cost-sensitive stuff, I will consider other products if I can obtain the trust in other ways, e.g. past experience with the manufacturer, or honest reviews. I really hate sponsored ads that some Youtube videos have where the presenter starts talking about (say) NordVPN or a certain PCB supplier and so on, because that reviewer is only doing it for the money, and not because that product is any good for the potential purchaser or not.

I have a Racal counter too! I have an older model, not as nice as the 9015A. I worked for one of the Racal companies once : ) although not in the test instrumentation space. However all the Racal companies helped each other out, so the firm where I worked would have a preference for purchasing Racal test instruments before considering other manufacturers. Their stuff is legendary for good quality, in the UK at least I think. Another example of a good brand : ) 

The trusted brand for lab instruments over here was Philips.

The brand definitely makes a difference. Take a simple hex key set. I have had lots of Mastercraft and Certified or other cheaper tool brands, but they always wear out or break. I bought a set made in Germany and I've been using them all the time... They haven't worn, bent or broken yet and I use them often. It makes a difference. I usually buy what I know I'll use, refrain from what I don't and what I do have will last the rest of my life. I have other examples but the hex key was the best I could explain in a few quick words.