a brand name, because if you don't, the whole thing will lose its purpose when you see a bird in the distance that looks great, but you cannot identify it because all you can see through your cheap binoculars is a ball of puff. thus, spending some extra money on a pair of good binoculars is always better.
do some research and find out what kind of birds are present in your area before you try to identify them. find out what you can expect, and that will make it easier for you to identify the bird when you see it.
along with finding out about the birds in your area, also 