Create a protected property (protected, just in case you need to reference it from the page), and use that to get your product type.
protected string _productType
{
get
{
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.QueryString["product_type"])
return Request.QueryString["product_type"]
else
return "Acer";
}
}
Now just reference that where ever you need it. Remember, Request.QueryString returns a string, so you dont need to cast it to a string!