Laptop Brand

It really depends on the model. What type of laptop specifically are you looking for?
 
Dell Latitude

The made for business ones are more reliable then the models they sell for general public consumption.

In the past 5 years, I have had only a few that have had any real trouble that was not user related. One was a motherboard problem, one was a SSD problem, one was a HDD problem, one was a fan problem, one was a heatsink problem, and one was a CPU problem.

I think I had a few that had RAM go bad in them as well, but I really don't keep track of that as almost all have had RAM upgrades.

I also had one that the backlight for the LCD went out on, but is was at least 5 years old at the time.

This is out of a few hundred Dell Latitude laptops of these models. D620, D630, E6500, E6510, E6410, E6420, E6430, E6440.
 
Apple, high-end Lenovo and Samsung models.

I prefer Mac laptops, if just because Apple "gets" many of the things that actually matter in a laptop. The trackpad and keyboard are genuinely good, where so many other companies manage to screw them up (how many jittery/unresponsive/clumsy Windows trackpads have you used?). Its approach to very high-res displays is better (apps scale much more gracefully). Its battery life figures are both good and realistic. And frankly, Apple has nicer design than most... it's using nice materials without being overly flashy or garish.

This isn't to say that other vendors don't or can't do all these, just that Apple is the poster child for these design values.
 
Lenovo has terrible customer service these days. Otherwise, you can never go wrong with ASUS.
 
Price-point, value, specs best are Acer and Asus.
Then comes HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo(not in order of value).

Ifcourse, Apple users will disagree. As will those who say a pre-built machine is a turd.

BTW, best store in USA is B&H for computers and cameras.
 
If Windows laptop and you aren't gaming (which you prob don't really want to do on a laptop for best performance anyways), go with the professional versions of Lenovo (Thinkpad), Dell (Precision), etc. if you want quality. Better builds, better wty, don't foist as much bloat and crap onto you (e.g. Lenovo only subjected their consumer line to SuperFish... however, I wouldn't completely trust them not to do that to the pro line either these days...).

There are some exceptions. Dell XPS line is pretty nice for consumer grade laptops.

And of course, if OSX fits your workflow and has the programs you want/need, then go Macbook.
 
I wouldn't touch an HP laptop with a 10' pole. Of the 50 people I work with who were all assigned various HP Elitebook or Zbook laptops, only a handful of us have been able to keep them alive for more than a few months at a time. None of us have been able to keep one alive for more than a year.


While I was still in college I worked on laptops as a side job. I saw so many more HP's come across my workbench than any other brand combined.
 
ryan_975 said:
I wouldn't touch an HP laptop with a 10' pole. Of the 50 people I work with who were all assigned various HP Elitebook or Zbook laptops, only a handful of us have been able to keep them alive for more than a few months at a time. None of us have been able to keep one alive for more than a year.


While I was still in college I worked on laptops as a side job. I saw so many more HP's come across my workbench than any other brand combined.
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I just got back from Best Buy and their geek squad guy told me that they get way more HP's than another other brand returned due to failures.
 
boneycat said:
I just got back from Best Buy and their geek squad guy told me that they get way more HP's than another other brand returned due to failures.
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The absolute low end of all brands is pretty bad if the brand has a low end. It's important to talk about the actual models. I could have bought any brand and still wouldn't trade my HP X360 Spectre for any model/brand even after 8 months.
 
He specifically mentioned the Spectre line, which is why I ended up buying a Dell. I'm glad yours is working out for you. I just wasn't willing to take the chance.
 
My Lenovo R61 from 2006 is still going strong. Sure I updated the firmware to remove the SATA2 speed limitation, added an SSD, and even updated the CPU to something a little bit faster than the original, but I still love it. If it had a high res. screen I would not be wanting anything for general computing. Also had to replace the battery but they are cheap on eBay.
 
ClockerXP said:
My Lenovo R61 from 2006 is still going strong. Sure I updated the firmware to remove the SATA2 speed limitation, added an SSD, and even updated the CPU to something a little bit faster than the original, but I still love it. If it had a high res. screen I would not be wanting anything for general computing. Also had to replace the battery but they are cheap on eBay.
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You might be able to put a higher resolution screen in it.
 
Gomar said:
BTW, best store in USA is B&H for computers and cameras.
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Cameras, yes. Computers, arguably no. They have no return policy short of DOA. You open it, it's yours. I'm not advocating returns but a 30 day, or even 14 day, return policy is nice piece of mind.
 
Costco has a 90 day return policy, best in the business. With that said their selection is spotty.

jimh425 - I bought my Dell i7353 at Best Buy last Fri. It's slightly heavier than the Spectre coming in at about 3.6lbs. I have nothing against HP, but after having my Sony Vaio and then my Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 die on me (the Yoga literally one month after the warranty expired) I'm hoping that this one lasts me for a bit.
 
boneycat said:
I just got back from Best Buy and their geek squad guy told me that they get way more HP's than another other brand returned due to failures.
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Our company switched from Lenovo to HP about 1.5 years ago. We've been busier here in IT repair, that's for damn sure.

Trackpads and Smart Card Readers are a major concern for me.
 
TechLarry said:
Our company switched from Lenovo to HP about 1.5 years ago. We've been busier here in IT repair, that's for damn sure.
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Our IT repair guys are busy with MAC Airs, Lenovos, and Dells. They also aren't running current versions of OS or recent models of laptops either!
 
jimh425 said:
Our IT repair guys are busy with MAC Airs, Lenovos, and Dells. They also aren't running current versions of OS or recent models of laptops either!
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And of course I went out and bought an HP today LOL
 
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