In your humble opinion, in general, what is the best brand of laptop?

I do love my HPs…plus, they’re gettin’ SEXY!

I have had 2 Gateway notebooks in the last 5 years. The first I tripped over and fractured the lcd screen after 3 years. It was still running perfectly.

2 years with this one now and no complaints, decent price, lots of features, built in webcam and plenty of power.

Dell is my favorite PC brand of laptop, but I’ve only had experience with Dell, Toshiba, and IBM, so I can’t really speak for the other brands. Dell seems to offer all the highest-end options that other brands lack sometimes. My Dell has also lasted for years. After looking extensively for a new PC laptop, I came close to getting a Sony, but I chose a Dell in the end. Sony really only offers their highest-end options on their small Z series, which is a very expensive laptop. HP just doesn’t have enough options on their 14 and 15-inch laptops, Toshiba is more about value and less about features, Lenovo is pretty good, but their non-business laptops are not customizable, Acer and Asus laptops not customizable in any way, etc. All that made me choose Dell in the end.

And of course I like Apple for a Mac computer, but right now, I’m interested in PCs. My complaint about physical Apple computers is that the price skyrockets for the same features I would want on a Dell (8GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD probably brings the price over $3500) and there’s a lack of extra features in general.

IBuyPower has some excellent computers, great components and not nearly as much as, say, alienware, who has similarly powerful machines. have gotten my last three computers there, and recently convinced my girlfriend to get her new laptop from them, and I’ve always been impressed with the result.

Also helps that there was a review of a one of their new systems, and the reviewers said comparing the list prices of components via NewEgg (which is the go-to for computer hardware), IBuyPower’s price actually came in below the sum of the parts, which is extremely unusual. So that’s cool.

They are only online, which some people dislike, but that aside they have amazing machines and prices.

(oh, and in comparison to @Coloma, I’m currently writing this on my five year old laptop from them. Still kickin’)

There’s no such thing as a humble opinion.

bragging about a dell? thats a new one everyone i know who has ever owned any of dells products has found them to be a pile o crap. I have a samsung laptop and am pretty happy with it i couldnt say its the best because its the only one I have any experience of

Toshiba without a doubt. Don’t touch Compaq/HP- they are rubbish.

Dell is a really sturdy brand for a good price, but not so much with the flash. I enjoy Dell, but this time went with a Sony.

I usually avoid HP and Dell like the plague. Both companies make their laptops with cheap, entirely plastic parts that break easily. The best brands out there are definitely Lenovo, Toshiba, and Apple. Lenovo is by far the sturdiest, hardiest laptop manufacturer that makes PCs. Apple far outstrips them all with the absolute best construction (aluminum cases, for example). Apple may be more expensive, but in my opinion the extra money is worth it.

That being said, if your friend is proud of her new Dell, I wouldn’t want to burst her bubble. If she likes it, then that’s great for her!

@camertron

Just FYI, the new Dell XPS line has an aluminum casing (the one I ordered).

I have a couple hp ProBooks a Durabook. I have recently (accidentally) killed a couple Dell Latitudes and still have an IBM ThinkPad.

Considering my experience, the newer the laptop, the faster it is and the higher capacity hard drive they contain. The trouble is that, in the quest for light weight, they also become more fragile. So my opinion is that if you are very gentle and don’t carry the computer around too much, get an HP because they have great features and are inexpensive. Dell, in my opinion has become over priced and are getting more expensive since they have moved their operations from the U.S.

If you travel a lot, I suggest a Panasonic ToughBook. They are heavier, more expensive, and a little lighter on features but they can take a beating. I would also consider an Apple 15” ProBook. The only reason that I don’t have one is that the industrial siftware I use is written for PC’s and I can’t afford to experiment with dual booting systems.

We have a Dell desktop and I bought my wife a Dell netbook, very reliable machines I have found, however I’m gonna take a risk and buy myself a Sony laptop in the new year, I use a Toshiba Tablet occasionally at work but find it a bit bulky.

I have only had a Dell, equipped with Window’s Seven. I must say I love it. My mom did research and got me a pretty good one. It depends on what kind of money you want to buy.
I, for one, LOVE macbooks. And that new air one looks awesome. However, they are NOT worth the money at all. So just choose wisely, don’t be afraid to do research, compare prices at different stores, and just ask. Ask the retailer what they think.

@camertron All those brands are put together by the same company in Taiwan – Quanta. Taiwan’s Quanta Computer makes 33 percent of all laptops in the world. Its customers include Acer, Alienware, Apple Inc., Cisco, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Gericom, Casper, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Maxdata, MPC, Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba. So I call bullshit.

@papayalily That’s not bullshit at all. Just because the same company makes the computers doesn’t mean they’re all created equal. You think HP, Dell, and Apple ask Quanta to make their computers with all the same materials? Yeah right. It’s just like if you walked into a restaurant and ordered a sandwich with ham instead of turkey – it’s your choice what you put in your own sandwich just as it’s your choice what you put in the computers you ask someone to manufacture for you.

I’ve been embedded in the computer industry all my life, and in my experience, professional and otherwise, Dell and HP look pretty but fall apart if you look sideways at them. It’s a widely held belief of nearly all the programmers I know that Dell in particular makes crappy computers. In the end, all this is really just an opinion. I don’t think that gives you the right to call bullshit though.

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro

I gotta go with @Nullo here; opinions tend to be arrogant.

I would say that Toshiba is the best overall.

Apple and Sony are overpriced for what you get, Asus just feel cheap, and the other major brands have unacceptably low reliability ratings for those that plan to keep a laptop for more than a year or get one that even survives that first year.

Toshibas tend to be reasonably priced and are near/at the top for reliability, and they have a nice, wide selection.

Steer clear of Lenovo. I’m not sure about the quality of Acer and Asus laptops, but I’ve heard they’re up and coming brands. I personally suggest any laptop by HP—that includes Compaq. My only complaint against HP is that they load their computers down with useless programs. But, those can be uninstalled of course.

@ParanoidAndroid Asus is up there for reliability (one of only three that beats Apple there) and I had zero issues with my old Acer despite the hell I put it through. HP is dead last by a fair margin.

Also, all computer makers pre-install crapware on their computers. I had to clean my Gateway desktop, my Toshiba and especially my Acer when I first got them.

@jerv All five of my Macs had ZERO crapware preinstalled.

@gtreyger IMAO, OS X qualifies as crapware, but that is my opinion and you are entitled to yours, so lets just agree to disagree.
However, you are correct in calling me out as the pre-installed stuff we can both agree is crapware is pretty much a PC-only thing. My bad.

@jerv Lol. OS X pros: No crapware. OS X cons: You’re going to use OS X….

OS X makes sense if: A) You’re a minimal computer user who doesn’t do more than surf the web, take photos, and make the occasional home video, or B) if you’re a programmer or web developer who doesn’t want to use Linux. Mac OS X is essentially Unix with a user-friendly interface. Considering that almost all the webservers in the world run a Unix-like OS, I’d say you’re doing pretty well to adopt OS X as it means you’ll have a stable platform and one that less susceptible to viruses. Windows just doesn’t have the architecture or security features present in OS X, a.k.a. Unix.

I’m going to have to agree with @jerv about HP laptops, tho. Just cheaply made.