# Advice on laptop brands **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** computer-hardware\ **Created:** [March 17, 2025, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710 "2025-03-17T08:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/21 "2025-03-17T20:35:30Z")
This article is completely out of date since its from 2009, but it ranks the 3 year malfunction rate of various brands of laptops. > **[Who makes the most reliable laptops?](https://www.cnet.com/culture/who-makes-the-most-reliable-laptops-10400447/?ftag=YHRbd38a98)** > > Warranty firm SquareTrade has just released a research paper analyzing the failure rate for 30,000 laptops comparing brands and hardware categories--and the results might surprise you. Asus was the lowest at 16%, and HP was the highest at 26%. Acer was near the highest with 23%. But all that means is that over the course of 3 years, an extra 1 in 10 people with an HP have their laptop malfunction vs someone with an Asus. I’m assuming reliability is higher now after 16 years of additional R&D and product development. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/22 "2025-03-17T20:51:03Z")
I retired my mom’s 2010 HP laptop and got her a new one from Costco about 8 months ago. She prefers a wide screen and a number pad so we got one of their bigger ones, a 17". So far it’s been fine. She doesn’t take it anywhere, she keeps it on her desk, but opens and closes it every day. I got myself an HP too, after retiring my Toshiba laptop. Mine doesn’t go anywhere either, it sits on my desk. But I open and close it every day. When we were shopping for mom’s machine we pretty much just shopped by feel. She wanted a keyboard and a screen she liked, and HP had it. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/23 "2025-03-17T22:19:26Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The XPS line is their prosumer line, which sells more premium features (better screens, gaming stuff, etc.) but not necessarily any more reliability, and importantly, not necessarily any better support. I currently own two XPS-13s, one of which has been my everyday machine for four years. I don’t do any heavy computing like gaming or video editing, only ordinary stuff like Office apps, web browsing etc. The biggest problem I’ve had with it is that the rubber non-slip strips underneath have loosened and I had to glue them back down. I have used Dell desktops and laptops almost exclusively for more than thirty years, and in all that time have rarely if ever had reliability problems or needed to call for support. One user’s experience. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/24 "2025-03-17T22:35:34Z")
I used to have an HP as my work laptop. I never had any hinge problems like @Mangetout mentioned, but it had lots of weird driver problems that caused all kinds of weird software issues (In fact our IT guy warned me that they sucked, but of course it was outside his control). They seemed to be related to the docking station drivers. The problems did seem to go away after a while; I’m guessing they pushed some software updates that fixed the issues. But it still soured me on HP laptops. When they refreshed our laptops, they replaced it with a Dell. I have no complaints about it. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/25 "2025-03-17T23:51:04Z")
I have a Lenovo and I am basically happy with it. It operates fine. Just two things I dislike. The speaker is nearly inaudible and the built-in Camera stinks. I can cast the sound to my stereo using Bluetooth, but it would require an external camera to improve that. My wife and I Zoom with our kids every week and even on my screen our pictures are washed out, while theirs are bright and clear. You don’t learn these facts from specs (maybe reviews would help). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/26 "2025-03-18T00:04:57Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > Buy an Intel MacBook which will run Windoze natively all day long. Only if one is looking for a used laptop; my understanding is that Apple phased out the Intel Macbooks, with the final such model discontinued in 2023. > **[Apple’s last remaining Intel Macs have been quietly discontinued](https://bgr.com/tech/apples-last-remaining-intel-macs-have-been-quietly-discontinued/)** > > Following the WWDC 2023 keynote, the last remaining Intel Macs have finally been discontinued. Now you can only buy Apple Silicon Macs. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/27 "2025-03-18T00:44:03Z")
Depending on where you are there still should be some with full warranty on the Apple Refurb site ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/28 "2025-03-18T00:48:19Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I have used Dell desktops and laptops almost exclusively for more than thirty years, and in all that time have rarely if ever had reliability problems If I had to buy a PC laptop for work use, it’d probably also be either a Dell Latitude or a Lenovo ThinkPad. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The speaker is nearly inaudible and the built-in Camera stinks. Probably 90% of consumer laptops are like that. Business machines are even worse. But each manufacturer has specific models that try to offer better A/V performance. [Rtings.com](http://Rtings.com) is good for figuring out things like that, e.g. this table sorted by “multimedia”, higher score is better: [Laptop Table Tool - RTINGS.com](https://www.rtings.com/laptop/tools/table) Macbooks also offer very good screens (not the best but very good), speakers (exceptionally good) and webcams (very very good). > [@MacDoc](#): > > Buy an Intel MacBook which will run Windoze natively all day long. Are you sure they can run Windows 11 without workarounds? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/29 "2025-03-18T00:49:41Z")
Yeah, that era is over. That said, I have a few ham radio apps that are still clinging to the Windows-only days, so when I have to run those, Windows 11 runs fine in emulation using Parallels. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/30 "2025-03-18T01:02:21Z")
I have no quantitative data to back this up, but I’ve always been happy with Dell. I now have three Dell laptops of three different generations, and the two old ones are still running fine. The new one still hasn’t even been activated yet! My daily driver is a Dell Optiplex business desktop that is without a doubt the best computer I’ve ever owned, mainly because the full-size case has lots of room for expansion and it’s so incredibly quiet I can’t even tell that it’s on. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/31 "2025-03-18T04:10:35Z")
A warning about Dell They’re changing the simple Inspiron=consumer, Latitude=business labeling with they’re new arrangement of Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max, with each of those then divided into Base, Premium, and Venti, or something like that. Best guess is they want people to get excited about new Dell laptops like they get excited about new iPhones by adopting a similar naming scheme, but unfortunately they’re 10 years late, and nobody gets excited about new iPhones anymore. It makes me want to give up on figuring it out, and buy a [Framework](https://frame.work/). Word from our Dell rep is that new systems should be arriving in April under the new branding. They are already selling some laptops under the new brands. I’ve used many Dells over the years. Some have been good, and some not as good. All plastic ones can crack if abused or carried in a sack instead of a computer bag. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/32 "2025-03-18T11:29:49Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > Depending on where you are there still should be some with full warranty on the Apple Refurb site I kind of doubt that. I get the feeling Apple would rather dump whatever supply of Intel Macs it has left in the landfill next to all those ET Atari cartridges than sell them to anyone. I just checked the Apple refurbished tracker and it looks like in the last month, there has been exactly one refurb Intel Mac (a Mini) for sale and it was in Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/33 "2025-03-18T11:50:06Z")
Lots here > **[OWC New, Used, & Refurbished Macs for Sale | MacSales.com](https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple_Systems/Used/Macs_and_Tablets)** > > Upgrade your setup with new, used, and refurbished Macs. Get top-quality OWC used Macs for unbeatable performance at a fraction of the cost. Shop now! Larry picks up discontinued Mac models from Apple some of which are brand new and generally all can have 2 years warranty. All the Intels will run Windows natively. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/34 "2025-03-18T11:59:27Z")
I’m a similar laptop user as the OP, maybe with heavier keyboard emphasis (I write every day, much of the day on my laptop). I’m also in Europe. I used Asus laptops for years and years, and was pretty happy with 'em. When my last one died instantly from a tea mug spill, I looked for other options. Being a writer, I need a laptop with an excellent keyboard, and Lenovos seemed to have the best ones out there. I’ve been using a Thinkpad daily now for several years. The keyboard truly is a pleasure to use. I have needed to use the warranty repair for power cord failure, and had to shell a hundred for a new keypad shortly after the warranty expired, but I’m happy this thing is actually home repairable, with parts commonly available. The plastic case has a couple of cracks, one of the USB C ports has bent out of shape, and the battery is close to gone (which is easy to fix, but another 100 e), and given the Chinese spy angle mentioned above, I’m not sure my next laptop will be a Lenovo. Dells have always been too expensive for me. I guess they’re cheaper in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/35 "2025-03-18T12:09:26Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > All the Intels will run Windows natively. Windows what? 10 (which is soon to be discontinued) or 11? Also, isn’t Bootcamp itself unmaintained now? Doesn’t seem like it’s been updated since 2022 or so. If it already requires workarounds to work with Windows 11, it doesn’t seem like it would keep on working for very long. This is all fine for someone used to tinkering with computers, but for someone looking for a “normal” laptop that will keep working for a long time without fiddling… this is probably not a safe approach. Their CPUs may be able to run x86 code natively, but the rest of their components are non-standard and require Apple-specific drivers, provided with Bootcamp, to properly function. If Apple doesn’t keep updating them for newer Windowses, they will stop working. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/36 "2025-03-18T12:10:45Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Dells have always been too expensive for me. I guess they’re cheaper in the U.S. They’re expensive here too, but often have random coupon codes and discounts floating around the internet. But in the US, because Apple products are so common and so much more expensive, they make most of the Windows stuff seem affordable by comparison. And a lot of Dells are ordered by institutions (companies, schools, governments) instead of individuals, so there’s a big second-hand market too. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/37 "2025-03-18T12:11:07Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > Depending on where you are there still should be some with full warranty on the Apple Refurb site No, don’t bother going down the Intel Mac route. First of all, the Intel Macs were terrible (keyboard problems, ran hot, stupid touchbar) which is why people heralded the coming of the M series. Secondly, the last model year for Intel Macs was 2019 and laptop tech has actually advanced significantly since then. Follow the advice of everyone else in the thread, get a bog standard cheapie machine, treat it as disposable, when it inevitably breaks, buy the next gen of the same thing. Sadly, anything else is not going to be as economical as going down this road if you insist on staying inside the Windows world :(. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/38 "2025-03-18T12:17:38Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > [About Dell] They’re changing the simple Inspiron=consumer, Latitude=business labeling with they’re new arrangement of Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max Thanks for this update! I totally forgot this was happening 🤦 Seems like they’re just copying the Apple branding scheme, with the M4 Pro/Max/Ultra/Super-Duper-Mega-Uber Wonder how it’ll turn out… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/39 "2025-03-18T12:46:13Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Follow the advice of everyone else in the thread, get a bog standard cheapie machine, treat it as disposable, when it inevitably breaks, buy the next gen of the same thing. If you’re going down the route of a cheapie machine, really consider a Chromebook, because it will run better on cheap hardware. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710/40 "2025-03-18T12:50:11Z")
That won’t run Windows apps, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-laptop-brands/1015710.md?page=3)