# Which of these laptop brands do you most trust? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197 "2011-10-19T22:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jdc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@jdc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdc)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/21 "2011-10-22T01:38:21Z")
We used to buy Dell Desktops (Precisions then Optiplex) and Laptops (Latitude), but we had pretty bad luck with reliability on the laptops and we’ve switched to Lenovo. Pretty small company, we probably have 200 desktops and 100 laptops, ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/22 "2011-10-22T12:08:08Z")
Wow, I did not expect Lenovo to lead the pack (it really wasn’t on my radar as a brand name). I see they’re a bit more expensive than many others. My budget is $400 - $500, so I’m thinking Toshiba at this point. The Dell I currently own is lucky I’ve restrained myself from taking a hammer to it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/23 "2011-10-22T13:01:20Z")
I voted Lenovo, but my experience with them is on the corporate side and the Thinkpad line. I’m in charge of buying, replacing and maintaining 1200+ of them. They are far from perfect, but built well. The Ideapad consumer line usually gets good reviews but I don’t have any practical experience with them. I have not been happy with HP. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/24 "2011-10-22T13:56:30Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > My budget is $400 - $500, so I’m thinking Toshiba at this point. I bought a Toshiba a year ago which I use every day, and I am very pleased with it. 4GB RAM, 300GB HD, Windows 7 64bit, 17" display: $649 ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/25 "2011-10-23T15:46:07Z")
The one I would recommend is not on the list, so I didn’t vote. But if you’re looking for more anecdotes, avoid Dell like the plague. My last couple of laptops from them were disasters. First they didn’t send me the right parts to plug it in and charge it, and then when they finally sent the right parts it never worked properly. The power cord has two parts and sometimes when you order replacements they ship ones where the parts don’t connect with each other properly. Videos and music wouldn’t play correctly unless it was plugged in, even if it was fully charged, and half the time it wouldn’t charge even when plugged in. Had to hold the cord just right for it to recognize it was plugged in, and the longer you use it the more picky it is about which way it needs to be facing to stay connected. They do something hinky to the power system to detect if it’s an authorized Dell charger and different laptops have different specs, and their own online store and support techs can’t say which charger goes with which laptop. So eventually I had a laptop that wouldn’t charge, would only work plugged in, and if the cord slipped even slightly it would not have power and would die in seconds, losing everything and taking 10 minutes to fully boot up again. I contacted support a few times, the first one never sent the part he promised and the second one I talked to sent it but then thought his doing his basic job meant he was going to transfer me to his supervisor so I could tell him what a “great” job he did fixing the problem. I even got a hold of their Executive Relations group and told them the saga and said they had to tell me what to do to fix it or I would never buy from them again. They did the absolute minimum possible to get rid of me and did so in broken English (even Executive Relations is in India? Come on, Dell, give me a break!). So when the laptop was unusable we spent our money to get a quality laptop from a different company. ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/26 "2011-10-23T18:07:42Z")
I work for HP ( not in the division that make laptops ) and won’t buy another HP or Compaq laptop even with an employee discount, had a Compaq laptop die a week out of waranty due to a known defect with the Nvidia GPU. HP tech support’s response was " Send it in with a check for the price of a new laptop and we will replace the motherboard with one just like the one that fried." I bought a Toshiba instead. Peace LIONsob ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/27 "2011-10-23T19:49:53Z")
For whatever it’s worth, there’s two laptop brands that seem to have very, very strong brand loyalty: Apple and ThinkPad. In my experience, there’s a reason for this. Apple makes computers with exceptional build quality and well-considered design. ThinkPad makes simple, functional systems that are also well-considered but less “flashy.” Apple would be out of your budget. “Real” ThinkPads would also be out of your budget, but the entry-level Edge ones might be affordable. My wife just bought an Edge 420s and it’s probably the best laptop I’ve ever used. ThinkPads are designed with “real world usability” as a priority – good keyboards, good tracking devices, and good heat levels. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/28 "2011-10-23T20:53:25Z")
I was in the same position as the OP a year ago; the choice or brands/models is quite astonishing. I didn’t know which one I was going to get until I was in a very good independent store in Tottenham Court Road, London. I saw this Vaio and thought ‘Yep, that’s the one for me’. It still is 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/29 "2011-10-24T15:52:53Z")
I’ll ad my $0.02: Whatever brand you buy, buy additional RAM and a SSD yourself. The premium manufacturers charge is outrageous. $200 worth of gear and 10 mins with a screwdriver != $500. And as an added bonus you get to install windows completely clean. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/30 "2011-11-25T15:48:09Z")
OP checking in. Based on these survey results - and lots of other research - I bought a Lenovo laptop a few weeks ago. And I could not be happier with it. Thanks, Dopers. mmm ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/31 "2011-11-25T22:43:37Z")
Dell ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/32 "2011-11-25T23:24:24Z")
Just ordered a Lenovo on a Black Friday special for the girl child based partly on threads like this one. Since she has an annoying habit of dropping computers, I wanted a business machine vs. a consumer machine. And, due to the aforementioned computer clumsiness, I opted for a solid state hard drive. With luck it will survive four years of college. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/33 "2011-11-26T02:51:18Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Just ordered a Lenovo on a Black Friday special for the girl child based partly on threads like this one. > Since she has an annoying habit of dropping computers, I wanted a business machine vs. a consumer machine. And, due to the aforementioned computer clumsiness, I opted for a solid state hard drive. > > With luck it will survive four years of college. Glad to hear it. I’m convinced there’s no better systems on the market for students. Out of curiosity, which model did you snag? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/34 "2011-11-26T02:59:39Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I had good experience with Fujitsu Lifebook. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/35 "2011-11-26T03:04:58Z")
My Acer caught fire. My Toshiba bricked itself. My new Dell is doing well. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/36 "2011-11-26T03:11:50Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Glad to hear it. I’m convinced there’s no better systems on the market for students. Out of curiosity, which model did you snag? The T520. Since she loves watching video and looking at photos, I went for the better screen. I also added the 160gb solid state drive, after verifying that she really won’t ever come close to needing that much disk space. All in all, it is much more machine than she will ever need as a liberal arts major. My other college kid received a MacBook Pro. He is studying video and film and wanted to run all that graphics editing software on a sweet machine. He won’t drop it. He has the better machine, but I bet he will envy her lightning-fast SSD boot times. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197/37 "2011-11-27T14:51:06Z")
Man, is this weird. I went to the site where I bought mine less than a month ago to find it is now [discontinued](http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&SID=xw94vywnt401&sku=793419&AID=10603278&PID=4169914&is=REG&A=details&Q=). mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-laptop-brands-do-you-most-trust/600197.md?page=1)