Dependable laptop - Lenovo vs ASUS? Please Advise.

[kolya111]

Hi,

I'm building a desktop (that process led me to this site and all of you wonderful people). Unfortunately you can't pack those with you, and my current laptop is on the fritz. I'm looking to buy something for travel purposes. $600 budget, but less would be great. USA customer.

Purpose: Doesn't have to do much - internet / MS Office. Doesn't need much storage. I would like an HDMI port and the ability to output to my TV at full 1080p resolution (if that's possible; if not oh well).

My goal is to buy something that stands a good chance of lasting 4+ years. Reliability is my biggest interest. That led me to Lenovo or ASUS, although if you think I am making a mistake by choosing these brands then please let me know. My experience is that business-model laptops have better build quality, so I've mainly been looking at the lower end of their business lines.

Any purchase advice for me? Really appreciate your thoughts.

 

[dudewitbow]

in my opinion, both are fine brands, but people usually have their own brands to stay away from. I personally don't like HP and Acer units.

 

[jaguarskx]

Both Asus and Lenovo makes good laptops. Lenovo has a longer track record simply because they have been selling laptops for a longer period of time. The ThinkPad tends to be one of the highest quality laptop series manufactured. Before IBM sold their laptop business to Lenovo, ThinkPads were basically the premier business laptop to buy. My IBM ThinkPad T41 from 2003 still works to this very day.

 

[Tibbs01]

Both are great choices. I own and have owned many thinkpads over the year's for work and also have an almost 4 year old Asus that is still trucking along for home use and light gaming. Things I would consider after owning both:

-Lenovo has the far superior keyboard
-Lenovo T and X series will only have a DP/VGA output but you can get a DP to HDMI adapter, I believe the Z and the Y series of Lenovo both have HDMI out though and are more likely to be in your budget range vs. the X or T series. The Asus will have HDMI out.
-Lenovo 1366x768 screen quality is not very good, the 1600x900 is great however, so make sure you look at this upgrade before any others imo of you go the Lenovo route.