What are good laptop brands in 2012?

zyzz

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Mar 9, 2012
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Is there a site to watch for good laptop reviews and comments on the brands?

I have only owned 2 Laptops ever. Well I had an ancient Mac Laptop, but lets ignore that.

HP - I always thought HP made cheap crappy products. But now I read HP makes some of the best gaming laptops for the price. Even HP non gaming laptops are suppose to be some of the best.

Acer - I always thought Acer was an average brand. I heard it's total garbage in 2012. I have seen some in stores, the material is quite cheap on most, but hardware wise I don't know nothin' bout em.

ASUS - The one brand I really trust. Had ASUS mobo's and ASUS gpu's. Never have failed me. I have heard now that their customer service is awful and the laptops are quite average.

Lenovo - Don't know much about this brand. All I heard that it was very good.

Sony - Sony seems to have good quality products that are not computers. I have only heard bad things about the Sony VAIO.

Dell - Never liked Dell. Overpriced crap. Dell/Alienware overpriced crap, nuff said.

Samsung - Went with a friend and bought a brand new Samsung laptop last year. Wireless card was broken. Returned it to the store and got a different Samsung. The Hard Drive was clicking - returned on the spot. That's all I can say about them.

Toshiba - a laptop I own. Nothing fancy, not for gaming. Got a deal on it. Hate the touchpad and keyboard is average. Material is average. The charging port was flimsy and broke. Got it fixed though.

Compaq (HP) - other laptop I own. Quite old, AMD 64. Pretty average. Nice keyboard and touchpad, decent screen. Runs very hot though. Try installing Windows and you have to prop the laptop up or the computer will turn off. The DVD drive is slowly failing.
 

Vettedude

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New Sony laptops are quite good, as are newer Dell's. I'm typing this on an Inspiron 14. I know quite a few people with Lenovo laptops, not a bad word about them.
 
Lenovo is pretty good overall. They are best known for their business class ThinkPad laptops. IBM sold their ThinkPad division to Lenovo back in 2005/2006. ThinkPads are semi-rugged laptops; I've seen several videos of drop tests from roughly 6 feet and all the way up to 30 feet (onto carpet though) where ThinkPads are still fully functional.

My IBM ThinkPad T40 from 2003 is still functional and I never had to call tech support for it. It's a bit sluggish today though, even surfing the net can be slightly sluggish because browsers like FireFox has become bloated from 9 years ago, also many sites have lots of Java and Flash running which contributes to the sluggishness.

 

zyzz

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Ok so Lenovo is a solid brand.

I want to know more about HP. Hp was once crap and cheap of the cheap. Now it's the best selling laptop and it's quality.

Also more on ASUS, a brand I trust.

I only read bad about Acer.
 
I tend to stay away from HP because I don't really like the design of their laptops, quality is still a lingering issue which will likely take a little more time for them to shake off.

Asus is generally good. Their products tends to be on the cheap side both materials and price, but overall quality seems to be at least average. I've read their customer / technical support has much to be desired though.

Acer generally tends to be bad except for their TravelMate/Timeline series.

Regarding Lenovo, their ThinkPad business series of laptops is superior in both build quality (although the ThinkPad Edge seems to buck that trend) and customer / technical support. For consumer level laptops like the IdeaPads they are above average.
 

zyzz

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What is wrong with HP quality? I thought they were good on everything now?

Ans ASUS cheap materials? The ASUS laptops I have seen have been aluminum and very durable feeling.
 


HP has more of an image problem due to the quality of their previous laptops which resulted in class action lawsuits against them. It is in HP's best interest to improve the quality of their laptops. It remains to be seen if they have actually done so since it takes time for issues to come up.

The comment regarding Asus is a general statement about all their laptops, not any one specific laptop. They generally have a reputation for being "cheap but good". I'm sure their ROG series of laptops have better quality than their other consumer oriented laptops.
 

zyzz

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I was looking at around $600 ASUS latops.

I have no use for a new laptop but it's good to know the quality brands now.

I suggested my friend to buy an ASUS and I told him HP and Lenovo were crap. But they are both great now.

Link me a good Lenovo for just all around use.
 

Cobalt9

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I own an HP Pavilion dv7 and its pretty good. I've dropped it and it didn't sustain any damage. The only problems I've had with it are: It had a virus that had to be removed by the people at Geek Squad, I'm currently having a problem with it coming on when it's closed, and it freezes up every once in a while (but I bought it 2 years ago, so that could be why its freezing up every once in a while). All in all though, this has been the best laptop I've ever had. I previously had a Gateway (don't remember the name of it) that only lasted me 2 years and before that a EMachine that only lasted me 1 year. My sister has an Acer (don't know the name of it) that she bought around the same time I bought my HP. It is a good computer. She hasn't had many problems with it except for a virus or two that had to be professionally removed. Other then that it is a good laptop. Whatever you do though, do not buy a Dell. Those things are garbage. My mom has to use a Dell Inspirion for work and has had to have it replaced 4 times in a matter of 3-5 months since receiving it from her company. Each time it was something different-The laptop wouldn't come on, She got the blue screen of death, etc. So don't buy a Dell. My dad has an Apple MacBook that works great. The only problem he has had with it is it would not charge, but this was quickly resolved by buying a new power adapter. Oh yes, and the screen cracked one time (however this is because Apple MacBook screens are made of glass unlike non-Apple laptops). Other than the power adapter problem, he has had virtually no problems with it. If you're looking for a laptop, I would recommend either an HP, Acer, or, if you have the money, an Apple Macbook.
 

zyzz

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Acer is garbage. I just fixed a friend's yesterday. Cheapest plastic and worst keyboard I ever felt. Touchpad was very sensitivty as well and I turned it down. Worse than the ones I have seen in stores.

Apple laptops are a rip off and I have 0 interest in apple products. I hate OSX.

I want to know more about HP. Good to hear you have a solid one. But Geek Squad...? Rip off central.
 

KardasDragon1321

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Jul 22, 2012
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From my expirience Toshiba is the best and most reliable brand to exist. I am typing this on a 10 year old Toshiba Satellite L40. My other 2 laptops are also Toshibas and have never failed me. No BSOD, doesnt get over heated and work amazing. I have just purchased a new Satellite p850 and boy am i glad. Otherwise i would go for Asus or Lenovo
 

christiancoria

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Nov 21, 2012
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hey is this also a good all around laptop? includes gaming. Lenovo ideapad S405 AMD A6
 

christiancoria

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hey is this also a good all around laptop? includes gaming. Lenovo ideapad S405 AMD A6
 

nillawafer

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Dec 30, 2012
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I would have to say the best brand to get is Apple. Although they are really expensive, they have great quality, and normally last over 5 years if kept in good condition. Plus, apple's have tons of apps and don't get too sluggish, nor overheat too bad. I've tried HP before, and it crashed non-stop with me after the first month or so of having it. :bounce: