What laptop brands are good?

PureChaos

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I really need a new laptop but I'm not sure which brand to go with. My previous laptop was a Toshiba and I loved it so when it went kaput I got another Toshiba but after almost 6 years it really needs replacing. I was going to go with another Toshiba but I don't like the new keyboard design (there's about a 1/2cm gap between all the keys) so I'm thinking about going with another brand but don't know which ones are worth looking into.

Acer and Lenovo have popped up a few times, I've heard Dell aren't as good as they make themselves out to be and, I don't know why, but there's something about HP that makes me not want a HP laptop. Maybe it's becasue I don't like HP sauce, I don't know. Anyway, what other brands are there around that I should look into? I don't need anything top of the range and expensive (?400 would probsbly be the absolute max) as I don't do a huge amount with (I don't play games or anything like that on it) so if anyone has any brand recomendadtions or insights it'd really help.

EDIT: I have taken some suggestions into account and have narrowed it down to 2 laptops which are detailed on page 2
 

Hoplon

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Well, currently using a Mac book with windows installed because i can. is probably the best built laptop i have used. but they are also hideously expensive.

HP and Acer both have serious build quality issues when i was buying professionally so i steer clear of them. dell aren't bad, just rammed to the gills with total garbage. if you aren't liking the new Toshiba maybe Lenovo are worth a look, took over from IBM making the think pad.
 

Barbas

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Last I heard, ASUS is the best, followed by Acer. Next come Lenovo and IBM, which have roughly the same level of quality. Toshiba's average, DELL's unremarkable, while HP are crap for both reliability and technical support.

I've been using an ASUS with 4 GB of RAM that I got for about ?400, five years ago. It's still serving faithfully and came bundled with a few easily removed programs from ASUS, most of which I actually kept due to their usefulness. The only thing I'll say against the company is that the quality of English in some of their programs and instructions could use some improvement. Overall, though, very impressed.
 

sneakypenguin

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"Any" laptop brand is good. If you buy the good laptop from that brand. People buy 3-400 dollar laptops and will be like oh HP/ASUS/Dell sucks. Its why apple gets the "quality" label attached to their stuff cause their cheapest is what 999? If you spend 800+ on a laptop from any brand your gonna get a good laptop metal/carbon fiber good screen, good battery, SSD, etc.
 

Hairless Mammoth

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Dell isn't horrible. I heard that they did have a bad reputation for the hinges failing in early 2000s models. Besides the bloatware many OEMs put on their PCs and the ridiculous markups for simple upgrades that many built-to-order manufacturers charge, I don't know what people might complain about for modern Dells. My 5 year old Studio 15 in doing fine except for the cheap plastics around the hinges breaking off when I carried it in a bag. Electrically, it is just like the day I bought it. My sister's cheapo Dell seems to have been designed better to avoid plastic shards breaking off, so they might have addresses that flaw.

From all of the plastic I've seen falling off some notebook, I'd recommend looking at reviews for and the designs of any laptop you are considering. If you carry your computer around a lot, one that can survive daily trips without shedding its skin (or worse, puking out tiny screws that could later short out the expensive bits) is a must.

Personally, I avoid HP and Gateway. Everything HP makes finds a way to anger me, eventually. I've never heard praise for Gateway, and my family's old Gateway is the noted screw puker.
 

Kotaro

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Asus make some incredible high-end laptops if you don't mind paying a premium.
On the other hand, Toshiba will give you the best bang for your buck. Everyone assumes their laptops are cheaply made because they're less expensive, but that's because they make all of their own parts, so they don't need to mark them up as much.
I do not recommend HP, as almost every machine they make has at least one serious design flaw. And Gateway are pretty awful at making everything except monitors (but their monitors are excellent).
 

Hoplon

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sneakypenguin said:
"Any" laptop brand is good. If you buy the good laptop from that brand. People buy 3-400 dollar laptops and will be like oh HP/ASUS/Dell sucks. Its why apple gets the "quality" label attached to their stuff cause their cheapest is what 999? If you spend 800+ on a laptop from any brand your gonna get a good laptop metal/carbon fiber good screen, good battery, SSD, etc.
that's why i hate HP, have spent upwards of ?1000 on them and they have the life span of a wet paper bag.
 

Fallow

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I'd say stay far away from DELL, it's absolute crap. I'll also echo Barbas and recommend an ASUS laptop, followed by Lenovo.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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I had an Acer and quite liked it. Had it for about 5 years and during that time it did everything I asked of it including playing games. It would heat up a lot and the battery life wasn't that great but I honestly never had any complaints about the way it ran. It still works, I just moved on to a desktop so I really don't need it anymore.

Had a Lenovo Thinkpad and it was a piece of shit. The keyboard was great but it had a defective motherboard that died after a year (just outside of warranty). This was a known problem with lenovos at the time but they still refused to fix it.
 

Kaymish

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I had an Acer for a long time but then it got too old and i replaced it with an HP that went well then the HDD crapped out and all the recovery gear was on the Hard drive which was dumb (my Acer came with a recovery CD) anyway once i replaced the Hard drive with an SSD it was all good until it became a burglary victim stolen then i got another highend HP from the insurance which has been going really good but the insurance company put a new Crucial SSD in it for me so i cannot comment on what the stock one is like
my dad has had a couple of Dell's crap out on him but im not sure which price bracket they were in or how well he took care of them but his office is dusty as hell and we all know how well laptops and dust get on
 

GundamSentinel

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I've had an Asus and an HP over the last few years. The Asus one was absolutely great and their customer support was very good as well. Even though it wasn't state of the art at the time, I managed to play most of the games I wanted for over 6 years. The HP one was mediocre. The speakers died quite suddenly and screws started coming loose for no reason. It was a rattling piece of junk within 2 years. Right now I have an MSI and I'm loving it. Expensive, but you get a lot for it.

I've heard Lenovo come with a lot of really annoying bloatware, so I've been advised to stay away form it. And while Dell was shit in the past, they have some really good stuff now. And pretty cheaply as well.
 
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I've owned two laptops, an MSI computer that lasted about three years, and an Acer that I've owned for a year and a half so far.

The MSI computer was alright, but I didn't really know how to buy computers at that time and bought a shitty one for what I wanted. I think there was some issue with the motherboard or some connection with the hard drive because it would only boot once in a while. I think that was my fault though, because I had a tendency to rest my hands on it over ledges to avoid overheating. It worked pretty well and I don't really have many complaints.

My Acer computer was a little bit less positive. I bought smarter this time and actually got a computer with a dedicated graphics card, the laptop had some issues though. Still to this day I have really shitty internet connections that drop intermittently. It'll drop off for minute long periods intermittently under regular load, and under high load such as when I'm downloading something, it'll work for 1 minute, then drop off entirely for 3. As far as I can tell all I can really do is replace the card. That aside, it was a really good value for the price so I'm not too broken up about it. If you do buy Acer, I advise you to avoid any computer with the Qualcomm Atheros Ar5bwb222 wireless card. You might not have issues, but a number of people who bought those computers did, and most of the time you're screwed if you do
 

Rickolas Walrus

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If you're just dicking around on the internet (youtube, Netflix, news, research, email, etc) then I recommend a Chromebook, they're super cheap (most expensive is like maybe $300 I think and the cheapest is like $150), they last a helluva long time (mine's going on three years and works JUST like it did when I first bought it with zero repairs/effort put into it), and you can't get viruses/they're always up to date cuz they update everytime they turn on. Plus they boot instantly

But I'm aware they aren't for everyone (you can't download programs like Word you gotta use Google Docs, everything is done with an "app" and most things don't work without internet) and they aren't exactly powerhouses so if you're looking to game beyond a VBA-M emulator or do anything semi intensive then I'd say maybe a more powerful Toshiba or something. I don't need them for more than typical internet things so I'm not the most knowledgeable sorry
 

IceForce

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There's no 'right' answer to this. Everyone will tell you something different.

For example, I own both an HP Elitebook (15 inch) and a Dell Vostro (13 inch), and both have lasted and performed remarkably well.
 

Leg End

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I'm speaking from experience on these first two, Acer and HP suck ass no matter how you slice it and I'm going to parrot a bit, ASUS and Lenovo are good if you shell out for one of their not-destitute systems, the Thinkpad line from the latter in particular.

Toshiba quality I've heard has gone down but I've never had one, similar for Dell but they've sucked for a loooonnng time. For about 400 pounds though, most of your options are going to suck.
 

MercurySteam

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ASUS have a good reputation, MSI ones are impressive too but some people have luck with them and some people don't. Toshiba have proven solid enough though it depends on which model and HP sits somewhere in the middle while I haven't heard of anyone buying an Acer in a long time. Everyone uses their laptops differently, treats them differently and have different things to say about them so it's all luck of the draw. For a low price point I can't see a problem with Lenovo but it's a good idea to shop around and get value for money.
 

Clive Howlitzer

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I had a lot of luck getting a custom built one at Digital Storm. They might be worth investigating if they are within your price range. Before that I had an Asus and while it was good, it still had a string of issues that I haven't had with my current one.
 

stroopwafel

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Toshiba is my favorite as well(Satellite model). I had Acer, HP and Sony Vaio laptops and issues with all of them. Never had any problems with Toshiba. For like 800 bucks you have a really good laptop with quality parts(espescially the screen that is excellent for watching movies and such) that will last you years.
 

Smooth Operator

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Brand name means precious little anymore, all companies are perfectly happy ordering up a batch of cheap ass noname components or even entire computers and putting their label on it. Usually they are all getting components from the same factories anyway, the only question is if someone did the testing legwork or not.
So if you do decide on a certain range of laptop always read at least one legitimate site that talks about it, and marketing BS or internet store comments do not count.

Oh and if your laptop is coming pre-loaded do check what spyware the company in question is installing, this shit seems to be standard now.