Just curious about performance and reliability. We have two and like them OK....but wanting to know opinions of others also. 

MacBook. 

ASUS by far the superior laptop 

Samsung or Sony 

Just curious about performance and reliability. We have two and like them OK....but wanting to know opinions of others also.


It's all subjective. It all depends on the needs of the person buying the laptop and what they expect said laptop to do for them. 

Whatever you get, get good protection from viruses, malware and the like. 

I've had a lot of laptops but I currently have a Sony Vaio and this thing is tough. I have dropped it about 3 times, the dog jumps on my bed and seems to always land a paw on the keyboard ( last night knocked off the #1 key and had to find it)and it keeps on going. I am hard on one because they have to travel with me. I tried taking my Htc 7 inch and the Ipad but I need my work computer 24/7. It is heavier than I like but I guess that is why it is still working. 

These types of discussions go on for pages and pages and months and months on the technical discussion boards that I frequent.

My professional opinion:
Indestructible: Panasonic ToughBook
Most durable for the money: Lenovo ThinkPad
Cheapest one that will last (as long as you don't abuse it): Toshiba Satellite

These aren't the only good names out there! Asus, Dell, HP, et. all are also good brands. The above are just my professional recommendations.

As nice as they are, as a pro I must recommend AGAINST a Sony Vaio. Too much crapware from the factory and support is a joke. I once needed a chipset driver for one, but their web site only had dumb compiled binary installers for download and I needed an INF in that case. I tried asking them about the chipset so that I could get the driver directly from the chip maker, and they acted like it was a trade secret and refused to tell me! I had to boot to a live Linux CD and find out via lspci what the hardware spec's were so that I could get the drivers in non-binary form from someplace other than Sony. THAT is LOUSY support! 

We bought a Toshiba about a month ago after having a Dell and a Gateway. Never again! We passed the Dell down to our son as it was older but I'm thinking I would like to trade with him and let him have the Toshiba. lol! 

I forgot my brand recomendation for best performance: Eurocom

Bar none. Far and away. All others in the dust. No one else comes close. 

Bar none. Far and away. All others in the dust. No one else comes close.
I recently worked on one of those and I have to say that it was a very nice machine. I think it was a cougar or something like that. I would certainly buy one if the price fit my budget. 

I have purchased two Toshiba Satellites and what Litljay says is true. The oldest one is almost five years old and we have lost one hard drive but that was due to leaving the machine on and stuffed under the blankets. (daughter)

The drive was still under warranty and the machine was fixed in less than two days. I had made copies of the recovery discs and bringing the machine back to life was a snap.

The reason I wrote all of this is to let you know that I thought Toshiba's customer service was pretty darn responsive and trouble free.

That's worth a lot in my book. 

All of my families personal laptops (including mine) are toshiba satellites. The only problem we've had is with the power jack. It eventually has to be super glued into place. 

Ask 12 people which brand of computers they like and get 12 different answers. Seems people choose their laptop brands by price and track record, either personal use or by others'. I do know one thing. Those that dislike certain brands are adamant about it!

That said, my HP laptop is going strong after 6 years. It is an itty bitty 2 gig RAM and 80 MB/5400 rpm HDD. Slow and sure, it has given me zero troubles. HP has contacted me twice about parts recalled and arranged twice for return and repair at no cost to me. But my kids for some reason think HP is junk and are quick to tell me so-but they never have had one?! 

I have had 2 cheaply priced Lenovo laptops that have been very good (both are like a 570 series and cost about $400 or less with 4gb RAM and I-3 proc) Very stable, no issues, and run cool. I now have a bit higher priced Toshiba satellites with I-7, 6GB RAM, better sound and graphics, and they have been terrific...but around $900 

HP...made a mistake with a desktop & then a few years ago when the Toshiba we wanted wasn't available we bought an HP laptop..it lasted 5 months! The laptop was so costly at the time so it was a big loss. 

HP's come in a lot of flavors. If you want to consider HP, accept nothing less than a ProBook. Much more durable and more feature-laden than their lower-priced lines. WAY better support, too. I warrantied my ProBook the same day that a friend warrantied his TouchSmart. Mine was there and back in 3 days. His took 2 weeks (he was steamed at me). 

Lenovo - no warranty issues in over 2 years on low end laptops. For work, we had midrange Lenovo laptops and I had one warranty issue on the hard drive, but that was caused by the full-disk encryption product corporate forced us to use which at least tripled the IO load. With Toshiba, its been several months, no issues yet.

The one HP laptop I had was a total loss with motherboard failure way too early.

I won't even talk about Dell support or the last Dell product I will ever purchase from several years ago. 

I've had nothing but Dell, Compaq, gateway, & a toshiba over the years, however after getting an iPhone and iPad( and loving them) my hubby surprised me with an Apple Mac Book pro for Christmas. It took a bit a time to get used to it but we will never buy anything else. I'm not a computer expert but am proficient enough to comment. The big thing for me is that it's difficult to get viruses on a Mac, add that with the ability to use windows on it if you want too sold me. Yeah it's a bit pricier but you get what you pay for. 

emachine 

emachine

That was the most expensive paperweight we ever owned. 

MAC...by far 

MAC...by far

I love these blindly loyal mac comments you see get thrown around.

I wish I had time to pop an RCE exploit on each of them and "sudo rm -rf /" their appley goodness back to the stone age, just to show them how vulnerable they really are. 

I wish I had time to pop an RCE exploit on each of them and "sudo rm -rf /" their appley goodness back to the stone age, just to show them how vulnerable they really are.

behave yourself 

behave yourself

I haven't done it, have I? :-) 

Lenovo Thinkpad. HATED my HP. It got so hot it would burn my leg. The battery was worthless My father's is so slow and he got a really nice one. It lags so much and takes forever to start up. 

I like the professional series of the major brands: Thinkpad for Lenovo, Elitebook for HP, Latitude or Precision for Dell...they are made better 

We have been through 4 Toshiba sattelites, and they have all been fairly trouble free. We do, though, plan on switching over to Mac with our next purchase because we would like to have less vulnerability to viruses and greater compatibility with our other gadgets (iPhones and iPad). I've never known anyone who was not happy with a MacBook. We are getting a MacBook air. 

I worked at best buy in computers for years before becoming an HP sales rep. I build my own machines and refurbish old ones for an inner city elementary school. And I like to think I've kept abreast of things since.

Toshiba and Asus are the better brands all around, Hands Down. Lenovo was awesome... when it was IBM. Now they're just another assembly plant. People don't realize: HP, Dell, Gateway, E-machines, Lenovo, Sony... they're all the same (except for proprietary software on Sony). Most of these companies use the off brand version of Toshiba/asus spec and built parts.

Apple products are a bit above par, but that reputation is mostly owed to the years of being a largely superior operating system to Windows in terms of stability and security. (an advantage gone rapidly eroding with their increased market presence)

Note the professional series for most laptop brands are no better than their non-professional counter parts. They just have less head-ache causing BS features and software built into them. 

after reading the above comments... if you have the money: Litlejay is right,the Panasonic toughbook is fraking awesome. But If you're a normal person with a normal budget and needs and have to worry about the opportunity cost of funds, I stand by my comments.

I'm not familiar with eurocom... will have to geek out a bit tonight. especially since VOR told me about the higgs boson finding being released!


... I'm still waiting for my dual mode AMOLED/e-ink tablet/ultrabook hybrid with 2nd gen i7 or equivalent. 

For all you Mac-lovers, do you realize the new Macbook Pro has its batteries permanently sealed inside the laptop? You can't even unscrew the case to replace the battery because it's glued to the chassis!

So, what happens to your laptop when you battery goes bad (and it will)...time for a new Macbook! 

Nice thing about Macs is they have resale value. 

Lenovo was awesome... when it was IBM. Now they're just another assembly plant.

Uh - WRONG. Lenovo made laptops for IBM when those Thinkpads still had the IBM logo on them. Lenovo still makes great laptops - the current Thinkpads are still among the best on the market.



People don't realize: HP, Dell, Gateway, E-machines, Lenovo, Sony... they're all the same (except for proprietary software on Sony).

Uh - WRONG. Open these laptops up and you'll see different architectures, layouts, etc. Some suppliers may be the same, but they do not all come from the same factory with different logos.




Note the professional series for most laptop brands are no better than their non-professional counter parts. They just have less head-ache causing BS features and software built into them.

Uh - WRONG. Geez...the professional series laptops - Thinkpads, Probooks, Elitebooks, Latitudes and Precision workstations are ISV-certified and built to government mil-spec requirements. Why do you Thinkpads are the laptops chosen for space missions on the shuttle?


the Panasonic toughbook is fraking awesome

The Toughbooks are no more reliable than a Dell Latitude because they use the same motherboard, processor, OS, etc. They just have a tough outer armor to protect against the elements and rough handling. Why use a tank to go grocery shopping when a car will do? 

Nice thing about Macs is they have resale value.


Macbooks with sealed batteries have a 300-cycle charge life. I'll sell you mine with 299 cycles used for a high resale price... 

Apparently somebody has an ax to grind... 

Lenovo still makes great laptops - the current Thinkpads are still among the best on the market.

glad to hear that, I was under the impression that they'd gone downhill and never recovered after they spun off.

Open these laptops up and you'll see different architectures, layouts, etc. Some suppliers may be the same,

and the components may be the same. Yes. they come from diff factories with different configurations, and even some nifty innovations along the way from time to time, but my point is that they are ultimately no more or less reliable than eachother it's hit or miss.

Of the Major Brands, in my experience, only Toshiba and Asus consumer products have distinguished themselves.


The Toughbooks are no more reliable than a
Why use a tank to go grocery shopping when a car will do?
because sometimes a car wont do. as i said, or intended to be inferred: it's a special purpose laptop. 

and the components may be the same. Yes. they come from diff factories with different configurations, and even some nifty innovations along the way from time to time, but my point is that they are ultimately no more or less reliable than eachother it's hit or miss.

Of the Major Brands, in my experience, only Toshiba and Asus consumer products have distinguished themselves.

I agree 110%! 

I vote for Toughbook. Throw a Dell and Toughbook out a 3rd floor window. Dell gets destroyed - Toughbook gets dirty. 

I vote for Toughbook. Throw a Dell and Toughbook out a 3rd floor window. Dell gets destroyed - Toughbook gets dirty.


If you're in the habit of throwing your laptop out of a 3rd-story window then yeah maybe you should get a Toughbook.

But if I paid $3K for anything there's no way I'd throw out the the window regardless of how "tough" it is. 

and the components may be the same. Yes. they come from diff factories with different configurations, and even some nifty innovations along the way from time to time, but my point is that they are ultimately no more or less reliable than eachother it's hit or miss.


Not hit or miss. Some laptop brands have better designs that allow for more efficient cooling than others. These are usually more reliable because the CPU and other components do not get too hot. Sure they all use Intel chips and hard drives from either Seagate or WD, and even the same motherboards, but how the laptop is laid out on the inside is important to its ability to cool and thereby last longer and be more reliable.