What brands have good build quality?

[BlargKing]

Im going to be attending college in the Fall and I'm looking to get a laptop. Its just for some photoshop work mainly so it doesn't need to be tremendously powerful. My main concern is build quality, I've seen my brother go through 3 laptops in the 600$ range simply because they fell apart. 2 were Acer and one was an Asus. I had a 2000$ ASUS ROG laptop at one point, but even that was kind of flimsy, the screen would wobble and flex and the battery latch cracked after the first removal of the battery. Its been bad enough that the last laptop I bought was a MacBook Pro, which was built quite solid. 

 

Quite plainly though I don't want another Mac. I would rather not spend 2000$ on hardware from 2014.

 

So I'm wondering, what brands offer decent build quality? I'm looking to spend around 800-1000$. I've been looking at a few models from Dell and HP but I can't find any reliable sources on how sturdy their products are.

[Carl2608]

I've heard good things about the Dell Inspiron 7000 lineup. I own an XPS 15 myself, and my summary is this - It's a great laptop. Good build quality, good performance but its ultimately let down by Dell's horrible customer service. 

[Aereldor]

1 minute ago, Carl2608 said:

I've heard good things about the Dell Inspiron 7000 lineup. I own an XPS 15 myself, and my summary is this - It's a great laptop. Good build quality, good performance but its ultimately let down by Dell's horrible customer service. 

The Inspiron 7000 series- namely the 7559- has enormous quality-control issues with as many as 10% of laptops sold being defective (10% of all reviews are 1-star, and are almost exclusively due to defects) and people receiving more defective laptops upon replacements.

[BlargKing]

Just now, Carl2608 said:

I've heard good things about the Dell Inspiron 7000 lineup. I own an XPS 15 myself, and my summary is this - It's a great laptop. Good build quality, good performance but its ultimately let down by Dell's horrible customer service. 

Hmm. I was looking at the 7000 series actually. I don't get why the whole lineup is suddenly these 2 in 1 things though. Whats the point of a 2 in 1?

 

[Carl2608]

Just now, BlargKing said:

Hmm. I was looking at the 7000 series actually. I don't get why the whole lineup is suddenly these 2 in 1 things though. Whats the point of a 2 in 1?

 

Look at the conventional models.

[BlargKing]

1 minute ago, Carl2608 said:

Look at the conventional models.

They only offer the Inspiron 15 "Gaming" (It has a 960M thats barely gaming grade...) its a bit more $ than I wanted to spend is all. I wish they offered a non 2 in 1 without the discreet GPU. 

[Aereldor]

3 minutes ago, BlargKing said:

Hmm. I was looking at the 7000 series actually. I don't get why the whole lineup is suddenly these 2 in 1 things though. Whats the point of a 2 in 1?

 

In general, never trust a brand- always review the model. Corsair and EVGA are 'trusted' brands that have made disastrous power supplies before.

EDIT (I was wrong). Even with MSI and their reputation for good quality control, the GP62 gaming laptop is known to have massive quality-control issues.

[BlargKing]

1 minute ago, Aereldor said:

In general, never trust a brand- always review the model. Corsair and EVGA are 'trusted' brands that have made disastrous power supplies before.

MSI has a relatively untainted reputation for quality-control, though. I'd recommend them. However, I don't know what they're offering in the $600 price range.

True enough. I would imagine though some brands have a higher success rate than others and would be a good place to start.

 

MSI seems to focus on gaming laptops which isn't really what I'm after. I just need a basic core i5 level machine. 

[Carl2608]

Just now, BlargKing said:

They only offer the Inspiron 15 "Gaming" (It has a 960M thats barely gaming grade...) its a bit more $ than I wanted to spend is all. I wish they offered a non 2 in 1 without the discreet GPU. 

i haven't looked around that price range, but i doubt you'll be able to get a laptop with >960M performance at that price level. I would wait till we get the full lineup of Pascal based laptops, where the price drops of Maxwell Mobile chips are inevitable.

[Monkey Dust]

It will vary depending on the range, best to go to a physical store for a hands on. Lenovos feel pretty study, those that I've got my hands on, but both people I know with Lenovos have had trouble with them so sturdy isn't everything.

 

Business laptops, rather than regular consumer grade, regardless of brand tend to be more robust and reliable. So if that's your priority I'd check reviews for those.

[BlargKing]

Hmm the inspiron 5000 series have reasonably good reviews. 

[knightslugger]

So what's wrong with the MBP as it is? Plenty powerful for basic photoshop work... and runs windows naively.

[Carl2608]

Just now, BlargKing said:

Hmm the inspiron 5000 series have reasonably good reviews. 

Not really a viable option for gaming.

[TheProfessionalAmateurs]

Macbook pro

[knightslugger]

15 minutes ago, Carl2608 said:

Not really a viable option for gaming.

OP said light Photoshop mainly... not gaming. 

[JasonFromTPA]

Lenovo has pretty solid build quality.  I've been using the IdeaPad Y700 (gaming laptop, $900) for about a month, and I have really enjoyed it.  Only drawbacks are that it is somewhat loud at load and there are not that many USB Ports.  However, if you are looking for a solid and powerful laptop, it will work.

[BlargKing]

3 hours ago, knightslugger said:

So what's wrong with the MBP as it is? Plenty powerful for basic photoshop work... and runs windows naively.

I sold it like 6 months ago.

[BlargKing]

3 hours ago, Carl2608 said:

Not really a viable option for gaming.

No no, I DON'T want a gaming laptop. I just need a well-built mid-tier machine. Core i5, 8GB, intergrated or low end discreet graphics.

[BlargKing]

3 hours ago, TheProfessionalAmateurs said:

Macbook pro

Too expensive. 

[BlargKing]

3 hours ago, JasonFromTPA said:

Lenovo has pretty solid build quality.  I've been using the IdeaPad Y700 (gaming laptop, $900) for about a month, and I have really enjoyed it.  Only drawbacks are that it is somewhat loud at load and there are not that many USB Ports.  However, if you are looking for a solid and powerful laptop, it will work.

Im looking at the Ideapad 15" 510.

[TheProfessionalAmateurs]

But apple iz da best ever, and it's definitely not overpriced at all.

[BlargKing]

Just now, TheProfessionalAmateurs said:

But apple iz da best ever, and it's definitely not overpriced at all.

Ah yes when I can get a Dell for 1200$ thats a match for the 3000$ MacBook Pro 

[Pendragon]

Pick up a X260 refurb/ebay. 

[BlargKing]

21 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

Pick up a X260 refurb/ebay. 

That looks decent but the display is too small and too low resolution. I need a 15" thats at least 1080p.

[D2ultima]

3 hours ago, BlargKing said:

No no, I DON'T want a gaming laptop. I just need a well-built mid-tier machine. Core i5, 8GB, intergrated or low end discreet graphics.

Price range?

 

Your best bet will likely be a cheap enterprise-tier laptop, like a HP Zbook or Lenovo W-series. But then you're venturing into refurbished or second hand territory, really.