Most reliable laptop brand

[rashdanml]

How are the Lenovo now that IBM is no longer involved? Have they kept their quality? I've heard the trackpads and keyboard are not as good as they had been in previous generations. Thoughts?

I wouldn't mind having one of their ultra slim laptops if I could get it with between 12 - 16 GB RAM and if the keyboard/trackpad were decent

The touchpad has never been good on Thinkpads, but that's what the trackpoint is for. It's as outstanding as always. I've personally disabled my touchpad in favour of the trackpoint.

As for the keyboard, diehard Thinkpad fans love the 7-row keyboard featured in the T420, X220, etc. The next generation (T430, T530, X230) switched to a 6-row keyboard which is still a joy to type on and takes getting used to for folks who've used the older keyboard. 

The only other thing to note is Lenovo has decided to integrated the dedicated trackpoint buttons into the touchpad. For most people, it's a dealbreaker. Some say it's acceptable on the newer Thinkpads, and is fine after the initial break-in period. I can't comment on that personally, since I got the X230 - I love the dedicated trackpoint buttons. 

[Sheldon_King]

Odds are high that it still booted even after a good punching. Heck, there was a story about a W series Thinkpad being burnt to a crisp in a house fire and it still booted. 

 

I would agree there.My experience may be a very limited case, but I can guarantee that I have never managed to break a thinkpad. I have used a A21m, A R51, a t40p, and this T61p and have never managed to break one via dropping. Only failures so far have came from the failure of RAM or HDD, which can be expected on older systems .One case that I will add, is that the same hit that disabled the LCD on a Dell M90 (Being knocked off the tailgate of the tuck), only managed to break the hinge mounts on this T61p. (Still ended up with a replacement LCD, but it was functional either way. Was just more economic since to replace the LCD because the housing (the part broken) was $19 and the LCD with housing was $22, with a resolution upgrade.) 

 

The touchpad has never been good on Thinkpads, but that's what the trackpoint is for. It's as outstanding as always. I've personally disabled my touchpad in favour of the trackpoint.

As for the keyboard, diehard Thinkpad fans love the 7-row keyboard featured in the T420, X220, etc. The next generation (T430, T530, X230) switched to a 6-row keyboard which is still a joy to type on and takes getting used to for folks who've used the older keyboard. 

The only other thing to note is Lenovo has decided to integrated the dedicated trackpoint buttons into the touchpad. For most people, it's a dealbreaker. Some say it's acceptable on the newer Thinkpads, and is fine after the initial break-in period. I can't comment on that personally, since I got the X230 - I love the dedicated trackpoint buttons. 

To the first statement, I would like to kindly disagree. I use a T61p on a daily basis, and I find 0 issues with the trackpad on it. It is accurate enough to use for most things (Except gaming (which is there a trackpad that is?) and working in sketchup (With no way to control the DPI equivalence, it makes it very difficult to work with compared to the Corsair M90 that I use for that program). 

 

The keyboard, I guess I would fall into that first category. The older keyboard (Pretty much unchanged from the Pentium II days up through the T420 series) is much easier for me to use than the newer style that is shared by practically all new Lenovos (I can't specifically say from personal experience, but it looks in pictures that the T430 series shares the keyboard design used by the Y530 (plus the trackpoint) which I do have experience with. The key spacing on the newer style keyboard takes a lot of use to get used to, and frankly, it slows down the WPM I can achieve. That being said, It is a keyboard and will perform its function. All issues are user and not hardware.) 

 

 

 

So... to the original question: 

I would place Lenovo thinkpads at the top of the list, followed closely by Dell Precision (If you need the extra power) and Fujitsu's Lifebooks (if they are even still in the game. They used to make great machines).  If you wanted a gaming style laptop, Maybe look at MSI or Asus, or maybe, just maybe a lenovo Y series if you can find one that has a GTX  instead of SLI. 

[Musikman]

I am going to get some flak for this but Apple makes some solid laptops. I've owned several and they have withstood all the abuse I could (reasonably) throw at them. A little pricey but when it lasts for years on end; it's worth the investment. 

[Dragonzeanse]

I see a lot of people recommend Asus laptops, but outside of maybe their gaming laptops, I've heard nothing but complaints about them. Everyone I've spoken to who owned an Asus laptop has always had some component fail on them, or the build quality is just poor. I'm sure they manufacture great laptops, but I've just seen too many of them break down.

 

As for Lenovo, I've never heard a single person complain about them.

[Lyons]

Apple >>>> Lenovo > Dell > Asus = Samsung = > Acer = MSI = Sony > Toshiba >>>>>>>>>>>>>> HP

[paras]

I have Msi gx 660 and it's pretty reliable

[Carter]

Yeah lenovo ftw also have to agree with Asus and apple.I have a HP and its not that bad, but its from the 'envy' range which I guess is better quality than some stuff they turn out. Only bad I'd say I'd cooling isn't great.

[Carter]

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[Guest Onlynormalgamer]

MSI

[Microkia]

Lenovo and Apple. I recommend buying a used ThinkPad for the keyboard, atleast for me it is much more confortable, and the best thing is that they are very easily upgradable - you can upgrade your screen, cpu...X220 has a great battery life as well, while having non ULV cpu

[DoubleY]

Dell makes some pretty nice machine. Such as the XPS12 or something like that. 

[TheProfosist]

ThinkPad is above all!

[D2ultima]

I separate the brand reliability/quality into the tier of machine you want. From best to worst:

 

Gaming/high end: Alienware --> Clevo --> MSI --> Razer (if I could even include Razer in this space) --> ASUS --> rest

Midrange: MSI & Clevo --> Lenovo --> Toshiba (unless their new models really suck, I dunno) --> Dell --> ASUS --> rest

Low end: Dell --> Toshiba (see midrange) --> Sony --> rest

Garbage tier: Dell --> rest

 

I've never had experience/heard talk about Samsung or Gigabyte machines much before, so if they are good I don't know and wouldn't put them on this list.

Clevo: Sager, OriginPC, Mythlogic, LPC Digital, Eurocom, mySN, etc all use Clevo shells/motherboards as Clevo is an ODM

Garbage tier is more of the "gimme a $300 laptop I just want to type up stuff and look at youtube" kind of stuff. Dell is there because Dell Warranties >>>