[Dadstar0410]

I am getting a new Windows 8 laptop (read: not convertible) as a grad present this upcoming spring. Which OEM would you go to for a W8 laptop and why?

[xandros9]

Lenovo
They have nice solid enterprise offerings (read: thinkpad), although their ideapad's aren't shabby at all.
and they have a good reputation in my book at the very least. my aging thinkpad is holding up very well.

Dell, I'm not sure at this point.

Not HP.
no. after having the highest failure rates in some recent study, can't recall, i could be mistaken. the dv series of laptops debacle. my less-than-great experience with every single HP ive owned save printers. and of course webOS (kidding somewhat)

this is all my opinion of course

[kevin2577]

I have always been happy with Lenovo, great build quality and great support. Surprisingly, I have had good experiences with Samsung as well, good support, good build quality, and eye-catching designs. I have not had good experiences with Sony, their support has been awful whenever I have needed anything, and with their build quality I find I need support often

I will note that if it is feasible get your new PC at a Microsoft Store, the PCs there are all "Microsoft Signature," which is not just a dumb marketing term, it really does spare you most of the crapware on a new PC like third party antivirus software, Intel AppUp App Store, etc, but keeping the OEM installs that are useful, such as PowerDVD and others.

[dznk]

Peoples opinions differ on OEM brands greatly. You can have problems with any OEM, but my personal preference overall is probably Lenovo, but I also like Asus. I have owned a couple of fairly budget Asus laptops and both have been very good considering their price. I always think with Asus you get your money's worth and a little bit more. For the same price laptop from Toshiba, Acer and Asus for example, I always thought Asus gave you slightly more for your money with build quality and specs. I currently use an Asus Vivobook touchscreen and it's great for the price. Yes, there are more quality laptops out there, but I purposely didn't spend the money on a top end laptop and for the money this Vivobook has been great. I'm personally not keen on HP, had hardware issues with them myself over the past few years and some Acers I've had experience with at work have not been great.

[gsquared]

Thats like 5-6 months away. Things can change a whole bunch in that timeframe. My advise, computer hardware is such a commodity item these days just get whatever is cheapest at the time and you like. All of the internal components come from the same factories out of S. Korea or Tiawan.

[anony_mouse]

Apple hardware is good and you can install Windows using Bootcamp or similar.

[TheIsaacG]

Apple hardware is good and you can install Windows using Bootcamp or similar.

yea after I installed the new mavericks OS on my mac pro, it erased my windows partition. :|

[skstrials]

I'm sorry, but I just cannot recommend Lenovo.

I actually bought a Thinkpad T530 this summer, straight from the Lenovo website. The plastic outside casing was squeaking so much that, the palmrest would squeak as soon as my hands go on the palmrest.
Of course, there is always that "loose battery" issue with Thinkpads as well. And the speaker trim above the keyboard would make a clicking noise since it was not attached properly.

I had assumed that it was a lemon, so I asked for a replacement from Lenovo. Then I noticed the second one has the same palmrest creaking issue, with non functioning speakers, and the lid would not close properly (noticeable gap only on one corner).
After I got another replacement T530, which had the same palmrest creaking issue, I gave up on Lenovo and got myself a Dell Precision M4700, which I am very happy with.

So I received three factory new Thinkpad T530, and they all had build quality issues.

Now I found out that the palmrest creaking, like I got on all three of my Thinkpad T530, is really common among Lenovo Thinkpads.
Just google "Palmrest Creaking" (Don't even need to put lenovo on there).
https://www.google.ca/search?q=palmr...sm=93&ie=UTF-8

If this is what Lenovo's top of the line business laptops are like, I cannot even imagine what their consumer grade Ideadpads are like.

I would recommend a Dell, but I only had experience with their business laptops, so I cannot speak for Dell's consumer line. But Dell's Latitudes and Precisions are really well built and they last for a long time.

I generally avoid "consumer grade" laptops since business grade ones are much better built.

[berty6294]

They all suck right now. There's none I would put my money into except Microsoft tbh with you. This is my input.

Microsoft: Awesome build quality, hands down the best. (Surface)
Acer: Great build quality with their recent products. Their computers are super reliable! (which is something I haven't been able to say about them for a while)
Lenovo: Hit or miss with build quality, it depends on what machine you purchase.
Asus: Some models are incredible, but a lot of them have hardware issues and driver issues. I've had some terrible experiences with a lot of their new products, and a great experience with a few!
Dell: Make some decent products now. A lot of their laptops do feel very flimsy or bland. Nothing really special unless you are looking at their new tablets! (which are surprisingly incredible!)
Samsung: Solid. As always, their laptops have been a solid choice Nothing superb about them, occasional track pad issues.
Sony: Don't see too many of them, but haven't had any issues with the ones I've used. Their touch screens are not very responsive (at least in the ones I have tested)
HP: Lmao never! They used to make good products but they are an absolute mess right now.

[Dadstar0410]

They all suck right now. There's none I would put my money into except Microsoft tbh with you. This is my input.

Microsoft: Awesome build quality, hands down the best. (Surface)
Acer: Great build quality with their recent products. Their computers are super reliable! (which is something I haven't been able to say about them for a while)
Lenovo: Hit or miss with build quality, it depends on what machine you purchase.
Asus: Some models are incredible, but a lot of them have hardware issues and driver issues. I've had some terrible experiences with a lot of their new products, and a great experience with a few!
Dell: Make some decent products now. A lot of their laptops do feel very flimsy or bland. Nothing really special unless you are looking at their new tablets! (which are surprisingly incredible!)
Samsung: Solid. As always, their laptops have been a solid choice Nothing superb about them, occasional track pad issues.
Sony: Don't see too many of them, but haven't had any issues with the ones I've used. Their touch screens are not very responsive (at least in the ones I have tested)
HP: Lmao never! They used to make good products but they are an absolute mess right now.

Let's hope Microsoft makes a laptop soon then! God I can't even imagine. Gorgeous.

[Laura Knotek]

Peoples opinions differ on OEM brands greatly. You can have problems with any OEM, but my personal preference overall is probably Lenovo, but I also like Asus. I have owned a couple of fairly budget Asus laptops and both have been very good considering their price. I always think with Asus you get your money's worth and a little bit more. For the same price laptop from Toshiba, Acer and Asus for example, I always thought Asus gave you slightly more for your money with build quality and specs. I currently use an Asus Vivobook touchscreen and it's great for the price. Yes, there are more quality laptops out there, but I purposely didn't spend the money on a top end laptop and for the money this Vivobook has been great. I'm personally not keen on HP, had hardware issues with them myself over the past few years and some Acers I've had experience with at work have not been great.

I also recently got an ASUS Vivobook after previously using an HP.

[dznk]

I also recently got an ASUS Vivobook after previously using an HP.

How are you getting on with yours? I got the S200E which is the 11.6" one. I've got on really well with mine, not had any issues.