Brand Ratings for 2010

by Anna Attkisson, K.T. Bradford, Mark Spoonauer on April 13, 2010

Read the Full Review on LaptopMag.com here!

Apple: Best Laptop Brand 2010 Winner

Out of our eight categories, Apple brings home the gold in four, with one—Performance & Reviews—carrying the heaviest weight of all the criteria. Plus, the company ranked second in the keyboard and touchpad category. There’s no question about it: Apple is the best notebook manufacturer and brand around. With every new product release, we eagerly anticipate its arrival, as do hordes of consumers who routinely flock to Apple Stores. Additionally, its support is second to none. We look forward to a bright future for this top brand, as its introduction of the iPad seeks to pioneer a whole new category of mobilecomputing. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
15*	13*	13	15*	9	9*	3	3	80*

Lenovo: Best Brand 2010 Runner-Up

Not only did Lenovo have a very good year, but things are looking even brighter with the expected arrival of its breathtaking Skylight smartbook and innovative U1 Hybrid tablet-notebook.  Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
12	10	14*	13	11	8	4	3	75

Sony

Strong support and top-notch designs make Sony’s products well worth the premium. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
11	12	11	13	10	7	5*	3	72

Toshiba

An emphasis on delivering compelling industrial designs and innovative features at affordable prices make this brand one of our favorites. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
9	11	12	12	12	8	4	4	72

ASUS

Once known only for its netbooks, ASUS has evolved into an innovative notebook maker, keeping the likes of HP and Dell on their toes. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
12	10	9	11	11	6	5*	5*	69

HP

HP continues to offer slick designs and good performance for the money, but its lackluster support and customer satisfaction among readers dragged its overall rating down. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
11	11	8	7	13	9*	2	2	63

Dell

Despite lukewarm reviews and some ergonomic complaints, Dell’s overall designs have improved a great deal. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
8	10	8	7	14*	7	4	3	61

Samsung

We’re a bit underwhelmed by Samsung’s offerings of late, but we hope the company can turn things around. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
10	8	11	12	8	5	4	1	59

Acer

Although we were disappointed with Acer’s tech support, the company generally offers the best value in most categories. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
10	7	10	6	12	5	3	4	57

Gateway

While we’re not exactly sure why Acer is keeping this brand around, Gateway does provide good design and performance for your buck. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
9	10	9	11	9	4	3	1	56

MSI

Lukewarm reviews and poor tech support cancelled out our positive feelings about this brand’s strong ultraportable line. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
6	6	9	5	9	5	3	2	45

Fujitsu

Bringing up the rear, a varied selection of Tablet PCs and relatively good tech support are the only real positives about
this brand. Read more.

Performance  & Reviews	Design	Keyboard & Touchpad	Tech Support	Value & Selection	Software	Customer Satisfaction	Innovation	Total Points
4	5	8	11	7	4	3	1	43

Read more: http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/scores-by-brand-best-brands.aspx#ixzz17fN7DlG2

The Crime Scene

We've all seen CSI.

Crime scene's are not pretty...and usually they involve some crazy set of circumstances that have arisen from a seemingly normal situation. Well there are no sneaky drug dealers or jealous club promoters in this story that I know of but it's a travesty non the less.

Two years ago my kind and loving father purchased me a laptop for my birthday. I didn't want to go all out and ask for an extremely pricey Macbook (although my Dad probably woulda got for me if I had, he's nice like that) and so after 10 minutes of research, I found a nice new shiny Dell Inspiron 1525 online with a big tag saying **$350 Rebate!** . I customized it a little, added some upgrades and I was on my way.

The honeymoon period with Dell for me was short-lived. Within the first 4 months of having the computer I had to do a factory reset twice. Not happy making....especially because some of my software takes so many steps to install. As I am sure you could understand I wasn't much pleased - and it gets 10 times worse.

To cut a very very long story short, I have spent my life since October '08 fighting with Dell Representatives by day and a Dell Laptop by night. I have seen the in's and out's of abandoned efforts @ answers.yahoo.com and I have heard just about every New Delhi accent there is.

I am here now to share my knowledge with you, to warn you about buying from Dell...and to hopefully shed a little hope on your situation if you are in my boat.

Read on!

Thegoodcrust