how bad are they really

Well I have a Dell, and this is my first notebook. So I can't really say much about the others.

I would give Dell a 7/10. I have noticed a few quality issues like uneven lighting throughout the screen, fading silver where my hands rest, and wobbly / loose lid hinges.

While these things normally wouldn't be acceptable, I havn't experienced any hardware issues yet. Also this was by far the most powerful computer I could get for the money.

From most of those you're going to see a lot of variability in the build of laptops. For example Dell, HP/Compaq & Toshiba all make laptops that range from $500 to $3000 (or more) new. Also considering that they sell millions of units a year, individual users saying that they are the suxxors or the roxxors based on a single experience they have hadd or somebody they know has had are going to be very biased.

I say forget the brand completely and look for models that have the specs you want then compare those models and user's experiences with them in order to choose the right laptop.

g00nter for president

IBM = 8.5~10 (Usualy soildly built, and intended to last)

Apple = 8.5~10 (Macbook Pro is sweet, so thin so light, so well built, Now with windows, a little on the expensive side though)

Asus = 7.5~10 ( confusing brand, do I buy prebuilt, do I buy white book, watch out for sellers that seriously overcharge or try to dump off last years models at full price. A lot of REALY nice laptops though)

Sony = 7.5~10 (Pricey and often graphicly underpowered but they look slick and tend to be well made)

Acer = 7.5~10 (High ends are well built like the 8204, they launch with new tech very quickly, The Low end offers amazingly good prices, they have had some issues lately)

Toshiba = 7.0~10 (ok laptops, ok price, lousy webpage)

Fujitsu = 7.0~10 (Used to be better, but the last one I saw was a little flimsy, see Toshiba)

MSI = 7.0~10 ( See Asus, only not as trendy and stylish on the design)

Gateway = 6.5~10 (Actualy Gateway seems to be moving up in the world, quality plastics, slick design, fairly sturdy, good prices, check them out at Best Buy)

Alienware = 6.5~10 (slicked up overpriced Sagers with rapidly declining tech support, now a part of Dell)

Dell = 5.0~10 (Some faily good models like the e1705, but lots of crap models, Seriously overpriced untill you hit a bonaza coupon, Terrible tech support, .. May explode, less expensive models tend to make use of very poor quality plastics.)

HP/Compaq = 4.5~10 ( See Dell only without the e1705, or knowing use of faulty batterys that may explode, or coupon days )

Asus 9.0/10

IBM: 8/10 -- pretty good and quick tech support and rma. systems built well but prone to keyboard flex. love it or leave it thumb stick.

Uniwill: 7/10 -- Rather decently built systems but they happen to be sold through some really crummy resellers. Nice style but not always best quality plastic. Some pretty inovative stuff (see hybrid laptop) but very slow release cycles for new models.

ASUS: 8.5/10 --- fantastic tech support. availability from reliable resellers, really sexy...the high end metal models are built like a tank, more run-of-the-mill popular plastic models (see z71v and z70va) take a bit of a hit in terms of construction (see: FLEX) but nothing horrible. If you have a 'Built on ASUS' sticker on your computer you have something to about

Dell -- 5/10 -- there are some really nice high end models (see:XPS) but for the most part they are jsut so-so systems. A great buy for a grandma to check email if she can find one of those $500 coupons. Tech support is a hit or miss (has been a hit for me personally). Low end models prone to explode, mid-range models suffer from serious flex.

Apple: 7/10 -- Decent systems, local stores to go and kick the managers ass if something isn't working right, pretty good tech support. However the prices are a bit high for what you get, one mouse button, and current systems (not historical) tend to overheat and turn orange (after you fry an egg or 2 on it). They revise their models often, but release cycles for new models are insanely long.

HP/Compaq 5/10. The hardware itself is rather pretty good, at least the higher end and business models. The V2000 is probably the best cheapo buy. Tech support is by far the worst known to man. Midrange and main stream models are prone to breakage and all sorts of fun issues.

Mostly all the major brands get their notebooks made in Taiwan.

Uniwill, Quanta etc are make these notebooks for HP, DELL,Apple etc.

Now there wont really be a quality difference.

I live in college quarters where I have seen equal amount o Hp/Compaq, acer, Dell, Toshiba and sony.

And without exaggeration I vouch that I have helped buy 90% of these.

My opinion is that there is no difference in quality. Absolutely none.

The deciding factor better be the price, cpu, chipsets, graphics and batterylife.

about a year ago the 1029 was all the rage...prolly 2nd most discussed system on this forum after the Z71v. so far there have been minimal complaints about MSI...so as long as you get it from a reputable reseller you should be just fine and dandy.

Bingo.