Budget is always the issue with a good laptop. A quality used laptop is better than a new cheap one.
It is wise to get a model that is made in huge numbers, so there will parts availability for a long time. Parts become the greatest difficulty on cheap computers. When you are considering a new laptop, search eBay for parts on the company's other models. Search the manufacturer web site or other sites that sell parts or do repairs to see what prices and availability. Does the company sell parts for its laptop after the warranty expires? Most do not.
Some thoughts that come from our experience repairing laptops and portables since the old "Suitcase Compaq in 1988" and 2000 units since then:
A low priced laptop will fail more frequently and will be more expensive to repair.
Reliability is more important that fast performance.
The screen will fail, sooner or later, and likely sooner, in a low priced laptop
A used Thinkpad is better than most new ones from other sources.
No laptop company makes a good laptop for gaming that will last a long time. Yet. Gaming nearly always shortens the life of a laptop. If you need a gaming laptop, be sure it has plenty of cooling fans (at least 3) and large air channels to move cool air in and hot air out.
127 laptop companies have gone belly-up.
Seven companies make most of the laptops sold in the world. HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Winbook, Gateway, eMachines, and all no-name laptops are all made by the same companies.
Expensive laptops have better parts and better cooling
The least expensive laptops of any manufacturer are compromised in
Some laptops are nearly always good if you buy: IBM/Lenovo, full featured HP, full featured Gateway, most Dell Latitudes, full featured Dell Inspirons, full featured Toshiba's.
Low priced laptops have cheap parts... cheaper plastic, poor screens, bad backlights, unreliable inverters, inadequate cooling, poor heat sinks, inadequate cooling air channels, poor protection from impact or vibration, awful keyboards that wear out early or keys that break, poor on-board mouse or touch screen, weak RJ-45 sockes, weak modem sockets, optical drives that fail early, cheap third-tier memory, some have poor hard drives such as Tri-gem, although not many have bad hard drives, bad power switches that fail early and often, poor components for handling internet and wireless.
For long-term reliability and less-expensive repair, avoid no-name machines. Avoid Acer, Sony Vaio, Toshiba, eMachines, Compaq, low-priced Dells, store brands, low-priced Gateways, low priced Lenovo, Winbook, any super thin laptop, Alienware, Winbook, any laptop that has only one cooling fan, any laptop limited to a one-year warranty that does not sell a warranty extension.
People who take care of their laptops and keep the air channels clean of hair and dust have good luck. People who don't take care of their laptops have bad luck.
Buy the ones that Navy Seals or the US Foreign service buy.
Impact while carrying laptops is the number two failure cause, next to poorly made screens and optical drives. Be sure you have a very well padded carrying case of some kind. Vibration is probably next.
A good cleaning with Dust Off or other difluoroethane gas canned air every four months is a smart move. A disassembly and cleaning every year is also smart. Replace the cpu fan every 18 to 24 months.
If you buy a low priced, cheap-processor laptop, you are almost guaranteed early failure of optical drive, screen, and heat-related problems on other components.
Small laptops fail more frequently than large ones of the same brand.
Everybody knows somebody who has had great luck with a bad brand or a bad model. Just remember, you make your own luck by selecting well.
If your data is valuable, get a valuable computer.
