The way I see it, technically almost none of the computer companies make the hardware, so reliability comes down to plain luck. I think AMD, Intel, ASUS, ASRock, Foxconn, etc... are the big players? Their software can very from adequate to a complete hack job *cough*Samsung*cough, but I usually do a fresh install anyway. What the computer companies do bring are build quality, and style; I simply love Toshiba for the fact that they look clean and have a CAPS LOCK indicator light on the keyboard, so I don't accidentaly lock myself out of a website for "too many password errors" - didn't realize my CAPS LOCK was on 
After what Microsoft did with the Office Suit licensing*, I was almost READY to move over to Apple... but I just couldn't justify the price tag.
Windows 8 is actually a pretty decent OS, except for one big stupid mess. You guessed it, the start screen. With the newer version coming out latter this month (Windows 8.1), it will at least allow you to boot to the desktop, and adds a start button. There is also another option called Start 8.
*originally Microsoft decided to restrict the Office 2013 license to ONE computer FOR EVER, but following a wave of criticism over the terms Microsoft lifted the restriction.
@Shogun wrote:
@CS800 wrote:Toshiba laptops are good. It was my first laptop and lasted me 7 years
My son is a freshman in college. I was looking to buy him a new laptop to help with schoolwork. I'm going to go look at Toshibas now. Thanks for the post!
Toshibas are okay...I personally prefer Asus, Samsung, and HP. (In that order)
I say this having worked at Geek Squad for 3 1/2 years and seeing what fails more than others and been involved in the PC tech industry for 10+ years in general. (Though I'm not saying Geek Squad is super great or anything)
Starting Score: EX: 646, EQ: 624, TU: 639 (07/26/2013)I have a feeling I regret purchasing this Toshiba 
I swapped out the HDD with my SSD (I can never go back to HDD for boot), and started to install programes / update Windows. Then I hit a roadblock. . . the AMD graphics. AMD's auto detect program I downloaded from their website, gives me a message about being "incompatible". I search around and find this:
Well what in the world is that all about; fine I thought, and went to Toshiba's website to download the AMD display driver. The installation says it installed successfully, I restart the computer for good measure luck, and. . . it just doesn't work. My Windows Experience Index score is 2.0 due to the lowest score (graphics), and I'm lost. Toshiba's support stinks, and their forum isn't active so I don't know if I will ever get any help.
Granted I'm not "good with computers", but I managed and I've never had any troubleshooting / driver installation issue with my last three notebooks - and thinking about it, those where Intel powered.
Its not that I regret buying Toshiba (they are all the same underneath), but rather I decided to go with AMD. MISTAKE MISTAKE, I should have went with an Intel processor.
Man AMD... two strikes and you're out, Intel will be my next choice.
If you have a fairly open budget, higher end HP laptops are nice. I saved up and bought one when I started college for 900 dollars, it was an HP Dv7 on sale. This thing... Is a beast. It is relatively big and heavy, but has 1.5TB hardrive (technically two 750GB HDs) and 8GB of Memory. It has a dual graphics card and is a pleasure to use. One of the best investments I've made with my money, as it works great and runs strong about 4 years later, probably with many years to come. Expensive, but long lasting.
