Simple question. Does brand matter at all? As long as it's something I've heard of, my inclination is that it doesn't matter. Am I wrong?

In my experience, people who are bad with computers infect their systems and blame the brand. Does that sound about right?

Also, is there a reason that Dell's small business line, Vostro, is cheaper than it's Inspiron or XPS lines with the same specs? Is there any reason to not go with the Vostro? I'm looking at a Vostro 1510.

I think there is a difference. I bought a cheap Acer about 2 years ago, and while it has great specs, I really hate the keyboard.

I recently spoke to a laptop repair tech, and he rated them in this order for quality: (for PC's at least)

1. Toshiba
2. Dell
3. Compaq/HP - he said stay FAR away from these

My brother has the Vostro 1400, and I think it's an excellent laptop. Nice keyboard, good build quality, no problems so far. I'd say if you find a coupon through gotapex/etc, it's probably the way to go.

With desktops, all the hardware from one brand to the other is usually 90% the same - the difference usually being in the power supply and the case.

With notebooks, the keyboard and screen matter quite a bit. Another thing to watch for is that some cheap laptops will use a smaller 4-cell battery to keep the price down. Don't go that route.

Very true.

For consumer-class laptops, you are correct. They are all made by the same two companies in Taiwan that happen to be across the street from each other. HP and Dell and whoever all just send a diagram to these guys with instructions like "BLUE LED HERE" and "LOGO GOES HERE" and "ADD USB PORT HERE" etc.

Business-class laptops (and basically all Apple laptops) are a different ballgame. The big makers largely design these themselves, and in some cases still manufacture them themselves.

Most people are ******ed and will blame anything they can think of.

lol