What is the best notebook/laptop brand? …. Exposed.
May 22, 2009 
By Gophn
What’s the best brand for notebooks/laptops?
Which brand has the best design and/or build quality?
Who really makes/manufactures the notebooks?
…. do these questions sound familiar?
In this day and age, notebooks (or laptops) have become more and more affordable, as well as needed for a technically mobile lifestyle. People always want to know what notebook is best to buy, but they usually just buy notebooks improperly since (1) they really do not know anything except for the “brand name” and/or (2) they just buy something that a sales person suggests (most of which do not know their notebooks).
I would like to give you the one lecture to end them all to help inform you [the general consumer] about the secret about notebooks and who really makes them.
The Truth
I have been in this computer industry for a long time and not until recently, that I have gotten into the specialized industry of notebooks/laptops. Unlike desktop computers, notebooks are more specialized… mainly for their design and manufacturing. Because of this specialization in design manufacturing, no big brand (like Dell, HP/Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, etc.) that a typical consumer knows cannot really do it all themselves. Instead, these big brands have to get contracts with a notebook ODM (original design manufacturer) to get their notebooks designed manufactured. The largest notebook ODMs in the world are Quanta and Compal, whom together manufactures over 90% of the world’s notebooks on the market. And the rest of the ODMs are all based in Asia, centered around Taiwan.
These ODMs will manufacture the barebone systems (consisting of the mainly chassis/casing and motherboard). Then the big brands or OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) would get a hold of them to brand them, and install the final, yet, standardized components like the Hard Drive, Memory, Bluetooth, Optical Drive, etc. So no notebook is really made in the USA, only the final assembly of the simple and standard parts are… therefore, the next time you hear someone say that their notebook was made in the United States, you better correct them. 
Recently, many of the big OEMs have been in a contract war with the large ODMs to see who gets to design manufacture their systems… which caused the ODMs to get competitve in pricing. This led to some poorer quality builds as well, to save money during the design manufacturing stages. Because of this, custom notebook ODMs (like ASUS, MSI, Clevo, Arima, etc) have been more soughtafter for their machines that overall have better build quality than a typical mainstream OEM machine.
Now, the custom notebook OEM market has seen a boom since the word is spreading for the amazing service/support (usually domestic) you would get, as well as the price/quality, by going through them.
Whats with these reviews and sites speaking about brands, when they do not understand it themselves.:
Quanta designs/makes some seriously nice and sturdy notebooks. They are the largest notebook manufacturer in the world.
- notably for Sony, Apple’s Macbooks, Lenovo/IBM, Gateway, Dell, etc.
Compal is the right up there as well, with great designs. They are 2nd largest.
- notably for Toshiba, NEC, some Dell’s, HP, Compaqs, etc..
Clevo is probably the most well-known boutique brand ODM in the world. (since 1983)
- more well known with re-branding from Alienware, Sager, VooDoo PC, Falcon, etc..
- known to be luxury notebooks, and the best for the money.
ASUS is right up there.
- making their own notebook lines
(but has recently made contracts to produce the Toshiba’s, Sony’s, HP/Compaq’s)
MSI (Micro-Star Intl) is another great designer/manufacturer.
- like Asus, they have their own line of notebooks that get re-branded.
Then you’ve also got:
Arima/Flextronics
AOPEN (Acer)
LG
MiTAC
Uniwill
Twinhead
Foxconn
FIC
ECS
Inventec
Wistron
…etc.
Conclusion
Don’t you see that these sites/reviews are a bit inaccurate in portraying the “name brands”, when in reality, the options that are being reviewed are skewed since you have several “brands” being designed/manufactured by the same ODM. And since Quanta and Compal combined, they produce about 90% of the world’s notebooks… wow.
I believe that reviews should reflect the best ODM notebook build quality and/or customer/tech support (of the specific OEM brand). Its the OEM that should either get the blame or the praise… with the “bloatware” or software package…. good/bad technical support… etc.
So do your research before making a purchase… to avoid buyer’s remorse.
Hope this helps,
-Gophn
P.S. Whenever these kinds of sites/reviews come around, I consider them “Notebook Noobs” since they seem to be very inaccurate and the editor is ignorant of the facts about ODMs and OEMs
Related posts:
Comments
thanks. good to know about ODMs
3 yearss agoGreat info
3 yearss agoThis is a great site for notebook gamer enthusiasts
Keep it up
yeah this article is very helpful
3 yearss agothanks for the help i have been looking for lappys in the past 4 months…. i hope i can get mine next month
3 yearss agoNice insight into the making of laptops. You are going to have to start doing laptop reviews now
3 yearss agoI will be… very soon…
I am getting my hands on the world’s fastest notebooks right now.
3 yearss agoi love laptops. Desktops just dont have the personal feel that notebooks do, its always alot more fun to shop for a notebook rather than a desktop.
cool post
3 yearss agonice site, good stuff. keep it up
3 yearss agoGreat site and good article!
3 yearss agoLooking forward to seeing some notebook reviews pop up here as I’m sure they’ll be of high quality like the rest of your posts. Am looking into a notebook based on the Clevo M860TU right now with the GTX 260M gfx card, was at first thinking of buying a pre-built HP – amazing what the internet can teach you in a month
Fantastic article.
I am searching for a notebook PC, but their is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much mis-information on the web.
From tainted reviews due to kickbacks from companies like Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Dell, etc.
Pompous forum posts where they are so misinformed and go on and on about “The Best” notebook, which is what they own of course, like a revival meeting. Don’t be fooled by these “seemingly” tech reviews.
It is so unfortunate how little competition there really is for the consumers in the U.S.
Jon
3 yearss agoGophn I think you mistated that 90% made by Quanta and Compal? No way maybe the top five make 90% but I thought closer to 80%?
“The largest notebook ODMs in the world are Quanta and Compal, whom together manufactures over 90% of the world’s notebooks on the market”.
2 yearss ago