Which brand is best at what?

Trying hard to understand why similarly spec-ed laptops are so unevenly priced.

At least here (Greece), Acer typically prices their Aspires one price point bellow the rest of the competition while again typically Toshiba and Sony are the worst priced.

Except for the basic specs there aren't THAT many factors that could make one brand's laptops differ from another's:
The quality of the LCD, the efficiency of heat dissipation, the dimensions, sturdiness and aesthetics of the shell and battery conservation (power management) are all I can think of.

For instance I've read that typically Asus have the worst battery life, but what about what they have the best?
Which brands add an upcharge just for being the Mercedes of laptops (i.e. for the name) and which for the extra quality and/or technical superiority over the others?

Specifically what interests me the most is the longest battery life possible and the smallest dimensions possible as I am interested in taking it with me and using it when there aren't any power outlets...
Extras like surround audio or integrated mic or camera are of little interest...

 

I think for best overall performance to Price ratio I would go with Sager, Dell & Gateway. In that order. The FX series of Gateways is very well priced, Dell has a very large selection which will fit just about everybody's selection, and despite what you may hear (Few horror stories) they have decent customer support, and best of all you have Sager.

 

Ahh... if only they would somehow offer their products to Europe as well.
Not really keen on buying a laptop from across the Atlantic without even having a warranty to go with it...

Basically AFAIK the only brands that exist here are Acer, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett-Packard (and HP Compaq), Toshiba, sometimes Asus, LG, Sony (Vaio) and in single instances I've also found Packard Bell and Lenovo. That's it really...

Now if there is a EU-based on-line shop that offers warranty with their products that'd be great but otherwise I've gotta play with what I've got...

 

No No. Lol. There are MANY MANY resellers in europe that sell Sager's sir. Just check out the Sager area of this forum and the FAQ.

 

IC, thanks man!
So, to return to my original question which (of all worldwide manufacturers) is the one with the best battery life?

 

To be honest. All companies have one model which is marketed as one which has optimal battery life. Sony however is usually a very good company when it comes to battery life in every aspect of electronics

 

Dont forget you also pay for the branding

Just like how BMW's are overpriced and not worth the money

 

Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'm trying to avoid

 

HP's have awesome battery life, talking from experience (over 2 and a half of an hour on 17" lappy? Gorgeous.)

 

Value for money id say dell, hp or asus but it might be different in your country...

 

Voodoo is the best at making sexy laptops.
But in your case, you will get the most bang for the buck with a dell or asus. I dont recommend hp, they are not that great.
ASUS is more of gaming brand than Dell.

K-TRON

 

The Crappy Asus batterylife comes from poorly coded bioses I think. That was what I read last time anyways.

And HP's Business Line is pretty damn hard to beat.

But other factors can be rated silicone. The better brands have lowe failure rate, because they have the more premium pieces of silicone. the cheaper laptops have the bargain bin version of the same chips: they are just as fast, but they fail more easily. At least I think it's like that.