I asked Forrester about the models he sees most often in his shop. His mixed
report: Sony and Dell products have the highest occurrence of LCD problems,
which isn’t unexpected since most of their machines use screens from the
same manufacturer. The maker of the problematic screens? Neither Dell nor
Sony but rather Samsung, the Korean conglomerate.Compaqs and corporate cousin HP laptops, Gateway machines, as well as
many OEM products (sold under brand names of retailers that have no
factories) often fail because of problems with their DC power jacks, the con-
nector where the AC adapter attaches. (An OEMis an Original Equipment
Manufacturer, a company that make components that other companies incor-
porate into their brand-name machines.) Forrester said that Toshiba and Dell
have avoided this problem through more robust engineering, while IBM and
Sony put a cable between their DC connectors and the motherboard, which
protects the expensive board.Toshiba is overall the best-engineered laptop, according to Forrester; for
what it’s worth, as a user that’s my opinion as well. That’s not to say that
Toshiba’s technical support is the best, and it’s also true that other makers
may offer faster or flashier machines. But Toshiba makes a solid, durable
machine. Actually, the Japanese company uses factories in China and else-
where in Asia to make its machines.Some of the larger OEM manufacturers include Acer, Compal, Quantex, and
Twinhead; you may find machines with these names or private label machines
at retail stores. The machines may be just fine, but finding replacement parts
may be problematic.62 Part II: Explaining What Could Possibly Go Wrong