I have personally been quite happy with the medium to low end HP models in the past 8 or so years.
I have only owned two of them, but they've both been great.
For each I walked into a local shop, purchased their cheapest old floor model for about $350 CAD, installed debian on it, and have been pleased ever since.
They've never broken down or given me any problems in terms of quality. I even sold my first one for $100 and the new owner is still happy with it apparently.
The only reason that I ditched my first one was because the CPU was beginning to show it's age.
I am still curious however to know what other HNers could vouch for, because I know the only reason I bought my second HP laptop was because the first one worked so well... which isn't really a rational reason in this day and age unfortunately.
I have only owned two of them, but they've both been great.
For each I walked into a local shop, purchased their cheapest old floor model for about $350 CAD, installed debian on it, and have been pleased ever since.
They've never broken down or given me any problems in terms of quality. I even sold my first one for $100 and the new owner is still happy with it apparently.
The only reason that I ditched my first one was because the CPU was beginning to show it's age.
I am still curious however to know what other HNers could vouch for, because I know the only reason I bought my second HP laptop was because the first one worked so well... which isn't really a rational reason in this day and age unfortunately.