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When buying a new laptop, you must consider several factors. Some of these include the price, operating system, processor, screen size, and weight. You might want a laptop that’s as basic as possible for school, like a Chromebook, while the next person might need a workhorse that can handle any demanding tasks thrown at it. Regardless of your budget or operating system of choice, a key consideration you shouldn’t miss out on is brand reliability, because that will ensure that the laptop you pick can serve you for a while without any issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that’s where Consumer Reports<\/a> (CR),\u00a0an independent, member-supported non-profit organization\u00a0that reviews products for the public, comes in handy. The\u00a0site conducts annual surveys of thousands of users who have bought laptops from different brands and uses this data to find each manufacturer’s predicted reliability and owner satisfaction.\u00a0Brands that score higher have\u00a0products that present fewer problems than others after three years of use. Unfortunately, not every laptop manufacturer on the market has a good reliability score.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some major brands have poor CR scores and, as such, are worth avoiding. So if you want to get a laptop for school or work, you should stay away from the five\u00a0popular laptop brands below if you want\u00a0dependable computers you won’t have to replace soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Alienware<\/p>\n
Lastroll\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Owned by Dell, Alienware specializes in making high-performance laptops for gamers by incorporating high-end parts. For instance, Alienware’s 16X Aurora Gaming Laptop is configurable with up to\u00a0an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, up to 64 GB of RAM, and up to 4 TB of storage. The brand’s laptops are also made with gaming aesthetics\u00a0like RGB lighting.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some of the brand’s laptops are praised for\u00a0being great machines for gaming, they aren’t reliable. In fact, the Alienware brand has one of the lowest reliability scores in\u00a0CR’s laptop and Chromebook rankings.\u00a0This means that you should avoid Alienware laptops as much as possible if you want a device that will get the job done for a while without giving you problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n When you consider that none of the brand’s laptops cost less than $1,000, it doesn’t make sense to splurge on one of them if the\u00a0chances of experiencing issues within the first three years are high, as implied by the brand’s low predicted reliability scores.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Dell<\/p>\n
Chikena\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Dell\u00a0ranks as one of the major brands on the market. Data from research firm Gartner<\/a> ranked the company third in the number of PC units sold worldwide in the last quarter of 2025. If you thought you could buy directly from Dell instead of its Alienware sub-brand due to the latter’s low reliability scores, think again.<\/p>\n Dell is just as undependable a brand as Alienware. But while Dell’s laptops have better reliability scores than its gaming sub-brand, its scores put it near the bottom of the list when compared to other laptop makers.<\/p>\n Some specific Dell laptop models,\u00a0like the company’s popular XPS lineup, which has been a darling of professionals and tech enthusiasts alike, help the company show up on the list of the best laptop brands based on their reputation for reliability<\/a>. However, the company has a wide lineup of laptops with bad scores,\u00a0according to CR’s data. That includes several Inspiron and Latitude models.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n MSI<\/p>\n
Nara_money\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n MSI is yet another brand whose laptops are mainly marketed at those who want a gaming computer. As one of the major gaming laptop brands, the company has a wide selection of devices, including the\u00a0non-gaming Prestige lineup of light business laptops that promise excellent battery life. As a matter of fact,\u00a0the MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo is lighter than Apple’s MacBook Air<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the brand is best known for its high-performance laptops, and it’s no surprise that it makes some of the best computers for gamers. Unfortunately, gaming laptops are notoriously unreliable<\/a>, and MSI’s predicted reliability score in CR’s data, only slightly higher than Dell’s, is proof of that. The company has poor scores per CR’s user surveys, so it’s best to skip its laptops and consider more reliable laptop brands<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Acer<\/p>\n
Ruslan Lytvyn\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Acer has a diversified laptop\u00a0portfolio, and you can buy devices at a vast range of price points. The company sells cheap Chromebooks, which are perfect for anyone with a tight budget, and expensive, powerful models for demanding customers.\u00a0It even has a lineup of gaming-dedicated laptops: the Acer Nitro and Acer Predator series, for those who need portable yet capable devices that can breeze through modern-day games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Its mid-range and entry-level devices are known to offer the best bang for buck, so it might make sense that you’d want to snag a unit if you don’t want to buy high-end laptops. But before you invest in that cheap Chromebook from Acer or any of its high-end models, you should keep in mind that the brand’s reliability scores are among the lowest for major laptop brands, according to CR. The Aspire line is especially disappointing, with low performance and display ratings as well.<\/p>\n As such, there’s a higher chance that you’ll experience issues with your Acer laptop within the first three years of ownership than if you buy from other reliable brands that have higher scores. Until the company works on making its laptops last longer, you should avoid buying them if you want a device that will last several years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Asus<\/p>\n
Erman Gunes\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Windows laptop manufacturers are notorious for launching a variety of models every year, unlike Apple, which only releases a handful of models at a time and has only recently expanded its laptop lineup to three models: MacBook Air, Pro, and Neo. On the Windows side, Asus is another laptop brand you should avoid, according to data from CR.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has a similar approach to Acer when it comes to its laptops, with entry-level Chromebooks mixed with some mid-range and high-end laptops, including gaming-focused options in its flagship Republic of Gamers (ROG) lineup. Its portfolio has models that run Intel’s chips, while others incorporate Qualcomm’s ARM-based Snapdragon X series chipsets.\u00a0<\/p>\n The brand is known for its bold experiments on new form factors, such as the Asus Zenbook Duo 14, which comes with two screens. The only caveat of buying this company’s products is that it has low reliability scores. According to CR data, the brand scores just slightly higher than Acer, but significantly lower than\u00a0LG,\u00a0Samsung, and Apple.\u00a0So, don’t expect a smooth ride after the first years of your ownership journey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n How we selected major laptop brands to avoid<\/p>\n
Metamorworks\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
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