Which brand has the best overall build quality?

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum. So my sister is going to college and she asked me to find her a good laptop, as I'm the only tech savvy person in my family. I already know the specs and everything that I want. She won't be gaming or anything so I think something like an Intel i5 will do just fine. And she doesn't want to spend more than $600.

I've been researching laptops for the past couple days, and whenever I think that I've found the "perfect" laptop, I then find a bunch of reviews and websites saying that the build quality overall is just crap. Some laptops that I've looked at have been the Toshiba Satellite C55-C5241, Dell Inspiron laptops, HP 350, various HP Probook models, various Acer Aspire models, etc. I just don't know which brand has the best overall build quality. I keep on hearing that HP is crap, then from another place that Acer is crap, and so on. It's just been getting so frustrating. All I want is a laptop with decent specs under $600 (around an i5, at least 4gb ram), built very solid (metal preferably), dvd drive, but I can't seem to find the right one. I guess I'm just afraid that the laptop I would choose for her would fall apart in the first 6 months.

So I guess what I'm asking is what brand (or brands) in your experience have the best overall build quality? And would any of the laptops that I mentioned by ok? I'm open to any other suggestions such as buying used or refurbished or any other good laptops in that price range. Thanks a ton!

 

My first HP Pavillion laptop lasted me around 7 years! I did a lot of work on that one, but I don't download any music, movies or videos. I bought it for under $600, so I am sure you can find a fantastic one for that price at this time of the year from the going back to school sale.

My sister has a Sony, and that lasted her a long time too. My son has a Toshiba, and it is now about 7 years old. I wouldn't buy Dell, or Acer since many of my friends have horrible experience with them.