I agree you want good QC, support, and product design/features, but the various Lenovos, HPs, Asus, are just ODM'd machines manufactured by Wistron, Compal, Peg

I agree you want good QC, support, and product design/features, but the various Lenovos, HPs, Asus, are just ODM'd machines manufactured by Wistron, Compal, Pegatron, etc so it's not all that different except big brands pay for more exclusivity. As far as repairability goes, you'd be better off with more standard parts, and honestly, lately some of the white label chassis' like the Clevo L141MU or Tong Fang ID4H1 are as good or in many ways better (lighter, unlocked BIOSes, more upgradeable (SODIMM slots!), better cooling, bigger batteries) than what many of the big OEMs have been putting out. Not all configurations one these white labels are the same though since OEMs usually can choose what quality display panel, trackpad, etc they want to use...