Lenovo (and Alienware for that matter) is Dell, and are very popular.
Asus are popular too and I've rarely had to fix any.
I forget who owns Clevo but they're crappy and I'm always having to fix them.
Acer make decent spec laptops at a decent price, although some complain of build quality (referring to the chassis) and other things, although my dad's Acer is still going strong after several years of daily use (a SSD upgrade helped) so I stand by it.
HP like to think they're a more "premium" brand and often add extra features/gimmicks like integrated control panels/buttons and stuff, but they seem the most likely to have bad design and cooling issues and tend to run pricey.
Toshiba tend to be cheaper business class laptops. They work, but tend not to have amazing specs. Well priced usually.
MSI target the enthusiast/gamer market. Giving gamer grade laptops at a not-too-unreasonable price means they have to cut corners somewhere, and sometimes I think they should spend less on aesthetics and more on stability.
Sony Vaio I've not seen in a long time but they tended to only offer premium laptops with fairly solid design and stability.
Microsoft Surface acts as a good compromise between laptops and tablets. I've seen some Lenovo and HP designs that tried to imitate this but tend to cost far too much.
Something to remember is that all of the above companies do not MAKE laptops, they ASSEMBLE laptops. Just like desktop PCs, they all have motherboards, CPU, RAM, HDD/SSD, and other parts that are put together in a plastic chassis to make a complete product. All those parts are made by other companies (e.g. many laptops will use Foxconn motherboards which are always crappy) and all laptops (even Macs) have a 15-30% failure rate within 3 years. All that really matters in picking a laptop are the specs.
Is the CPU strong enough to run your apps?
Does it have enough RAM? Is there enough storage?
If you're gaming or doing video editing, does it have a discreet GPU for better graphics performance?
Is a 13" screen enough for you or do you need a 21" laptop?
Does it have enough storage? Do you need the speed of a SSD or Hybrid drive?
Is the laptop light and portable to take around? Will the battery last? (note that batteries tend to die every 3-5 years and may need replacing that often)
These points, and budget, tend to be the main things to think about when choosing a laptop. So look at the specs first, not the brand.
