That has not been my experience, nor the experience of the people I spoke to. I bought an ASUS laptop for travel (super light, ZenBook), and 2 portable screens (ZenScreen), and they all fit perfectly in a small Osprey backpack. I have had them for about a year, and ZERO issues. I was big into Dell, because that's all I used since 1998. I am pretty satisfied with the switch, and if it gets lost/stolen, easy to replace. Not a tragedy...
The point is that there are plenty of solid competitors out there. I got stuck with the brand Dell, because that's all I ever knew since the 1990s. Ironically, my previous laptop was a Dell Latitude, which was not cheap. Within 3 years, the touchpad started peeling off, and bending. To top it off, bubbles emerged on the left side of the touchpad. I pierced one of them with a knife, AND FIRE CAME OUT. I threw it away...