The Internet (and life) is full of the silent majority. Unfortunately it's hard and unprofitable to report on the silent majority, so the loudest opinions are always taken as true. Teach the controversy. That's why it's hard to find valid community reviews; people who don't have a strong opinion are unlikely to voice that opinion. My laptop works just fine. I'm not in love with it, but I don't dislike it. It's a tool for getting my work done, and it performs its job exactly as well as I expect it to. Which is why you don't see ThinkPadRumors.com, CultOfLenovo.com, or The Unofficial Business Machine Weblog. There's no Fake Yang Yuanqing twitter account.

Being high-profile creates buzz, and creates controversy. Controversy sells, and makes a product more high-profile. You always have to take into account that the people who are yelling are the ones who have something to yell about. Behind them, there are people actually using the products who don't care either way.