Laptop reliability

[bakaduin]

Interesting study on laptop reliability.

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/S...ility_1109.pdf

Study finds that a 1/3rd of laptops will fail within 3 years. I'm sure that some of us had experienced this and while we may have just gotten a lemon it seems to be more par for the course.

They break it down by company and I think it is no surprise to any of us that HP's were the least reliable with a 25.6% failure rate over 3 years. My direct family has owned 2 HP laptops at some time and both were dead within a year.

Dell runs middle of the pack with reliability (18.3%) and what I think will surprise some people is Apple is in the same boat at 17.4%. The most reliable laptop brands are Asus and Toshiba according to the study at 15.6% and 15.7% respectively.

[supagator]

My toshiba satelite was expensive in 2006, but it is working great.

[Sir_Gibby]

It's faulty by design. Poo airflow, constrained hardware and the way people handle them contribute to the problem.

[LakeGator]

As the report says, only mobile telephones take more abuse than do laptops. Laptops are far more complex mechanically and generate a huge amount of heat which must be dissipated. In addition to all the physical abuse such as drops the lack of airflow causes a great deal of damage over time. Almost all laptops have air vents on the bottom but they get covered when the laptop is on a soft surface – like on a lap.

The actual failure rate of roughly one third is not surprised given the punishment the devices take. What is very intriguing is the failure rate by vendor.

Thanks for posting the good information

[gatorfansrule]

Very surprising. I always tell people who ask me for recommendation that HP is one of the best. Guess I'll change my suggestions to Toshiba and Sony.

[G8trJasonB]

My employer uses all HP products. They suck. I hate them.

[superfleish]

Toshiba has always been my #1 recommendation for laptops. Nothing is 100% but I have always found them to be the most reliable and problem free if you take care of it.

[panamacitygator]

I have a 4 yr old Toshiba that is still going strong.

[GatorNav1]

I have a 4 year old Gateway that has never given me a problem...still working good!

[Aardvark]

My Gateway has had less problems than my previous laptop, a Toshiba.

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by Aardvark

My Gateway has had less problems than my previous laptop, a Toshiba.

The study is just that a study. It has a large sample size and thus it means while not every Gateway is going to fail that on average a higher number will fail than Toshibas.

[Aardvark]

So the bottom line is I got one of the few "non-lemon" Gateways whereas my previous laptop was one of the few "lemons" from Toshiba. Gotcha.

[LakeGator]

As bakaduin says this is just a study and is a ‘self selected’ study at that. The study was “for over 30,000 new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans.” While 30,000 seems a very adequate sample size it may be that people who purchase these plans don’t represent the rest of the population.

The study LOOKS to be well done but that doesn’t mean that it is or that the results are totally accurate. It certainly provides interesting information

[Aardvark]

My post was intended to be "tongue-in-cheek" not to be confused with reality.

I was happy w\ my Toshiba but the Gateway has been the better laptop for my needs

[LakeGator]

You really want to watch where you put that tongue, you know.