1 In 3 Laptops Fail Within 3 Years

[filingaccount]

According to Squaretrades recently released research, 31% of laptops fail within 3 years of purchase. About 20% of the failures are hardware related and over 10% is accidental damage.

Netbook are projected to have a 20% higher failure rate than laptops. However, the data is over 1 year only so the results are not conclusive.

The most reliable laptop manufacturers are....

1. ASUS

2. Toshiba

3. Sony

The WORST are....

3. Acer

2. Gateway

1. HP

The conclusion according to Squaretrade is:

"Given the high overall failure rates of laptops and sizeable difference in reliability by brand, reliability should be a concern for consumers shopping around for the best holiday deals."

Source: http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109

[samuijim]

So actually only 21% fail. I don't think the 10% from accidental damage count. Well I must be really lucky, I have never had a single failure and I have had them all.....several acers, a couple of HP's and a Dell mini.

[regedit]

My ASUS failed within 1 year (within warranty) and then again after 3 years (out of warranty). No more ASUS laptops for me.

Edited April 27, 2010 by regedit

[gotlost]

So 69% succeed, whats the bad news?

[olivier2553]

So... Don't buy laptop unless you really need a mobile equipment.

And if you buy a laptop, know that it is more expensive and much, much more fragile than a desktop machine. And it is much less upgradable.

At least 50% of laptop owners bought a laptop because it looks cool, not because they need mobile computing.

[dobadoy]

So 69% succeed, whats the bad news?

Bad news for HP, but I think the idea was to inform consumers rather than give bad news. The report states

ASUS and Toshiba come out on top. With 3 year malfunction rates forecast to be under 16%, laptops from these two manufacturers are nearly 40% more reliable than Hewlett-Packard, the worst performer in our study. Sony and Apple also performed better than the average.

The industry leader HP, which shipped nearly 16 million laptops in the past year according to IDCiii, ranked dead last in our reliability study with over one-fourth of laptops expected to malfunction in 3 years.

Edited April 27, 2010 by dobadoy

[dobadoy]

So... Don't buy laptop unless you really need a mobile equipment.

And if you buy a laptop, know that it is more expensive and much, much more fragile than a desktop machine. And it is much less upgradable.

At least 50% of laptop owners bought a laptop because it looks cool, not because they need mobile computing.

Any support for those figures there, Olivier? I had three desktops and they all failed within 2 years. I switched to laptops 8 years ago primarily for convenience so that I can work wherever I want, but I've also no reliability problems, having only owned two laptops in the past eight years.

Edited April 27, 2010 by dobadoy

[stolidfeline]

We've actually held several meetings to consider whether to refuse to service any HP/Compaq products. No decision yet, but most people did agree that it was largely a waste of time repairing them.

[Nio]

I hope squaretrade doesn't publish the sky is falling

PS the reference link does not work

[Daren]

The link does work for me, and I find this very interesting. Thanks for posting this.

I've always suspected that Sony, Apple and Toshiba made some of the products, but it's good to have statistics to back that up.

[Digitalbanana]

I hope squaretrade doesn't publish the sky is falling

They should do, its part of their business. If things didn't fail as much as they said, they'd be out of business. A conflict of interest methinks.

[glomp]

Laptops and computers in general are a disposable product now days. It's not a refrigerator you can expect to last 10 years. If you want something to last don't buy a $500 asus crap book and hold it to a standard of something alot more expensive. Computers fail and surprise, cheap computers fail more often......

Sure your 286 lasted for 10 years but it also probably cost as much as 4-6 decent laptops today.

[griser]

Not surprised that the Toshiba units last longer. as a technician i've seen those things dropped from quite a height without damage. Good machines but hel_l to work on. Lotsa screws! hehe

Greg

[Javabear]

I had a 15" Toshiba that I carried all over Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Thailand, and the US for 3 1/2 years with very little issue. It finally got to the point that it wouldn't do what I needed anymore so I replaced it with an HP DV7 17"...big mistake. 9 months later and it's about toast. E-sata port wont work, optical (blu ray) drive won't work, and running very slow. I've had several techs look at it and they all shrug their shoulders after about an hour. No more HP's for me.

[nikster]

Hmm... if this is just the number of issues "reported" to squaretrade then the actual failure rate will be a bit higher. some people won't report issues, they'll just dump the laptop, even if they have insurance.

Had a lot of issues with the generation MacBook Pro from 2007 and before but that was all heat related. The new unibodies are built like tanks, and I think they'll battle with Asus for the top spot shortly. My MacBook Pro 17" from 2009 has had not a single issue in the first year of ownership. This is remarkable because it's only the second laptop in the last 10 years that has achieved that. Just like said other laptop - an Acer 800 travelmate series, now discontinued - this MacBook Pro runs extremely cool, so I think heat related outages are very common in laptops.

The MacBook Pro runs very cool. Nothing rattles or shakes even after more than a year of living in a backpack, cafes, and motorbikes; the inside is almost as clean and beautiful as the outside, everything is very orderly; huge, silent fans.

Anyway - not a single issue in the first year of ownership is remarkable. Never even thought about it until just now.

Previous laptops always had something break: I've until now always managed to break the battery before the 1 year warranty is over. Hard disks have been an issue in Thailand (due heat, I think). Rattling and shaking of various parts. Broken screen hinges, trackpads, mainboard errors, had it all...

[filingaccount]

There is a clear reason why Apple chose ASUS to build their laptops... and a clear reason why Apple is doing so well in overall build quality, EXCEPT heat issues, just like most ASUS laptops.

[IMA_FARANG]

Well I have a notebook...actually a 17 inch screen Toshiba Sattelite Pro. It's going on two years now, and it is doing just fine. I previously owned a 15 inch screen HP notebook. It died due to the LCD screen failing...but to be fair it probably wasn't the computer's fault. What happened was that the carrying case I had that HP in broke, and the notebook fell about 15 feet down a flight of stairs. It still worked, but the LCD screen looked like a colored rainbow spreading from where the screen hit. By the way, the LCD screen on a notebook makes up at least 60% of the total cost of the notebook, so don't even think of trying to replace it. It's cheaper just to buy a new notebook. I found that out the hard way.

In my case, I have no internet connection in my apartment. So if I want to go online, I have to carry my wireless equiped notebook to a place where I can get online. Not really practical for a desktop you see.

Most of the problems with all computers, including desktops, laptops and notebooks, occur within the first 3 to 6 months. That's why it is important to get the warrenty details in. Once your past that first 6 months or so, the failure rate drops down quite a bit until old age starts to creep in.

When a computer, no matter what type, reaches 3 years old, nowadays; it is considered ancient. So, frankly, they simply are not designed for a longer period. Most owners will be looking for something "new" before the end of that time anyhow.

There is a program called System Mechanic Pro by a company called Islo Labortories that sells for about 40 dollars. It will check and repair many problems that your computer will start to develop with use. It will check and repair your registry, defragment your hard drive, defrag your memory ( I usually see a big increase in free memory when I run the memory defrag utility)remove the unneeded "clutter" files Vista or Windows XP is fond of leaving...and protects you against viruses, worms, and malware also. I wouldn't run my notebook without that program. (I run Norton antivirus, updated regularly, also). For 40 dollars, and with a years worth of free on-line updates that comes with the subscription to the program, System Mechanic Pro is one of the best software investments I ever made.

And no, I don't have any financial interest in the company.

Edited April 27, 2010 by IMA_FARANG

[elshaheen]

Actually, my ACER died in less then one month. My HPG60 has been going strong so far going on 6 months. Gateway dies within 2 years.

solution, by a pen and notepad