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WOW!!!!! i am surprised. almost every toshiba ive ever come in contact with has broken down at one point. granted it wasnt ever anything i couldnt fix, but still i am genuinely surprised #laptops
@minibeardeath: Were they generally under 3 years old?
Still, 15% failure in 3 years is still pretty crappy, IMO. I'm curious how these numbers would look if they weighed the scores for severity/cost of failure, though. I would love to see detailed numbers for each manufacturer for what their top three failed components were.
@FigNinja: I'm in insurance and a large part of my job is data analysis. These numbers don't give us enough information to determine true reliability because this isn't a measure of reliability, it's a measure of claims submitted. Are there unique characteristics about the Squaretrade policyholders for certain brands that make them more likely to file a claim? (gender, age, location, financial status, etc.)
@Brendan Bone: Yep. I'm aware of that. My question to minibeardeth, which may not have been very clear amongst all the replies, was whether the computers HE saw matched the study sample.
@Bandit: i believe that you have a misconception of Dell not Apple, despite all you hear, Dell has decent quality (esp for business), its just their customer support that is shitty #laptops
@Bandit: Apple and Dell do use the same parts for the most part. Neither of them really design their own processors, mother boards, graphics cards etc. #laptops
@Bandit: I friend over the course of 4 years of college sent his Macbook Pro for major hardware repairs 3 times. None were normal wear failures. #laptops
@Bandit: sorry if this is a double post, i accidentally hit back and my post dissappeared (while i was editing it).
I don't think the fact that half of Giz readers use Macs matters... the study wasn't done using statistics taken from Giz or any Gawker site for that matter.
@opanitch: The point someone above made is that I must be experiencing more reports of Dell failures because there are more Dell computers. That is not the case here, where Macs are the majority, yet I feel like here I've often seen comments about Dell reliability.
@Bandit: ah when I made that point (at least I'm one of the people that said it) I was speaking in general, not just here, ie friends, co-workers, family, etc...
HP takes a hit, as usual. Problem is, their consumer products tend to be flaky, and their business products rock solid. Shame they get lumped together like this. #laptops
Also, if a certain manufacturer (*cough*apple*cough*) does not make netbooks, their overall reliability rating may appear higher, even though their laptops are less reliable than comparable full size models from other companies.
@dougwilliams: But Asus is one of the most popular netbook makers of all. Not only that, but I'd imagine the eeepc family takes up a much larger share of their laptop division than the netbook divisions of Sony or Dell. Yet Asus comes across as the most reliable. #laptops
@FigNinja: I've actually been made fun of for owning one by people that don't recognize it. Say it looks like a cheap Chinese knockoff that fell off a truck. #laptops
@weendex: Add this to the mix:
A cheap HP laptop can be about $370 compared to a $1200+ average Sony.
So in 4 years it might have a 10% higher failure rate.
SO????? it was 25% of the Price !
Go buy yourself a new HP, faster than your 4 year old Sony and you would still be ahead of the game by 50% of the cash you spent.
I once read about this guy that kept buying Canon Printers because it was cheaper than the ink refills... he kept donating the ones that run out of ink and deducting the donations.
Some of these charts forget the "bottom line". #laptops
And cue the same response as the last time they released these numbers: Apple doesn't contract with SquareTrade to do warranty repairs. Any data they have on Macs comes from user extended warranty contracts, not from new machines. #laptops
@Nathan Obbards: No, I think he's saying that Apple perform better than shown there since the warranty SquareTrade provides for Macs is generally purchased by owners of already aged Apple products (after Apple's warranty runs out, eg.) #laptops
@Ovi Aiesec Hentea: It wouldn't work like that. The warranty is for the first three years of ownership, so it would be those who opted for a SquareTrade warranty rather than AppleCare, probably because they purchased from a third party or felt that it was a better warranty being offered to them. I was being facetious in my statement because the numbers should not really vary that much between those seen by SquareTrade and those seen by Apple. #laptops
As someone who dealt with broken laptops for the past five years, I have to say that the Toshibas I saw had very severe problems (bad motherboards, severe overheating, completely wrecked HD's) much more often than other computers. This impression might be skewed because I only saw sick computers, though. Their tech support was terrible, though. #laptops
It brings me joy to see Apple only .9% points ahead of Dell. It shouldnt, because I really like my Macbook, and hope to god it doesnt shit the bed on me. Its just nice to see Apple shown in a more human light, with flaws, rather than seeing it on its usual perch up on Mount Olympus. #laptops
@danger the pirate: for me it's a new laptop yearly because my machine is my money. yes, i have plenty of money so it's no big deal, though my kids are the benefactors of my regular upgrades. Time waiting on my machine is money wasted.
I make money with my computers. the faster they are, the faster I can be. though i do have to say, as slow as my wife is, she still has a laptop that will best most anything the rest of you have.
Out of curiosity, what's the difference between laptop and tower failure rates.
I'm fairly convinced that the increased heat and limited airflow in a laptop is murder on the parts (and thus good for the computer sales industry) but can find no definitive study on the topic. #laptops
@Pope John Peeps II: Does anybody even use desktop computers anymore outside of specialized gaming rigs? I'm pretty sure nobody who builds a gaming rig even attempts to use it without massive upgrades for an entire three years. #laptops
@Pope John Peeps II: shhh There's a reason you can't find anything on the topic. You might be silenced with that kind of silly talk.
but seriously, what you're thinking surely must be the case. This trend here even backs you up with netbooks, the even smaller computer, having a higher failure rate. So many components packed into ever shrinking cases just increases the self destruction factor of these things, but that's business. We can't give you those light bulbs that never burn out just yet. #laptops
@chefgon: Since desktops are so much cheaper, especially when buying the parts and doing some of the assembly yourself, you can basically buy one that stays relevant to technology for way longer than a laptop would. My desktop has 2 year old parts and is still very, very fast relative to today's tech. Well, maybe I need a new graphics card if I want to make it my media centre. #laptops
@chefgon: Yes, they do. I recently graduated from college, and got a job where I no longer needed a laptop for any meaningful reason, as I have high speed at my apartment and at work.
Why not get more power, more reliability, and more upgradeability for the same price, if mobility is a non-issue? #laptops
Scientists, Graphic Artists, photographers, video, 3d artists, engineers......
Yep, they all use desktops. Not to mention the larger widescreen monitors are nicer to use than any laptop monitor on the market. Desktops are the most flexible, upgradable, and cost effective way to do computing. The only spot they fail is the whole portability thing. #laptops
Huh. I'm surprised to see Apple even in fourth place-- from reading the tech blogs the past two years, it seemed like every revision of the Macbook Pro had its own hardware issue.
Then again, I'm typing this from my seven-year old PowerBook. So there could be a trend I'm overlooking. #laptops
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Still, 15% failure in 3 years is still pretty crappy, IMO. I'm curious how these numbers would look if they weighed the scores for severity/cost of failure, though. I would love to see detailed numbers for each manufacturer for what their top three failed components were.
11/17/09
11/17/09
Myself excluded, I suppose... #laptops
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#tips
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I don't think the fact that half of Giz readers use Macs matters... the study wasn't done using statistics taken from Giz or any Gawker site for that matter.
11/19/09
#tips
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lies, damned lies, and statistics, ya know?
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"Netbooks are projected to have a 20 percent higher failure rate than more expensive laptop computers."
This would make you think that if a "more expensive laptop" had a failure rate of 4.7%, the netbook would be 24.2%.
But take a look at their graph.
When they say 20% they mean a 20% increase on the 4.7%, or approximately just a piddle ONE PERCENT increase in overall failure rate.
So by 20% they mean that out of a hundred netbooks ONE additional netbook will fail if compared to a hundred laptops.
Bad stats = pet peeve #17 #laptops
11/17/09
A cheap HP laptop can be about $370 compared to a $1200+ average Sony.
So in 4 years it might have a 10% higher failure rate.
SO????? it was 25% of the Price !
Go buy yourself a new HP, faster than your 4 year old Sony and you would still be ahead of the game by 50% of the cash you spent.
I once read about this guy that kept buying Canon Printers because it was cheaper than the ink refills... he kept donating the ones that run out of ink and deducting the donations.
Some of these charts forget the "bottom line". #laptops
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11/30/09
I make money with my computers. the faster they are, the faster I can be. though i do have to say, as slow as my wife is, she still has a laptop that will best most anything the rest of you have.
11/17/09
I'm fairly convinced that the increased heat and limited airflow in a laptop is murder on the parts (and thus good for the computer sales industry) but can find no definitive study on the topic. #laptops
11/17/09
11/17/09
but seriously, what you're thinking surely must be the case. This trend here even backs you up with netbooks, the even smaller computer, having a higher failure rate. So many components packed into ever shrinking cases just increases the self destruction factor of these things, but that's business. We can't give you those light bulbs that never burn out just yet. #laptops
11/17/09
11/17/09
Why not get more power, more reliability, and more upgradeability for the same price, if mobility is a non-issue? #laptops
11/17/09
Scientists, Graphic Artists, photographers, video, 3d artists, engineers......
Yep, they all use desktops. Not to mention the larger widescreen monitors are nicer to use than any laptop monitor on the market. Desktops are the most flexible, upgradable, and cost effective way to do computing. The only spot they fail is the whole portability thing. #laptops
11/17/09
Then again, I'm typing this from my seven-year old PowerBook. So there could be a trend I'm overlooking. #laptops