RANK EXPECTED 3 YEAR LAPTOP MALFUNCTION % RATE 1 ASUS 15.6 <<<<<<<<<<< BEST 2 Toshiba 15.7 3 Sony 16.8 4 APPLE 17.4 5 Dell 18.3 6 Lenovo 21.5 7 ACER 23.3 8 GATEWAY 23.5 9 HP 25.6 <<<<<<<<<< WORST
Where does Fujitsu fit into the rankings?
///////////////////////////////////////////////
SquareTrade Research: Nearly 1 in 3 Laptops fail over 3 years
An analysis of reported laptop failures from malfunctions and accidental damage.
Synopsis: SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 30,000 new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans and found that one-third of all laptops will fail within 3 years. SquareTrade also found that netbooks are 20% more unreliable than other laptops, and that Asus and Toshiba are the most reliable laptop brands.
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. Gateway and Acer, the #2 maker of laptops, were also nearly as unreliable as HP, with an expected malfunction rate of over 23%.
Users like you can add images, links and other relevant information about this topic.
posted: Dec. 12, 2009 @ 10:10a
jonesntn
Member
posted: Dec. 12, 2009 @ 11:15a
I wish it were this simple. Unfortunately I think HP is getting a bad rap here. I know HP has had a big issue with Nvdia, and I'm sure that affected their number. My opinion is Typically the type of person that would by an ASUS laptop probably has actually owned another Laptop before and knows how to take a minimal amount of care with the laptop. HP on the other hand sells a wide array of laptop that are priced from $250 to $2500 and my opinion also is that the average person buying the low budget WalMart type version has had very little experience caring for laptops or bought a cheaper laptop because they new it was going to get some abuse. BTW, my first lappy was a Toshiba and the Motherboard died 1 week after the 1 year warranty expired. No sympathy from Toshiba. My HP died after 2.5 years due to Nvdia and HP replaced the MB and paid priority shipping both ways. HP did what they didn't have to do and Toshiba didn't do what they should have. Given all that, I am really interested in a new ASUS laptop, but could end up with another HP simply based on my experience.
I bought an Asus on November 17, 2009 as soon as I use the internet it start to give a lot of problems. After a week I return my Asus UL30A-A2 for a full refund. Since that day I'm afraid to buy another Asus notebook. I was looking to buy a Dell or and HP but I think I will get the HP dv6t because for the same price I get a better notebook than the Dell. I'm just waiting for a new HP coupon code so I can get it cheaper. Also one of my first notebooks was a Toshiba and I have a lot of trouble with that notebook and their service was terrible. Since that day I never wants to look for a Toshiba notebook. I use to have 2 Acer notebooks and I think I never have an issue with them. I think my first Acer notebook the hard drive doesn't wanto to work property and they change it and the service was very fast. With the 2nd Acer I bought 3 of the same model and just one have a problem on the touch pad on the left click and the display doesn't stand well. They change the display, all the shell of the notebook and also the entire touch pad for free, and that is service. I think it's the Brand I prefere. After that I bought an Acer Desktop and it has been almost 2 years and the Desktop runs very fast and I never had any problems with it. It's a QuadCore Q6600 with 3GB RAM and 500GB Hard Drive and I hope it still runs well for another 2 years.
Anyone tell me what should I get the HP dv6t or a Dell Studio 15 both with Intel Core i7. The only difference is that Dell gives me 320GB and doesn't have the option for 500GB, also Dell gives me a display with a resolution of 1080p and also they give me just 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 instead of HP that gives me 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M and a display of 720p. Well based on that what should I get. The price it's almost the same.
SquareTrade has a large sample size from which they derived these statistics. If a single user had their XYZ brand laptop go bad, it doesn't mean much to the overall ranking, although that individual user is understandably upset and sour on that particular manufacturer.
I am looking to get a new 16" laptop with 500GB, 4-6GB RAM, with a minimal risk of problems. I am leaning towards the Toshiba, although basing a decision only on the chart, ASUS and Sony are very close in terms of reliability. I wish I had known my current 4 year old laptop by Toshiba had a known problem in that it runs very hot, before I had bought it. They say it is due to the chip used - the Intel Mobile Pentium 4 538 / 3.2 GHz gets too hot.
I am not a computer expert. Are there certain chips to be avoided or desired in terms on not running too hot/overheating??
Notebook computer processors The central processor (CPU) is the heart of any computer system and an excellent litmus test as to whether a desktop computer or notebook fits your needs. The trouble is, processor names like Athlon and Celeron are as cryptic as system names like Latitude and Pavilion. Here's a quick guide to see which chip is a fit:
Manufacturer - Processor name - Processing power - Designed use Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Very high Gaming and graphics Intel Core 2 Quad Very high Gaming and graphics
AMD Turion High Mainstream AMD Athlon High Mainstream Intel Core 2 Duo High Mainstream
AMD Sempron Medium Entry level Intel Celeron Medium Entry level Intel Pentium Dual Core Medium Entry level
AMD Athlon Neo Low Netbook Intel Atom Low Netbook Via C7-M Low Netbook Via Nano Low Netbook Intel Pentium Low Budget
I have to agree that HP is getting a bad rap here as well. The notebooks old enough to fall into the 2-3 year age range include the low-cost leaders from HP (usually under the Compaq brand) that simply were cheapie laptops. They were throw-aways and the smart buyer knew it.
If the age were run back further, Dell would have done poorly due to issues with power connections and overheating due to clogged heat sinks. Yet Dell has gotten their act together and is having a decent laptop built for them these days.
The worst brand by my own experience has been Toshiba. Never again - no matter what the price - never again.
i63Aps
Member
posted: Dec. 12, 2009 @ 5:37p
Cant believe Toshiba is on 2nd rank. My first Toshiba laptop screen died after 2 yrs, 2nd Toshiba laptop battery died after 1 yr and the system shuts down every 2 hrs. The worst in my opinion, I fell for the hot deal prices and will never do it again . I guess lot of people just trash those laptops and dont bother to complain to the Customer service which puts them in rank 2.
I also use a Lenovo think pad which is a work machine and definitely better than Toshiba.
in that case i'm buying HP next time to take full advantage of my warranty when the thing bite's the dust. it's like a 40 some odd dollar (cost of warranty) upgrade to a current technology laptop after a few years.
Again, a sample size of 1, your own experience, is not meaningfully significant. This post was meant more to move the discussion forward in terms of LARGE sample sizes in order to make a better buying decision in the future, reward the Manufacturers with good track records of reliability by buying their products and punishing those with a bad track record by not buying from the Manufacturers who produce poor quality products. I would imagine there are other scientific studies out there. Repeat, your "personal study and research report" of what happened to your 1 or 2 or 3 computers is not helpful. SquareTrade looked at over 30,000 laptops to come to their conclusions. It would be nice if they broke down their results to see if, for example, how high end HP Laptops compared to low end HP laptops. Or all high end laptops vs low end laptops.
zubba said: SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 30,000 new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans and found that one-third of all laptops will fail within 3 years. SquareTrade also found that netbooks are 20% more unreliable than other laptops, and that Asus and Toshiba are the most reliable laptop brands.Square Trade should know what they are talking about. One-third failure rate! That's sort of amazing considering Square Trade's low cost for warranty and good track record. I wonder how they figure their warranty costs? A 3 year warranty for a $500 laptop is $99, $1000 laptop is $159. Square Trade is great. I sent my insured (4 year warranty cost $30 with discount) $350 digital camera to them when it just wouldn't power on one day and they sent me a check for $350 in 10 days. Bought a much better camera for $250 and of course insured it with Square Trade again. Great service!
raster1944 said: Square Trade should know what they are talking about. One-third failure rate! That's sort of amazing considering Square Trade's low cost for warranty and good track record.
or ... it could be that people who buy dodgy equipment also buy square trade warranties. the population of systems considered here is self-selecting ...
Hmmm, interesting study. Several things come to mind. One, their 1 in 3 failure rate stat includes over an over 10% accident rate, which is not surprising considering the portability of laptops. Also, regarding HP getting a bad rap; I can't comment on the Nvidia issue, since I'm not familiar with that problem (although a failure is a failure regardless of why), I can say that I don't think that their typical price point or target market would be much different than, say, Toshiba, which ranks much higher. From my personal experience with Toshibas, BTW, I haven't been impressed with their reliability at all. I've had 2 (both FW deals) one a high end Qosmio and one entry level. Both had MAJOR issues. With the Qosmio, the poor sods at Toshiba had to replace virtually EVERY component of that unit, one or two at a time. As a matter of fact it's DOA right now with a bad power supply (I believe), which was one of the few parts they didn't replace. But that's anecdotal.
I assume that their statistics are failure rates as a percentage of the units covered, by manufacturer, rather than just a raw total number. Under the latter scenario, the more units sold, the larger total number or failures.
HP Comes in 2 flavors. HP/HP which are good and HP/Compaq which are junk.
I wonder if they took into account of that.
jolma
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 15, 2009 @ 1:18p
People often say that high-end models or business models are better made and more reliable, and I would like to see the statistics on that. When I handle a Dell Vostro vs. an Inspiron, I don't see any quality difference at all.
jolma said: People often say that high-end models or business models are better made and more reliable, and I would like to see the statistics on that. When I handle a Dell Vostro vs. an Inspiron, I don't see any quality difference at all.
That is like comparing a Chevy to a Pontiac (RIP). More relevant to compare Lenovo Value line (G series) to their ThinhPads - night and day in construction, components, weight, performance. I was able to pick up a T400 for less than $600 all-in, which I consider a fantastic deal for a premium model.
Keep in mind that SquareTrade is an eBay service, and was originally created to encourage people to buy used, refurbs on eBay. Before offering service, they first exhaust manufacturer warrenty options, and even after the fact, will pressure a manufacturer to make good on a repair / replacement. In most cases, extended warrantees are high margin profit centers for retailers. As SquareTrade is primarily an eBay service, they do not have the same profit incentive.
shank said: Keep in mind that SquareTrade is an eBay service, and was originally created to encourage people to buy used, refurbs on eBay. Before offering service, they first exhaust manufacturer warrenty options, and even after the fact, will pressure a manufacturer to make good on a repair / replacement. In most cases, extended warrantees are high margin profit centers for retailers. As SquareTrade is primarily an eBay service, they do not have the same profit incentive.I only know two other people who have purchased a SquareTrade warranty for electronics and had to use the warranty. We all were pleased with the service. SquareTrade sent a label and in a few days sent an email confirming they were sending a check to cover the replacement cost of the item.
Before offering service, they first exhaust manufacturer warranty options, and even after the fact, will pressure a manufacturer to make good on a repair / replacement.And somehow this is bad?
In most cases, extended warranties are high margin profit centers for retailers. As SquareTrade is primarily an eBay service, they do not have the same profit incentive.
And that is why SquareTrade is so much cheaper for their warranty. My son's friend who worked at Circuit City would get a 25% bonus on the warranty cost he would sell on electronics. He also could give a discount on the warranty to make the sale like 1/3 off the warranty. Yes, the extended warranties are high profit sales for retailers. And SquareTrade is 50%-75% less than retailers warranties.
I did a search on Google and found little negative things said about Square Trade and thousands of positive reviews of their warranty service. Is there something wrong about it because it's a eBay service? I've been very pleased with eBay and out of 1000 transactions on eBay have had only one problem and that had to do with a MS CashBack transaction.
raster1944 said: shank said: Keep in mind that SquareTrade is an eBay service, and was originally created to encourage people to buy used, refurbs on eBay. Before offering service, they first exhaust manufacturer warrenty options, and even after the fact, will pressure a manufacturer to make good on a repair / replacement. In most cases, extended warrantees are high margin profit centers for retailers. As SquareTrade is primarily an eBay service, they do not have the same profit incentive.I only know two other people who have purchased a SquareTrade warranty for electronics and had to use the warranty. We all were pleased with the service. SquareTrade sent a label and in a few days sent an email confirming they were sending a check to cover the replacement cost of the item.
Before offering service, they first exhaust manufacturer warranty options, and even after the fact, will pressure a manufacturer to make good on a repair / replacement.And somehow this is bad?
In most cases, extended warranties are high margin profit centers for retailers. As SquareTrade is primarily an eBay service, they do not have the same profit incentive.
And that is why SquareTrade is so much cheaper for their warranty. My son's friend who worked at Circuit City would get a 25% bonus on the warranty cost he would sell on electronics. He also could give a discount on the warranty to make the sale like 1/3 off the warranty. Yes, the extended warranties are high profit sales for retailers. And SquareTrade is 50%-75% less than retailers warranties.
I did a search on Google and found little negative things said about Square Trade and thousands of positive reviews of their warranty service. Is there something wrong about it because it's a eBay service? I've been very pleased with eBay and out of 1000 transactions on eBay have had only one problem and that had to do with a MS CashBack transaction.
Where did I suggest anything negative about SquareTrade? My point about efforts to first exhaust manufacturer warranties was to help explain how they can charge $99 for 3 years coverage on a $500 laptop, based on the reported data. We have purchased about 6 waranties from the them over the past year or so, and hope they do not change the service.
What you suggest is an incorrect interpretation of their methodology. The data as compiled is not based on absolute numbers of which MFR has the most failures, but instead relative #'s as a percentage of failures by each manufacturer. For example, they are looking at a percentage of all Toshiba Laptops for which they are insuring and coming up with 15% Toshiba failure rate vs 25% failure rate for HP Laptops.
In your scenario, based on SquareTrade's calculations, your hypothetical would result in a 10% failure rate for HP and 50% for ASUS. 10/100=10% and 5/10 = 50%
gooddog said: If you sell 100 HP Laptops, and 10 ASUS, 5 ASUS come back, with 10 HP's, HP has twice as much falure rate as ASUS. Chris.
I know a guy that sent his Dell laptop back 4 times as the salty air from the sea affected it so much. They should also note things like that, e.g. location.
jolma
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 20, 2009 @ 6:14p
The warranty prices at SquareTrade are very competitive, and can cover accidental damage if you want that also. Instead of attempting to buy a more reliable laptop, next time I may buy the warranty. Getting an HP or Dell + a warranty is much cheaper than a Sony usually is, and I've never seen an Asus for sale anywhere.
jolma said: The warranty prices at SquareTrade are very competitive, and can cover accidental damage if you want that also. Instead of attempting to buy a more reliable laptop, next time I may buy the warranty. Getting an HP or Dell + a warranty is much cheaper than a Sony usually is, and I've never seen an Asus for sale anywhere.
Are you prepared to go a week or more without your laptop while being serviced?
Disclaimer: By providing links to other sites, FatWallet.com does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to FatWallet.com.
Members of our community may attach files to a post in accordance with the User Agreement. FatWallet is not responsible for the content, accuracy, completeness or validity of any information contained in any attached file. Files have *not* been scanned for viruses. Be especially wary of Excel files which may contain malicious content.
