Food for thought :: 1 in 3 laptops fail in the first three years
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | 13 Comments
Square Trade is a company that offers warranties on electronics. It is a third party service, but it has found something interesting over the past few years; One in 3 laptops fail within the first three years of operation and netbooks fail more frequently.
Only 1/3 of the failures are due to accidents…the other 2/3 are hardware malfunctions.
The best brands according to the report was Asus and Toshiba. The report said that fewer than 16% of the laptops had hardware malfunctions in the first 3 years.
The worst brand was HP, it had more than one in four laptops having a hardware failure within the first three years of ownership.
Square Trade also tested netbooks; it classified them as any laptop that cost less than $400. The study found that netbooks failed at a rate of 5.8% in the first year. When compared to entry level laptops’ rate of 4.7% in the first year, netbooks fail more frequently.
I have to say that for the most part, this has been true for all of the laptops I have had. I would, however, not consider Dell a “middle of the road” brand for me like the study found. I have had to replace parts on both of the Dell laptops I have had and the first Dell laptop I had (an Inspiron 5150) had this awful problem that caused the motherboard to short out.
This list has only made me want to make sure that I get some kind of warranty with my new computer purchase, not necessarily avoid one brand over another.
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Tags: new computer, best brands, asus


dbradley from @Divorce Lawyer Austin | Tue, Nov 17 2009
Its sad to know that these gadgets have a short life span but what can we expect we only get what we pay for. If you pay for a cheap lappy then expect that it wont last long.
Steven from San Francisco Catering | Tue, Nov 17 2009
My laptop has yet to fail!!!!! Well actually I had the blue screen of death a few times in the first week. Luckily it was the first week because I had not saved anything. I have so many recipes because I do catering in San Francisco so you just reminded me I should do a back up.
monika from canon inkjet cartridges | Thu, Nov 19 2009
Sounds strange, well I agree with dbradley that to get good quality we should pay more. However, it’s very sad to know that these gadgets have a short life span.
plrpro | Thu, Nov 19 2009
I noticed when Michelle said it, kind of cool. Even if it’s not supposed to do that and practically blinds people. Even so, I think it’s cool. But that could just be my lack of sleep talking.
monika from Chiropractic software | Mon, Nov 23 2009
Gadgets are mini and interactive applications such as games, search tools or media players. Well it sounds strange that theses gadgets have short life spans, but one thing I am sure about is that these gadgets have a lack of quality.
venus from Pc video conferencing | Thu, Nov 26 2009
This is really bad, but one thing you should keep in your mind before buying these gadgets is that you should focus on quality only not about the cost. One of my friends faced this issue, so please don’t buy cheap gadgets.
Ellen from Sterling VA Homes | Fri, Nov 27 2009
No surprises here. The interesting thing is that laptops have a much shorter shelf life than a desktop.
Lena from tienseshop | Sat, Nov 28 2009
That is how cheap things always finish more quickly than expected. It’s really sad.
THE ROCK from video system surveillance | Mon, Nov 30 2009
This is true because I know that now a days prices are decreasing day by day for all the electronic products so that quality must be affected. People are using all sorts of unknown all brand laptops and PC so after some time they will fail in their functioning.
Xenen from Sewa Apartemen Jakarta | Tue, Dec 01 2009
I agree that 1 in 3 laptops fail within the first three years of operation and netbooks fail more frequently. However, I think it depends on the user, it may be less than 1 year for laptops to fail.
monika from laptop spares | Thu, Dec 03 2009
Notebooks need extra care as compared to personal computers before you buy it you should know about its features plus how to use them. There is some very tough competition between electronic companies so day by day prices of electronic item are decreasing plus their quality so you should be ware of all these things.
sammy from laptop trade in | Fri, Dec 04 2009
Well its not good to know that these gadgets have a short life but what can we expect we only get what we pay for. If you pay for a cheap lappy then expect that it won’t last long.
Angie from Inflatable Neck Pillow | Wed, Dec 09 2009
That is too bad they don’t last too long. I think they don’t because of all the movement and banging they get throughout the day. All those little hits I guess add up. I will get the 3 year warranty next time.