"As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing.
"What has happened?" the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby-carriage along the sidewalk.
"Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well," replied the man; "and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City."
"Hm!" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?"
"I really do not know," replied the man, with a deep sigh. "Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.""
- L. Frank Baum, "The Land of Oz"
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
How does yours stack up?
The chart comes from an independent warranty peddler (hence the 2 year and 3 year time frames).
Via this post on chron.com.
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Comments on "Laptop Failure Rates":
2. Bill
- 12/01/2009 5:45 pm CST
I've used Lenovo laptops at work for ages. They are tough, and I haven't had any problems (well, the hinge broke on one once).
I just bought my first personal laptop (the lenovos are work laptops) - it's an HP 64bit w Windows 7. I'm real happy with it so far, but I see HP tested out the worst in the list above, so yay! I'm going to beat the curve.
Actually, though - laptops depreciate in (I think) 3 years or so, theoretically. So having a 25% failure rate in that time is pretty much expected.
I'm going to beat the curve though!!!
[Bill whistles through the graveyard]
6. Roy
- 12/01/2009 7:07 pm CST
I've a Toshiba that must now, after 8 yrs, be obsolete even tho not failed ;(
To be fair, I have not used it extensively, it serving mostly as an econnection when I'm away from home. Then it has done all that I've needed. It has also enabled me to carry schematics, documents, and pictures as well as talk to chips in PLC situations.
I read the moral of the story as: maintain a backup. (Amazing how badly burned one must get before one 'finally' learns that lesson.... Hope I've hurt no feelings.)
7. Bill
- 12/01/2009 9:20 pm CST
Bill, weird how you're optimistic about this but pessimistic about so much else. :-)
I'm optimistic about things I can control. I pwn my computers.
8. Eloquorius
- 12/02/2009 12:01 am CST
I'm stunned about the Lenovo figures, but then again my experience is with the professionally-oriented ThinkPad line, not their low-end/consumer stuff. But the ThinkPads at work, my own and my friends' have been comparatively solid. I remember when Toshiba was a nice brand, but the quality I've seen has dwindled. As for the Horrible Products line (*grin*), blame Carly Fiorina. Living in the Silicon Valley I get to hear all about what she did to "the HP way" for the sake of (often perceived) improvements in the bottom line. There's a reason Costco is pushing those things out the door at steep discounts; don't let the pretty plastic cases fool ya.
9. Bill
- 12/02/2009 6:02 am CST
Yes, so's Walmart. Dirt cheap (less than $300).
The Lenovo Thinkpads are, as you say, rock-solid,
10. jen
- 12/02/2009 10:08 am CST
I had a Dell for 3 years and never had a problem. I'm on my 2nd Dell and so far so good. These are work laptops, by the way.
11. Milly
- 12/02/2009 4:13 pm CST
I have a Dell and I've had the things worked on several times. Never a Dell again.
12. G. Frederick
- 12/02/2009 11:32 pm CST
Well, the company I work for is a Dell VAR and I have had two Dell laptops for work, the first one I had for so long with zero problems that they finally had to take it away from me so they could give me an updated computer that could run some of the new software we had, this one (Dell also)has been problem free now for 4 years. Because of the quality of the Dell laptops I have had, I purchased Dell laptops for both of my sons and they have had zero problems now for 3 years and 2 years respectively. My daughter in law had a Dell that had one failure in 5 years and that was recently and it was a hard drive (Toshiba). I fixed it for her and it has now been running for nearly 1 year more so far. Laptops, because of their design and their intended use are much more prone to failures than desktops. Most laptop failures tend to be hard drives also due to their typical use and abuse. Second most likely failure is either keyboard or screen. Again the failures tend to be use rather than design oriented. I have been in the computer repair industry for 29 years now and I still have a working IBM luggable (the original portable computer). Really writing off comuputer brands due to your personal experience is about as informed as when people say that certain car brands are the best or worst based on their personal experience. Your experience may be bad but that doesn't or at least shouldn't indite that manufacturer unless the manufacturer is failing in the service department (won't or can't repair the machine). Charts like the one above don't correct for a lot of the misuse and abuse that users cause, it only lists failures based on brand not cause. Not much more reliable of a measure than the man-made global warming science has proven to be. Note that the Apple brand is not much better than the Dell brand in the chart above but you couldn't get a Mac-head to admit to any failures at all.
14. DeCoughey
- 12/15/2009 7:16 pm CST
If laptops were wshing machines....
Not only can you not find a washing machine that someone will confidently tell you will last like they did 18 years ago, you can gat on your unreliable laptop and find thousands of unreliable reviews of unreliable washing machines...hell on earth...who needs an inquisition?
15. salguod
- 12/15/2009 11:41 pm CST
I have a ~5yr old Compaq (owned by HP) and I've replaced the HD and the LCD over the years. Now I'm trying to figure out what the 1. Ghz AMD Athlon is only running at 797 Mhz.
Leave a Comment:
I'm on my third laptop and my experience mirrors this pretty well. I'm on my second Toshiba, the first one I used so long that when I decided to upgrade it the memory chips weren't made anymore. In between I had an HP it completely gave up the ghost in less than a year. I made the HD from it a very nice small portable external USB HD!