There's nothing worse than buying new gear that malfunctions shortly after you purchase it. If you're in the market for a new laptop, check out warranty-provider SquareTrade's detailed laptop-reliability report to find the most dependable hardware.


The warranty company released a research paper late last year analyzing failure rates for over 30,000 laptops covered by their warranties. The report is full of good information worth considering before your next big purchase. The highlights of the study:

Looking at the first 3 years of ownership, 31% of laptop owners reported a failure to SquareTrade. Two-thirds of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, and one-third (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.

Netbooks are projected to have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.

ASUS and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16% having a hardware malfunction over 3 years.


It's interesting to note that, on a whole, netbooks are a lot more failure prone than laptops. It's also perhaps a little surprising that a company like Apple, known for its hardware, still ends up a percentage point or two worse off than companies like ASUS and Toshiba when it comes to laptop malfunction rates.

Got a laptop brand you trust above all others for its reliability? Sing its praises in the comments. Thanks leonardtj!

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Laptop Reliability Report [SquareTrade via CNET]