Make no mistake about it: Netbooks are cheap not only because they're easier to drop but because they have some serious hardware issues.
According to a study by Square Trade, of the 30,000 units (netbooks and notebooks combined) they examined:
- When excluding accidental damage and examining hardware malfunctions by manufacturer, Asus and Toshiba come out on top.
- Apple and Dell both fall in the middle with approximately an 18 percent failure rate while industry leader HP has the highest failure rate.
- Over one in four HP laptops in the study experienced a hardware malfunction during the first three years of ownership.
- Asus and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16 percent having a hardware malfunction over three years.
- Netbooks are projected to have a 20 percent higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.
- Manufacturers proved to be a more reliable determinant of reliability than the type of laptop and should be a greater factor in making a purchase decision.
Shocking results especially with the sheer volume of new portable PCs being sold every day. Maybe now's a good time to avail yourself of an extended warranty plan?
View the complete study here.
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