How reliable are laptops in general

sid · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:01

I've been using a Dell xps m1330 for a couple of weeks now.

It gets used at uni for checking mail and some work in the lab,

Just wondering how reliable these are in general. I live in london and the laptop gets a tube ride everyday in with many bumps and knocks.

I have a protective sleeve for the laptop but for some reason i'm not sure.

I have a custom built pc which i know down the last cable and I can trust that despite being overclocked

sid

Blue Cypher · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:05

most laptops are quite reliable, tbh it all depends on how much you drop them

sid · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:11

Blue Cypher said:
most laptops are quite reliable, tbh it all depends on how much you drop them

Its not getting dropped as such just knocked around, you'll know what i mean if you have to do through the turnstiles everyday lol

Emlyn_Dewar · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:23

My 2 previous laptops were carted round quite a bit in my rucksack, it was a padded rucksack but I don't think it would have absorbed all the knocks.

Both worked faultlessly, well the first 1 died after a couple of years from a common mobo fault.

Shouldn't be an issue at all, get a decent case/bag for it and don't throw it around

It'll be fine.

Firestar_3x · 28 Nov 2007 at 15:56

Our laptops go all over the world, be it planes / trains / car / donkey...

From the Sands in Dubai to the cold and winter in Russia they see it all.

In the 5 years and 300 machines we've had 2 fail due to travel damage.

And some people say Dell make rubbish....

sid · 28 Nov 2007 at 17:31

So Am i going to be okay with a xps and its magnesium alloy case blah blah lol

I have proper padding for it so should be ok looks like
sid

Firestar_3x · 28 Nov 2007 at 17:42

The one thing that always seems to go slightly wrong with Laptops in general is some of the screws on the bottom come slightly out over time and the keyboard knocks into the screen leaving marks.

I will tell you in a few months how my M1330 is getting on when its been on a few flights etc.

Vampire · 28 Nov 2007 at 19:50

My Rock laptop overheated and destroyed its GPU recently, when it was maybe 6 months old. It'd had a tough life though, permanantly sitting on a Zalman cooler stand and running Office apps all day.

In fairness it was a known bios issue (not turning the cooling fan on

), and to not help matters it had accumulated a shocking amount of dust inside it. I've had it back for a couple of months and it's been great since the GPU was replaced and the bios updated, but I took the back of it yesterday and it was already starting to get a bit of dust build up in there. Nothing 5 minutes with a screwdriver and a can of compressed air didn't fix though.

As I understand it the shock protection is pretty good on laptops, but IMO dust/overheating is what I'd be most concerned about.

Bengaboy · 28 Nov 2007 at 20:18

Vampire said:
My Rock laptop overheated and destroyed its GPU recently, when it was maybe 6 months old. It'd had a tough life though, permanantly sitting on a Zalman cooler stand and running Office apps all day.

In fairness it was a known bios issue (not turning the cooling fan on ), and to not help matters it had accumulated a shocking amount of dust inside it. I've had it back for a couple of months and it's been great since the GPU was replaced and the bios updated, but I took the back of it yesterday and it was already starting to get a bit of dust build up in there. Nothing 5 minutes with a screwdriver and a can of compressed air didn't fix though.

As I understand it the shock protection is pretty good on laptops, but IMO dust/overheating is what I'd be most concerned about.

You do know rock have said if you open the case yourself , you void the warranty - even if its only to clean it out unfortunately

Vampire · 28 Nov 2007 at 20:34

Bengaboy said:
You do know rock have said if you open the case yourself , you void the warranty - even if its only to clean it out unfortunately

I heard it mentioned on their forum, but they haven't written to me mentioning any changes to their T&C's. I bought mine before they started saying that so there's no void stickers on it, they didn't put any on when it went back for repair either.

Oddly since my last lost, my lappy has just done a BSOD and reset - its first, what are the chances eh.

Pulse · 28 Nov 2007 at 20:38

laptops are rock solid imo, as good as any 'towered' rig but sligtly better as they are also portable, love mine. doesnt go out the house that often and so is still pretty much new.

as for the warranty, i've probably voided that by overclocking the gfx card

peetee · 29 Nov 2007 at 19:19

we all know how heavy vostros are, and 2 days after havin mine i dropped it from chestheight(im 6ft) onto the hard flooring in hallway.. luckily the floor absorbed the thump with a big loud crash. vostros workin perfectly