Notebooks could be less reliable

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A report from market research group Gartner found reliability had improved for desktops and notebooks but that laptops had a significantly higher failure rate than PCs. Only five per cent of desktops failed in their first year, rising to 12 per cent in the fourth year.

Computer manufacturers said it was not surprising laptops had a higher failure rate.

“Notebooks endure far more wear and tear,” said Kevin Nolan, PSG category manager for HP Ireland. He claimed HP was trying to improve reliability by putting its business notebooks through 47,000 hours of testing before release.

It had also introduced technologies to protect hard drives from shock when the notebook is dropped. Another feature acts as a three-dimensional motion detection system which can temporarily stop the hard drive in the event of impact.

Nolan claimed the features reduced shock and vibration by 50 per cent.

Liam Halpin, channel sales director at Fujitsu-Siemens Ireland, agreed the life expectancy of a laptop was lower than for a PC and the risk of damage was higher “because of the fact it gets moved around”.

But he argued laptops allowed executives to “deliver significantly more productivity to their company than those using only deskbound systems. In the main, the return on investment is higher on a laptop than a PC”.

The main requirement for businesses was to ensure they had a service and support package that covered life expectancy and damage risks.

Kenny Ferguson, Lenovo brand manager, claimed failure rates for its Thinkpad notebooks were “significantly below the figures quoted by Gartner. Lenovo’s confidence in the robust design and build quality means it has recently announced ThinkPlus services for customers that wish to extend the warranty from three to four years”.

Like its rivals, Lenovo has technology in place to reduce hard disk failures from dropping the notebook. It also has titanium composite covers and protective bezels to protect the screen from damage due to external pressure.

Gartner said the main source of failure in notebooks had changed from screen breakages to motherboard and hard drive failures, which account for nearly 50 per cent of all failures.

Read More: Hardware & Equipment