[geeks] OT Question - workhorse laptop

[Sheldon T. Hall]

Quoth Dan Sikorski ...
> 
> http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/
> 
> "Synopsis: SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 30,000 
> new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty 
> plans and found that one-third of all laptops will fail 
> within 3 years."
> 
> "In terms of brands, ASUS & Toshiba stood out as the most 
> reliable manufacturers; while Acer, Gateway & HP had failure 
> rates significantly higher than the average."

One recurrent problem that seems to occur with the other-wise excellent
Toshiba machines is the depletion of the battery when the machine is
nominally "off."  My 5-year-old (but otherwise perfect) R100 has this
problem, as did another Toshiba laptop I had.  Several other folks have
reported it on the Toshiba forum at http://laptopforums.toshiba.com/.  I
have no idea how common it really is, whether it's a design fault, or what,
but it something you might want to look into.

My 4-year-old Fujitsu Lifebook continues to be dam'near perfect, as does my
wife's ancient IBM Thinkpad A31.  I'd have another of either of those brands
in a second.  For that matter, I'd take a chance on another R100, since they
don't all seem to have the problem, and it's a super little machine.

-Shel