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What's the average longevity of Windows laptops?

R

R117

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 3, 2016
3
0
Hey guys,

I'm seriously tempted by the 15" Surface Book 2. The new Macbook Pro doesn't fit my needs as much as the Surface Book. But every Apple device I've had has always given me at least 5+ years of pretty stable performance. I've only had to use Apple Care once in the last 10 years.

For those that have used Windows laptops as their everyday do it all device, what's the average lifespan and performance on them on them? Does anyone have any stories to share about Microsoft's version of Apple Care?
 
Generally Apple laptops are suppose to fare better on average over the first 2 years only, after this there is negligible difference

Like for like on premium laptops there is little or no evidence to suggest any difference on longevity

The posible longevity for the new 2016/17 mbp which only has a years worth of data is mainly based on previous generations that are somewhat different construction

One possible advantage of mbp is ease of access to repair locations in some countries esp USA

One possible advantage of SB2 is if a fault develops in the base unit you still have a fully funtional top unit

AC and any other OEM extended warranty is unliely to cover you in the most vulnerable period post 3 years

My own personal observations having bought many laptops over 30 years both Apple and Windows (Sony, Dell, HP & MS) I have only ever had 2 small repairs one on a Macbook and one on a Sony both of which were over 10 years past. I consider myself to be lucky and over $4000 in credit for not buying extended warranties

My inlaws have a graveyard of some of our old laptops both Apple and Windows that would still funtion if the batteries were not completely dead. I even have an old 2006 Sony biscuit tin media PC I use for TV streaming with W10 on and its never been better :D

Crap happens with any complex electrical device and the longer you have it the more likely. With the current crop of lesser serviceable premium laptops the odds are not stacked in your favor regardless of OEM
 
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Be careful with Surface. Get Microsoft complete/the best insurance you can. Problems always come up eventually if not immediately out of the box. As for longevity in terms of performance, Windows laptops have always retained their original speed/snappiness better than Macs after OS updates. Macs win when it comes to reliability in my experience.
 
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SteveJUAE said:
And we all understand the basis and the context value of a small sample set based on previous models :rolleyes: even data on current mbp won't be available for another 2 years
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Excellent points. Nonetheless, I feel Consumer Reports is a fairly big step up from what OP is asking for, which is individual anecdotal experiences from random Internet strangers.
 
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ActionableMango said:
Excellent points. Nonetheless, I feel Consumer Reports is a fairly big step up from what OP is asking for, which is individual anecdotal experiences from random Internet strangers.
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Not really its just a few more individual anecdotal experiences from random subscribers.

We did not get to see the questions or replys or even the data set ie no transparency

Just a conclusion of a future prediction based on old models that needs to be used with a big pinch of salt :)
 
Most of the popular brands will give you decent longevity these days. Of course, it's always a lottery.

My Surface Book went on the Fritz recently after only a year with the touchscreen no longer recognizing my finger at all and the pen only on some parts of the screen. Kinda glad I had like 7 days left on my warranty lol
 
@R117
I haven't used Windows PCs to a great extent personally for a few years, but at work we run literally hundreds of ThinkPads (primarily T-series), and they hold up well with few complaints from users during their regular lifetimes. They are usually replaced within 3-5 years, but rarely for functional reasons; i.e. we have several ten-year-old "inherited" T60 laptops running in our test environments with the only change being that their original hard drives got replaced with SSD storage to get them up to usable speed.

From what I've heard, other well-known brands build similarly robust computers, but as has been mentioned, earlier Surface Books caught some flak for lack of longevity; I don't know whether or not that was a fair assessment.
 
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ActionableMango said:
Excellent points. Nonetheless, I feel Consumer Reports is a fairly big step up from what OP is asking for, which is individual anecdotal experiences from random Internet strangers.
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And JD Power & Associates ranked Surface number one in customer sat over the iPad. They can't both be true without some further data points because no one would rank a product last in reliability as first in customer sat... unless maybe it means that Microsoft takes care of its issues with the same vigor as Apple.

I also do not believe the Consumer Reports item you are referring to had anything to do with Surface Book, which is a lot more "tank-like" construction than the Surface Pro. I've not had my Surface Pro long enough to speak on long term reliability, but its been find over the 6 months I've had it. I love the thing. Lenovo's business grade laptops are also known for reliability and support; and they are also very repairable.
 
convergent said:
And JD Power & Associates ranked Surface number one in customer sat over the iPad. They can't both be true without some further data points because no one would rank a product last in reliability as first in customer sat.
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Of course they can both be true. People experiencing problems can still like their brands, in fact I'd argue that post-purchase rationalization is extremely common. (Also called "choice-supported bias" or simply "fanboyism".)

For example BMW had high failure rates with their high pressure fuel pumps, but owners still love BMW cars. MacBooks having extended recall campaigns for failing screens and overheating GPUs. Xboxes with their red rings of deaths. 6,1 Mac Pros with their GPU failures. Etc Etc Etc.

In any case, whether or not you had a failure is an objective measurement. Whether or not you are satisfied with your device is just an opinion. So CR is providing failure data and JD is providing a happiness poll.
 
Like most things your mileage may vary. I have 2012 Dell XPS 15, model L521X). I bought it due to its quad core processsor and 16GB of memory. It’s still fast today.
 
ActionableMango said:
.So CR is providing failure data and JD is providing a happiness poll.
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No CR only gave a predicted future reliabily based on some data they collected. No data on how many responded and to what prompts :rolleyes:

"To get at reliability, the Consumer Reports National Research Center surveys our subscribers regularly. There are millions of these folks, and many of them supply us with information on hundreds of thousands of individual products, including everything from pickup trucks to washing machines.

A number of survey respondents said they experienced problems with their devices during startup. A few commented that their machines froze or shut down unexpectedly, and several others told CR that the touch screens weren’t responsive enough.

The new studies of laptop and tablet reliability leverage data on 90,741 tablets and laptops that subscribers bought new between 2014 and the beginning of 2017. Predicted reliability is a projection of how new models from each brand will fare, based on data from models already in users’ hands."

Thier own test gave positive results :

" Consumer Reports’ lab testing measures how well a laptop or tablet performs for a range of factors, including display quality, battery life, speed, and ergonomics.

Several Microsoft products have performed well in CR labs, including the new Microsoft Surface Pro, which earned Very Good or Excellent scores in multiple CR tests. Based purely on lab performance, the Surface Pro is highly rated when used either as a tablet or with a keyboard attached."

https://www.consumerreports.org/lap...-tablets-not-recommended-by-consumer-reports/
 
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I use Thinkpads and my daily driver is a X220 from 2011. Still running great and it's 7 years old. I honestly feel like Sandy Bridge to Caby Lake are barely noticeable and I have both. The new Caby Lake-R may be a different story.
 
we have a 2015 Inspiron 15 7000 series base i5,8, intel hd and 2 2016 Inspiron 15 7000 series i7 quard core, 8,960. al have 1tb HDD. all still going strong.
 
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I carry two laptops with me to my classroom each day. One is a 2011 11" Air (1.6 i5, 2GB, 128GB SSD), the other is a 2008 ThinkPad X301 (1.4GHz C2D, 8GB, 120GB SSD). The Air runs El Cap for my Mac needs while out and about at meetings and whatnot, while the ThinkPad runs Windows 10 for all of my PC needs for the district. The ThinkPad, despite being nearly a decade old at this point, still keeps up with everything I ask of it. Its usage mostly consists of grading, MS Office 2016, general productivity, and a few specialized pieces of robotics software (I teach middle school robotics and programming). I can see continuing to use both computers for several years to come, assuming that my needs don't drastically change. Hardware-wise, the ThinkPad is holding up beautifully. I take decent care of my computers, and this one is built solidly enough that even minimal care keeps it working and looking like new.
IMG_7329.jpg
 
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MultiFinder17 said:
Hardware-wise, the ThinkPad is holding up beautifully. I take decent care of my computers, and this one is built solidly enough that even minimal care keeps it working and looking like new.
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IBM ThinkPads are generally very highly regarded and are definitely among the best of Windows laptops.

So that's almost cheating! ;)
 
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MultiFinder17 said:
I carry two laptops with me to my classroom each day. One is a 2011 11" Air (1.6 i5, 2GB, 128GB SSD), the other is a 2008 ThinkPad X301 (1.4GHz C2D, 8GB, 120GB SSD). The Air runs El Cap for my Mac needs while out and about at meetings and whatnot, while the ThinkPad runs Windows 10 for all of my PC needs for the district. The ThinkPad, despite being nearly a decade old at this point, still keeps up with everything I ask of it. Its usage mostly consists of grading, MS Office 2016, general productivity, and a few specialized pieces of robotics software (I teach middle school robotics and programming). I can see continuing to use both computers for several years to come, assuming that my needs don't drastically change. Hardware-wise, the ThinkPad is holding up beautifully. I take decent care of my computers, and this one is built solidly enough that even minimal care keeps it working and looking like new.
View attachment 747187
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I still want to get my hands on a decent X301. I have an X61 and X220 and they have aged really well.
 
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macgeek18 said:
I still want to get my hands on a decent X301. I have an X61 and X220 and they have aged really well.
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The X301 is really worth getting your hands on. It’s a perfect balance of size, weight, thinness, Power, battery life, and functionality that I have yet to find in any other PC laptop out there. Plus, they go for $100-200 on eBay, so what’s not to love? I got mine from an off-lease dealer years back for $50 in a bulk deal for the computer shop I used to work at. I ended up falling in love with it and claiming it as mine, and I’ve been happily using it since.
 
I have a crappy Lenovo laptop my employer gave to me several years ago. Still going strong, still holds a charge, running Windows 10. Take care of your stuff it takes care of you.

My oldest MacBook Air is from early 2014. No issues. Works like new.
 
I have a Thinkpad x230 and t430 which I both bought recently. Thinkpads are like a Ford Crown Vic, reliable, durable, easily repairable, loads of parts around and cheap.

edit: I also supported an office full of Thinkpads in my younger years and use an X1 in my current job for the last 3 years. So definitely good computers in my experience.
 
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We love thinkpads here too!

may not be prettiest but my god do they last!

the newer models just dont seem have same built quality as these older models Lenovo used to put out.

X and T series we sold many of over the years to customers and still get refurb models in now for customers.
 
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