Skip to main content

Asus, Toshiba Notebooks Top SquareTrade’s Reliability Figures

HP Mini 5101
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Independent warranty provider SquareTrade has released a study of more than 30,000 notebooks tracked through its extended warranty plans—and the results are a little surprising. Computer makers Asus and Toshiba led the pack in terms of notebook system reliability, with fewer than 10 percent of their systems needing repair after two years, with three-year failure rate projections of about 15.6 and 15.7 percent (respectively). And who’s in last place? Top computer maker Hewlett-Packard, with more than 15 percent of its systems failing after two years, and a three-year projection forecasting over a quarter of them will fail in three years.

“While our study found netbook malfunction rates to be trending 20 percent higher than more expensive laptops, the variance between manufacturer is far greater and should be a bigger factor in making a buying decision,” SquareTrade wrote in its report. “Asus and Toshiba laptops failed just over half as frequently as HP, which makes them a solid bet in terms of reliability.”

Overall, SquareTrade reports that 31 percent of all notebook owners reported a failure to SquareTrade; about two thirds of those failure were hardware malfunctions, while the remaining third of the failures were reported as accidental damage.

Unsurprisingly, Squaretrade finds inexpensive netbooks have higher failure rates than more mainstream notebook computers—and premium notebook systems have lower failure rates still. After a year, some 5.8 percent of netbooks had a malfunction, compared to 4.7 percent of mainstream notebooks and 4.2 percent of premium notebooks—that makes the failure rate for netbooks more than 20 percent higher than entry-level mainstream notebooks and 40 percent higher than premium notebooks. However, SquareTrade does note that netbooks haven’t been on the market very long, so the repair and problem data is still inconclusive.

SquareTrade is in the business of offering independent warranties to consumers. To produce this data, SquareTrade tracked failure rates for over 30,000 new notebook computers covered by SquareTrade warranty plans. Although that sample set is self-selecting—there’s no way of knowing how representative SquareTrade customers are of everyday computer users—the data does suggest significant variations in reliability among computer manufacturers…or significant variations among the way SquareTrade customers select and use different manufacturers’ products.

And industry darling Apple? SquareTrade ranked them number four behind Asus, Toshiba, and Sony, with a two-year failure rate a little over 10 percent and a projected three-year failure rate of 17.4 percent. Above average…barely.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
HP Envy deals: HP’s most popular laptop starts at $630
An HP Envy 17-inch laptop sits on an office desk.

A great computer brand to shop if you’re in the market for a new laptop is HP, which is consistently among the best laptop brands. It has several different model lineups to choose from, with the HP Envy laptop lineup offering a good balance of hardware options and pricing. The HP Envy lineup is also a good one to shop because it regularly turns out some impressive laptop deals. That’s certainly the case right now, as there are a lot of HP Envy deals to shop. We’ve rounded up what we feel are the best HP Envy deals currently taking place, so read onward for more information on how to land some savings.
HP Envy x360 2-in-1 laptop 15Z-FH000 — $630, was $900

The HP Envy x360 convertible laptop is a great option for just about anyone, particularly anyone who enjoys the touchscreen functionality of a tablet. It’s well designed and super slim, making it a truly go-anywhere device. Despite its portability, it still has an immersive 15.6-inch touchscreen that’s great for creators, note-takers, and binge watchers. Top notch build quality and durability, fast charging technology, a fingerprint reader, and great battery life round out the top features of the HP Envy x360 convertible touchscreen laptop. It competes well with the best 2-in-1 laptops. Its versatility and all-around capability make it a worthy companion on any desk, and on any lap.

Read more
Best Surface Laptop and Surface Pro deals: From $450
Microsoft Surface Go 3 sitting on table.

If you want a thin and light laptop that's similar to the MacBook Air but not in the Apple ecosystem, then the Microsoft Surface lineup of laptops is absolutely the way to go. In fact, if you've seen the recent unwrapping of the business version of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, you might be fired up and ready to grab your own surface. Unfortunately, the Surface lineup can be quite expensive, which is why we've gone out and scoured the retailers for the best deals we could find and collected them below. So, be sure to check out everything, as well as some of these other great laptop deals if you aren't fully committed to the Microsoft Surface lineup.
Microsoft Surface Go 3 -- $450, was $550

Functioning as a 2-in-1 laptop that can switch between tablet mode and laptop mode, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 won't have trouble dealing with basic tasks as it's equipped with the Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor and 8GB of RAM. The 10.5-inch touchscreen with 1920 x 1080 resolution is bright and colorful, and its 128GB SSD is more than enough for your documents. The Microsoft Surface Go 3 ships with Windows 11 Home in Mode, so you can start using it as soon as you unbox it. The device also promises up to 11 hours of battery life before requiring a recharge.

Read more
Best GPU deals: MSI, XFX, EVGA
An AMD graphics card in an external GPU enclosure.

If you're building a new PC from scratch, or upgrading an old one, then a new GPU is probably one of the biggest upgrades you can make, at least if you're looking for great gaming performance. Unfortunately, the last generation of RTX 40-series cards really amped the prices up, and even if you're going for AMD, you're going to be paying a pretty penny to get your hands on a good GPU. That said, there are some good deals to be had; whether you want something budget-friendly or high-end, you can always put that extra money you save into more RAM or a better CPU. Also, be sure to check out some of these gaming PC deals if you'd rather just grab something already pre-built.
MSI AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Mech 2X 4GB GDDR6 -- $175, was $190

If you're looking for something that is ultra-budget, then this RX 6500 XT is a good option in the lower range and should let you handle at least some of the main free-to-play games like CS:GO and Rocket League, although you will have to play with graphical compromises. It should also handle indie and casual games, especially older ones like the ones you might find on emulators, so it's also a good option for that sort of budget build. the 4GB of VRAM is not a lot, but again, if you're not planning to play any modern AAA or AA games, then this isn't a bad option.

Read more