Current version by: Nick
Text:
| Before we start, I use a 5 question chart to answer this. The questions are: | |
| * 1) How easy is it to get parts? If something breaks, how hard is it to get replacement parts? Do they give out the service manual, or keep it as proprietary information? | |
| * 2) Will the vendor sell parts directly? if not, how hard is it to find new parts from other sources? | |
| * 3) Does the vendor openly supply part numbers? | |
| * 4) Is there a WiFi whitelist? If so, how hard is it to bypass or remove from the laptop? | |
| - | When it comes to parts availability, I tend to like Lenovo the most, especially for the ThinkPad. The IdeaPad models aren't as good here, but what laptop vendor has good parts availability for consumer grade machines? Many do not. |
| + | 1st place: When it comes to parts availability, I tend to like Lenovo the most, especially for the ThinkPad. The IdeaPad models aren't as good here, but what laptop vendor has good parts availability for consumer grade machines? Many do not. |
| While the IdeaPads are nowhere near as good for parts availability as the ThinkPad, you can still buy parts for them easily. That's a lot more then I can say about Asus, Toshiba and maybe even Acer. | |
| For both the Think and Idea lines, they opt to sell the parts to the consumer through a 3rd party rather then do it directly and have authorized [https://lenovo.encompass.com|Encompass] to sell parts for them. With that being said, the machine is likely obsolete when it breaks. | |
| In terms of durability, the general rule is Think products are built far better then Idea products, although your mileage may vary here. | |
| Lenovo fails the whitelisting test on pre Broadwell ThinkPads. I don't know if/when Lenovo dropped it on the Idea line, but I very much doubt it. | |
| Part numbers are provided in the Lenovo HMM. | |
| - | Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on the build sheet of the system you have, but these aren't always the best. However, you can get the real part numbers from companies like PartsPeople if you find out the part number on your build sheet is old or incorrect. Generally speaking, Dell will not sell most parts to me or you so you need to go through a 3rd party if you need anything other then RAM (better 3rd party RAM exists), hard drives (like RAM, better 3rd party) and Wireless cards (Dell does not whitelist, but if you want an official card they will sell it to you). Even what they WILL sell you varies from each machine series. |
| + | 2nd place: Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on the build sheet of the system you have, but these aren't always the best. However, you can get the real part numbers from companies like PartsPeople if you find out the part number on your build sheet is old or incorrect. Generally speaking, Dell will not sell most parts to me or you so you need to go through a 3rd party if you need anything other then RAM (better 3rd party RAM exists), hard drives (like RAM, better 3rd party) and Wireless cards (Dell does not whitelist, but if you want an official card they will sell it to you). Even what they WILL sell you varies from each machine series. |
| Bad machines from Dell continue to fail a lot of the time, so most people will sell them cheap to dump them if this happens. This may yield you a good parts machine if it is truly too far gone or a easily repaired machine due to that stigma with Dell repairs. Thew consumer line is more prone to disposal over something silly, compared to Latitudes. A bad Latitude is far more likely to have more then one issue. A good rule of thumb here is if the machine has problems 1 year in on Latitudes and ~6 months on the Inpsirons, it's probably going to fail more then once. | |
| While I dislike how often Dell hardware fails if you get a bad machine, they don't have Wireless whitelists and don't obscure the parts information made available through 3rd parties like PartsPeople. | |
| - | 3rd place |
| + | 3rd place (HP): HP has PartSufer and will sell them through this site, so parts are probably not very hard to get. However, HP discontinues them the quickest so you may need to shop used for older machines if you find the part you need is no longer sold (The max is ~10 years, but can go as low as 5 years). All you need for this information is the model or system serial number if you want a specific parts list or need a specific part to keep your machine's build sheet 1:1, should you care for that. |
| Whitelisting has been dropped on the Haswell and up models from HP's Business line, but may not be dropped on all consumer machines; if the service manual mentions unauthorized Wireless modules, it probably is whitelisted. Of course, this assumes the machine is *new* enough to find it since some are too old to get this information. | |
| If there are any other brands you are wondering about, I can tell you. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| Before we start, I use a 5 question chart to answer this. The questions are: | |
| * 1) How easy is it to get parts? If something breaks, how hard is it to get replacement parts? Do they give out the service manual, or keep it as proprietary information? | |
| * 2) Will the vendor sell parts directly? if not, how hard is it to find new parts from other sources? | |
| * 3) Does the vendor openly supply part numbers? | |
| - | * 4) After the corporate life ends(3-5 years), how long does it last before they fail after consumers buy the old systems as No OS roll your own or Refurbished systems? If it's Consumer grade, how well does it hold up after 3-5 years of consumer use? |
| - | * 5) Is there a WiFi whitelist? If so, how hard is it to bypass or remove from the laptop? |
| + | * 4) Is there a WiFi whitelist? If so, how hard is it to bypass or remove from the laptop? |
| When it comes to parts availability, I tend to like Lenovo the most, especially for the ThinkPad. The IdeaPad models aren't as good here, but what laptop vendor has good parts availability for consumer grade machines? Many do not. | |
| + | |
| While the IdeaPads are nowhere near as good for parts availability as the ThinkPad, you can still buy parts for them easily. That's a lot more then I can say about Asus, Toshiba and maybe even Acer. | |
| - | For both the Think and Idea lines, they opt to sell the parts to the consumer through a 3rd party rather then do it directly and have authorized [https://lenovo.encompass.com|Encompass] to sell parts for them. |
| + | |
| + | For both the Think and Idea lines, they opt to sell the parts to the consumer through a 3rd party rather then do it directly and have authorized [https://lenovo.encompass.com|Encompass] to sell parts for them. With that being said, the machine is likely obsolete when it breaks. |
| In terms of durability, the general rule is Think products are built far better then Idea products, although your mileage may vary here. | |
| Lenovo fails the whitelisting test on pre Broadwell ThinkPads. I don't know if/when Lenovo dropped it on the Idea line, but I very much doubt it. | |
| - | |
| + | Part numbers are provided in the Lenovo HMM. |
| Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on the build sheet of the system you have, but these aren't always the best. However, you can get the real part numbers from companies like PartsPeople if you find out the part number on your build sheet is old or incorrect. Generally speaking, Dell will not sell most parts to me or you so you need to go through a 3rd party if you need anything other then RAM (better 3rd party RAM exists), hard drives (like RAM, better 3rd party) and Wireless cards (Dell does not whitelist, but if you want an official card they will sell it to you). Even what they WILL sell you varies from each machine series. | |
| + | |
| Bad machines from Dell continue to fail a lot of the time, so most people will sell them cheap to dump them if this happens. This may yield you a good parts machine if it is truly too far gone or a easily repaired machine due to that stigma with Dell repairs. Thew consumer line is more prone to disposal over something silly, compared to Latitudes. A bad Latitude is far more likely to have more then one issue. A good rule of thumb here is if the machine has problems 1 year in on Latitudes and ~6 months on the Inpsirons, it's probably going to fail more then once. | |
| + | |
| While I dislike how often Dell hardware fails if you get a bad machine, they don't have Wireless whitelists and don't obscure the parts information made available through 3rd parties like PartsPeople. | |
| 3rd place is HP. HP has PartSufer and will sell them through this site, so parts are probably not very hard to get. However, HP discontinues them the quickest so you may need to shop used for older machines if you find the part you need is no longer sold (The max is ~10 years, but can go as low as 5 years). All you need for this information is the model or system serial number if you want a specific parts list or need a specific part to keep your machine's build sheet 1:1, should you care for that. | |
| Whitelisting has been dropped on the Haswell and up models from HP's Business line, but may not be dropped on all consumer machines; if the service manual mentions unauthorized Wireless modules, it probably is whitelisted. Of course, this assumes the machine is *new* enough to find it since some are too old to get this information. | |
| If there are any other brands you are wondering about, I can tell you. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| Before we start, I use a 5 question chart to answer this. The questions are: | |
| + | |
| * 1) How easy is it to get parts? If something breaks, how hard is it to get replacement parts? Do they give out the service manual, or keep it as proprietary information? | |
| * 2) Will the vendor sell parts directly? if not, how hard is it to find new parts from other sources? | |
| * 3) Does the vendor openly supply part numbers? | |
| * 4) After the corporate life ends(3-5 years), how long does it last before they fail after consumers buy the old systems as No OS roll your own or Refurbished systems? If it's Consumer grade, how well does it hold up after 3-5 years of consumer use? | |
| * 5) Is there a WiFi whitelist? If so, how hard is it to bypass or remove from the laptop? | |
| - | When it comes to this, I tend to like Lenovo laptops. Their consumer grade models are a bit more durable then a lot of other consumer grade models. While their consumer grade models are better, the ThinkPad is still the gold standard. It always has and it will probably always be. |
| - | The IdeaPad doesn't rank as high as the ThinkPads to me, for a few reasons. |
| + | When it comes to parts availability, I tend to like Lenovo the most, especially for the ThinkPad. The IdeaPad models aren't as good here, but what laptop vendor has good parts availability for consumer grade machines? Many do not. |
| + | While the IdeaPads are nowhere near as good for parts availability as the ThinkPad, you can still buy parts for them easily. That's a lot more then I can say about Asus, Toshiba and maybe even Acer. |
| + | For both the Think and Idea lines, they opt to sell the parts to the consumer through a 3rd party rather then do it directly and have authorized [https://lenovo.encompass.com|Encompass] to sell parts for them. |
| - | The IdeaPads don't rank as high as the ThinkPads, but they're very good. You can buy parts for it, but I don't think Lenovo will sell you anything more then Wireless cards, hard drives and DVD drives. Anything else is a Lenovo installed part only. But while they are Lenovo only you can probably find the part number on their parts lookup page to buy the parts you need. |
| - | Long term endurance varies based on the price, series and model. Cheap models and a lot of older IdeaPads that are pre Haswell are known to have durability problems. Premium models were always better, but again pre Haswell ones weren't all that durable. |
| - | Whitelisting was a problem with Lenovo until the Broadwell ThinkPads. It wasn't until those came out they dropped it. I do not know if consumer grade models still do it. |
| + | In terms of durability, the general rule is Think products are built far better then Idea products, although your mileage may vary here. |
| + | |
| + | Lenovo fails the whitelisting test on pre Broadwell ThinkPads. I don't know if/when Lenovo dropped it on the Idea line, but I very much doubt it. |
| + | |
| Now, let's look at the ThinkPad. ThinkPads are very easy to get parts for. Most of the parts on a ThinkPad are available as customer install and sometimes purchase. Some parts are Lenovo only, but this isn't a big deal since parts are readily available. By the time you have a major part failure, the machine is probably already obsolete anyway. They do provide part numbers and service manuals for the ThinkPads, so you aren't repairing the laptop blind. Post corporate life is VERY good. My X61 lasted 10 years before it started to have serious problems. I have no doubt this isn't still true with newer ThinkPads. Whitelists have been around since the T23. It stuck around on ThinkPads until Broadwell. Lenovo no longer whitelists their laptops. | |
| - | Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on their system page, but these aren't always the best. You can find the real part number from PartsPeople, for example. Generally unless it's a WiFi card, WWAN card, RAM or hard drive the answer is no. This does vary based on if it's a Latitude/Precision/Vostro or a Inspiron, but the general consensus is probably no. Dells are a mix. If the machine is a lemon, expect it to be in the as-is/parts side more then it is on the good off-lease side. If the machine has problems a year in, it's probably going to be a lemon and have problems at the 3-5 year mark. Dell doesn't bother, and pretty much hasn't ever bothered with it. This is one area I give Dell credit. |
| - | 3rd place is HP. HP has PartSufer, so parts are easy to buy for HP laptops. However, they stop supplying them after 5-10 years. Yes. You can get part numbers by putting your serial number or system series in PartSurfer. Yes and no. For laptops made in the past 5 years or so, yes. For laptops made before this, no. Business models have always had service information published to the best of my memory. YEP! I have heard that they still whitelist consumer models from 2012, so it's safe to assume the whitelist still exists. HP dropped it on Haswell Business models. |
| + | |
| + | Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on the build sheet of the system you have, but these aren't always the best. However, you can get the real part numbers from companies like PartsPeople if you find out the part number on your build sheet is old or incorrect. Generally speaking, Dell will not sell most parts to me or you so you need to go through a 3rd party if you need anything other then RAM (better 3rd party RAM exists), hard drives (like RAM, better 3rd party) and Wireless cards (Dell does not whitelist, but if you want an official card they will sell it to you). Even what they WILL sell you varies from each machine series. |
| + | Bad machines from Dell continue to fail a lot of the time, so most people will sell them cheap to dump them if this happens. This may yield you a good parts machine if it is truly too far gone or a easily repaired machine due to that stigma with Dell repairs. Thew consumer line is more prone to disposal over something silly, compared to Latitudes. A bad Latitude is far more likely to have more then one issue. A good rule of thumb here is if the machine has problems 1 year in on Latitudes and ~6 months on the Inpsirons, it's probably going to fail more then once. |
| + | While I dislike how often Dell hardware fails if you get a bad machine, they don't have Wireless whitelists and don't obscure the parts information made available through 3rd parties like PartsPeople. |
| + | |
| + | 3rd place is HP. HP has PartSufer and will sell them through this site, so parts are probably not very hard to get. However, HP discontinues them the quickest so you may need to shop used for older machines if you find the part you need is no longer sold (The max is ~10 years, but can go as low as 5 years). All you need for this information is the model or system serial number if you want a specific parts list or need a specific part to keep your machine's build sheet 1:1, should you care for that. |
| + | |
| + | Whitelisting has been dropped on the Haswell and up models from HP's Business line, but may not be dropped on all consumer machines; if the service manual mentions unauthorized Wireless modules, it probably is whitelisted. Of course, this assumes the machine is *new* enough to find it since some are too old to get this information. |
| If there are any other brands you are wondering about, I can tell you. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| - | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad, or at least Lenovo. They're hard to break if it's a ThinkPad (consumer grade laptops have all degraded to the point they all seem to have a problem. Focus on a thicker models. These will be more durable.), usually easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
|---|---|
| + | Before we start, I use a 5 question chart to answer this. The questions are: |
| + | * 1) How easy is it to get parts? If something breaks, how hard is it to get replacement parts? Do they give out the service manual, or keep it as proprietary information? |
| + | * 2) Will the vendor sell parts directly? if not, how hard is it to find new parts from other sources? |
| + | * 3) Does the vendor openly supply part numbers? |
| + | * 4) After the corporate life ends(3-5 years), how long does it last before they fail after consumers buy the old systems as No OS roll your own or Refurbished systems? If it's Consumer grade, how well does it hold up after 3-5 years of consumer use? |
| + | * 5) Is there a WiFi whitelist? If so, how hard is it to bypass or remove from the laptop? |
| - | You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. It's not always the case, but the part numbers are very much helpful when that does happen. |
| + | When it comes to this, I tend to like Lenovo laptops. Their consumer grade models are a bit more durable then a lot of other consumer grade models. While their consumer grade models are better, the ThinkPad is still the gold standard. It always has and it will probably always be. |
| + | The IdeaPad doesn't rank as high as the ThinkPads to me, for a few reasons. |
| + | |
| + | The IdeaPads don't rank as high as the ThinkPads, but they're very good. You can buy parts for it, but I don't think Lenovo will sell you anything more then Wireless cards, hard drives and DVD drives. Anything else is a Lenovo installed part only. But while they are Lenovo only you can probably find the part number on their parts lookup page to buy the parts you need. |
| + | Long term endurance varies based on the price, series and model. Cheap models and a lot of older IdeaPads that are pre Haswell are known to have durability problems. Premium models were always better, but again pre Haswell ones weren't all that durable. |
| + | Whitelisting was a problem with Lenovo until the Broadwell ThinkPads. It wasn't until those came out they dropped it. I do not know if consumer grade models still do it. |
| + | Now, let's look at the ThinkPad. ThinkPads are very easy to get parts for. Most of the parts on a ThinkPad are available as customer install and sometimes purchase. Some parts are Lenovo only, but this isn't a big deal since parts are readily available. By the time you have a major part failure, the machine is probably already obsolete anyway. They do provide part numbers and service manuals for the ThinkPads, so you aren't repairing the laptop blind. Post corporate life is VERY good. My X61 lasted 10 years before it started to have serious problems. I have no doubt this isn't still true with newer ThinkPads. Whitelists have been around since the T23. It stuck around on ThinkPads until Broadwell. Lenovo no longer whitelists their laptops. |
| + | Dell gets 2nd place on this list. Dell supplies part numbers on their system page, but these aren't always the best. You can find the real part number from PartsPeople, for example. Generally unless it's a WiFi card, WWAN card, RAM or hard drive the answer is no. This does vary based on if it's a Latitude/Precision/Vostro or a Inspiron, but the general consensus is probably no. Dells are a mix. If the machine is a lemon, expect it to be in the as-is/parts side more then it is on the good off-lease side. If the machine has problems a year in, it's probably going to be a lemon and have problems at the 3-5 year mark. Dell doesn't bother, and pretty much hasn't ever bothered with it. This is one area I give Dell credit. |
| + | 3rd place is HP. HP has PartSufer, so parts are easy to buy for HP laptops. However, they stop supplying them after 5-10 years. Yes. You can get part numbers by putting your serial number or system series in PartSurfer. Yes and no. For laptops made in the past 5 years or so, yes. For laptops made before this, no. Business models have always had service information published to the best of my memory. YEP! I have heard that they still whitelist consumer models from 2012, so it's safe to assume the whitelist still exists. HP dropped it on Haswell Business models. |
| + | |
| + | If there are any other brands you are wondering about, I can tell you. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| - | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad, or at least Lenovo. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
|---|---|
| + | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad, or at least Lenovo. They're hard to break if it's a ThinkPad (consumer grade laptops have all degraded to the point they all seem to have a problem. Focus on a thicker models. These will be more durable.), usually easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
| You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. It's not always the case, but the part numbers are very much helpful when that does happen. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| - | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
|---|---|
| + | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad, or at least Lenovo. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
| You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. It's not always the case, but the part numbers are very much helpful when that does happen. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| - | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
|---|---|
| + | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
| - | You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. |
| + | You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. It's not always the case, but the part numbers are very much helpful when that does happen. |
Status:
open
Edit by: Nick
Text:
| - | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. |
|---|---|
| + | Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You can also look the model up to get a specific part number if you aren't sure on certain parts. They still maintain parts lists for obsolete systems (10 years old, generally). |
| You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad. |
Status:
open
Original post by: Nick
Text:
Look at a i5 T series ThinkPad. They're hard to break, easy to service and parts are easy to find if the laptop does end up breaking. Lenovo also puts the HMM out for them but this isn't unique to the ThinkPad. They do this for all of their laptops. You're more likely to get Lenovo to sell you the part for a ThinkPad then you are with a IdeaPad.
Status:
open