Rep: 100
Hello,
I am in the market for a new gaming laptop, however I am aware that they are notorious to take apart and repair. Is there an up to date (2019) ifixit gaming laptop repairability score available?
Gaming laptops are kind of a niche product so I wouldn't expect them to rate them outside of a few popular models at most.
In addition (like many mobile workstations, especially after Haswell on the Zbook) they tend to be pretty good with full or nearly complete component access by removing the bottom cover so it's rarely an issue. Some of them do hide the processor but those are a rare breed as most of them have full access with the bottom off.
What you may have to do is go with your gut here - if it looks hard to repair it probably is. If you want to be sure, find a teardown or avoid anything you can't verify the serviceability on.
That being said I like the MSI laptops better if you want something between full blown enterprise (Zbook/Precision/ThinkPad P Series) and something consumer oriented. These cost more then anything the major manufacturers like Dell offer (and have a “warranty void” if removed sticker, but it doesn’t apply in the US; it’s an inspection thing), but are built to a higher standard and are better suited towards gaming then anything from HPE or the Business series from Dell. MSI provides full component access by removing the bottom cover and uses premium materials.
2 Comments:
I’ll look into MSI, Thank you for the reply, much appreciated!
by Jesus
@Jesus MSI has released a few service duds but those are rare. Make sure if you are unwilling to deal with a design comprise like that. The good ones will get more attention then the bad ones, generally.
The Stealth Pros (GS series it seems) on iFixit have RAM that requires motherboard removal to get to. Not severe but yeah; may be too much.
by Nick
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by iRobot
This question was migrated from https://www.ifixit.com/Answers.
by iRobot