Will Dell laptop Last 2-3 yrs

Hi,

i wanted to knw whether a dell laptop is of good build quality and will last around 2-3 yrs.

I am planning to buy the inspiron 1520, but many people are suggesting that i would regret my decision after 1yr and i should go for HP or some other maunfacturer.

I am an student and most probably would be using for min. of 2yrs(course duration).

 

My old dell inspiron lasted me 3 and 1/2 years. I never had a problem with it, and it still runs fine. I only bought my 1520 for mobile gaming capability.

Don't listen to the Dell haters.

 

I had a really old Dell 8100 that I got I think around 5 years ago. P3 geforce2go... lasted till about a year ago when the hinge on the screen finally broke. Everything still works though, and from what I can tell the new inspirons are built better than the one I had before.

 

Ok thats good to know.
But my friends told me that the color on palm rest fads and some other things/

also can you tell me where can i find pic of the speakers on the 1520.

 

Ha...

What kills me is that my current laptop--an HP dv1000t--is IMO one of the most cheaply manufactured devices I've ever owned. I've had it slightly longer than a year, but little things like the coating on the speaker grill began peeling within the first month of ownership. I bought it because HP and the product itself (at the time) had rave reviews. If I'd been able to peek a few months down the line and see how many people would have even worse hardware malfunctions and service nightmares than I did...!

Oh well. I've seen the light. On to bigger and better things. If you're concerned, do what I did and go to a Dell kiosk to check them out. Pick one up and toss it around a little (I'm serious). That allayed my fears.

 

My Dell Laptops have yet to break on me after 4 years and 3 laptops.

The questions you also neeed to ask
Why did my friends $2200 Acer last 13 months (out of warranty)
Why did my workplace $3500 IBM last only 14 months (In warranty)
Why did my friends $2800 HP only last 15 months (out of warranty)

Why is my best friends currently on his 3rd Macbook Pro in 12 months (each time Apple confirms a fatal hardware issue that requires a replacement)

My company uses 14 Dell laptops, only one in 3 years that i know needed to be fixed, and that was replacement of a broken "b" on the keyboard.

I got plenty of other stories of other makers laptops that have been lemons.

 

my 700m is going strong (3 years old).

 

My 3 year old Inspiron 1000's still in fine condition - I had one screen issue (just had to unscrew it and reattach it, good as new) and the space bar's a bit worn out. Other than that, it seems to be great quality.

 

I am currently using a Dell 500m which I have used since January 2003 (4.5 years!) It lasted through my college years and since it is still running so smoothly (without any RAM upgrades!) I have not been able to bring myself to upgrade to a new duo-core laptop.

I honestly find myself wanting it to crap-out, just so I can justify purchasing a new laptop which is insane!

 

Oh I forgot to add that I had the 3 year warranty plan, and had ZERO

 

issues with my notebook. Definitely got my money's worth on my 1st generation Intel Centrino.

 

sorry about the split post, I accidentally hit the post button.

 

so, theres no need to buy the warranty?

 

i still would, maybe two years just as a precaution

 

I've had my Inspiron 6000 for 2 years. A small piece of plastic chipped off the end of the lid, the lid's had a few scratches, and the palm rest has a slight discolouration on the left side. Not bad, considering I've used it basically every day for 2-3 hours. I finally did a clean install of XP and it's like new. I don't even think I need a new one, but that 1420's tempting me.

EDIT: I recommend the warranty. $150 well spent.

 

If none of you guys' computers have had any problems in the past years, why would you recommend buying the warranty?

 

Yeah you should get some form of extended warranty. Mine could have been just lucky to not have had any problems yet. I was just using my experience as an example. I mean, I did pay extra for the 3 year warranty. I was just lucky enough to not have had to use it.

 

For piece of mind. While under warranty, I didn't even think of the possibity of my laptop having any issues. Why? Because I had piece of mind knowing that if any of the hardware had issues, I could file a claim. Trust me, it's worth it. But then again, it's up to you if you are willing to spend the extra dough for the extended warranties.

Some of us may have had great experiences with the longevity of our laptops, but for every great success story, there is a horror story about faulty hardware. Don't assume that you will get the perfect laptop, and dont assume that you'll get a lemon.

 

I believe a person buying a laptop should get at least a 2-year warranty, especially if it is a new product line as the 1420/1520/1720's are. It's just a precaution to keep you from losing your $1000 or more worth of laptop. It's basically a safety to your investment, and also helps your resale value if you have any interest in selling it down the road to upgrade. I've had my E1705 for a year and a half and haven't needed the warranty but my 3-yr warranty made selling it a lot easier because the person buying my used laptop knows it has another year and half left on it.

 

My Dell Desktop is going 9 years strong...knock on wood...

 

My Dell Inspiron 8200 with 2.2GHz P4 M still works fine. I got it 2001 or 2002, can't remember the exact date.The only problem is the hard drive failed early this year. After I replaced hard drive, it works like new. Actually it still pretty fast.

Sean

 

To answer op's question, it might but it's not guaranteed... The Quality control, it seems, is going downhill with Dell laptops, so I really doubt that newer ones will last as long as the old ones did.

 

That's just untrue, imho.

The 1520 I received has a magenesium alloy case. There is no give to any point on the laptop, and I can't make ripples on the screen. People have always been complaining about the quality of Dell's budget laptops, but I see no indication whatsoever that the new inspiron series matches these allegations.

What makes you think they quality is going downhill?

 

Quality of Dell laptops in no way have gone downhill. They have improved. But if you buy a cheap and nasty laptop from any manufacturer, then you will usually get what you pay for.

 

This underscores the fact that laptop parts are more likely to break or fail due not only to the higher amount of abuse laptops take, but also the lower tolerances the parts are designed for. While desktop parts enjoy a big case with lots of airflow anda steady powersupply, laptops parts take a lot of abuse from heat, moisture, vibration and being turned on and off all the time to save battery life.

 

My old Inspiron 5100 is still going, typing on it now. My CD Drive is starting to act up quite often now, but a replacement on ebay is like $20.00 so it's not that big of a deal. Nice machine really, never had any problems with it.

 

Excluding random lemon issues, you have to consider the economics of it. If you spend around $1000 for a Dell Inspiron 1520 or Vostro 1500, in 4 yrs you can spend another $1000 for a faster cpu/gpu combination and maybe even larger screen. You could spend today $1500-2000 for a higher reliability laptop, but that won't future proof you anymore than a Dell, and in the end you spend the same amount with the 2 Dells likely to take you 4+4 yrs out, while the other brand may be null in 4 yrs. Hate to call them disposable laptops, but at $700-1,000 they sorta are. Just protect yourself with the next day onsite warranty, and be ready to deal with a Dell lemon.

I'm sure a mathematician could show the Dell mass productions are having a higher lemon rate than other brands, but they are also best cpu/gpu bang for the buck.

 

I have a Latitude CSx from 2000 that's still going strong. I've had to replace the AC adapter a couple of times, and the battery only lasts like 10 minutes now, but I mainly use it now to remote desktop into my desktop machine upstairs.

 

I sure hope so :S I'm wondering about this as well. My Vostro tends to have glitches after hibernating to the point of making me nervous.

 

That's actually a problem with Vista interfering with the NVidia drivers...

Updating your drivers may fix the problem like it did for me. Otherwise, get your updates from Microsoft, and that will also fix the problem. There are a few threads in this forum about that subject... I'll try to find a link.

EDIT: here's the link. apparently, doing a clean install of Vista also fixes the problem.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=155610

 

I used my L400 (700MHz P3, Win2K, 3lbs) for six and a half years. During that time the HD was replaced by Dell under extended warranty; I replaced the keyboard myself off eBay when it failed past warranty. New batteries also, of course, and memory expansion. Finally the power connector pins became flaky and it was time...

So now I have a shiny new M1330 with Vista, but it takes about the same time to boot. And web page loading isn't any faster! I suspect it won't last 6.5 years. Too many bells and whistles, more things to fail.

Normally extended warranties are a great deal (for the seller, not the buyer). Still, for a laptop you want to keep, I agree that an extended warranty is a good idea because laptops are fragile. Of course if you are reasonably handy with hardware you can do the repairs yourself for less money than the warranty costs. (They wouldn't be offering extended warranties if they weren't making money on the average.) Parts for popular older computers such as the L400 are quite easy to find on the web.

 

Guy here at work brought in his January 2000 (Almost 8 years old) Dell laptop (Inspiron 3000) and it runs perfectly fine, all original parts.

 

I just order a Vostro 1500 and spent the money upgrading to a 3 year warrenty.
I work in an electronics shop and kno how often laptop psu's go, they are covered by the warrenty so a £90 upgrade foe the 3 years was worth it to me. Even if its only the power supply that fails.

John

 

Damn, im so ****ing confused

 

John

Did you order over the phone? Just wondering how you got the cheaper warranty....

 

yeh if you ring them up then make them an offer they'll drop the price quite abit. I also got some more discount as someone in my family works for a company that deals excusivly with dell so got an extra 6% off the notebook aswell.

 

I have an Inspiron 6000. Minus the hinge (which i fixed,) it has lasted a good 2 years and should last 2 more.

 

A Dell will last you quite long... if you ever receive it

 

haha, thats certainly true

 

the replies for this thread have made me happy... im purchasing a dell latitude d830 and will not look for another one for the next 3-4 years....do the latitude lines also last for that long....i heard that the latitude lines are one of the best and very lasting.....

 

My inspiron 2650 lasted 4 years until the hinge finally broke. Of course that might be due to dragging it non stop through europe on 6 month photo trip, then 3 months in northern Canada where it fell out of my jeep, then came over a waterfall with me in my backpack.

Anyways... that experiance pretty much sold me on Dell build quality forever. And my new xps 1210 is much better built!

As a reference, i broke 3 powerbook G4's in that time. They inversely lost my business pretty much forever.

 

I see a lot of references for 3 and 4 year old Dell's. From the old Dell's I have at work, I would say (some) of the newer laptops are not as well made.

My first 1705 was DOA. My second 14 month old 1705 is on second keyboard, darn if I could get the keys to snap back on..which was easy on the old Dells. Someone mentioned palm rest turning color? Yep..why would Dell use such a silver paint color where nasty sweaty palms rest? I've even seen people claim your dumb for even using the palm rest..that you type wrong? The older Dell's had black pebble grain palm rest that you could park a truck on and never show stains.

On the other hand...

Speed and usage wise this is the fastest laptop I've used in the past. Most high wear items are fairly easy to replace where some older laptops needed minor surgery to get to same items. Cost; my $1350 Inspirion would cost just $900(adjusted for inflation) in Y2K dollars so I guess we get a lot of technology for less. If greater build quality wanted I would have paid $2600? Once the world runs out of cheap labor then this may be the norm.

I feel that my current 1705 will go the three years, then again, I do have the two year at home for “just in case”. Yea, I’d buy another Dell