Build quality with current laptops.

Recently I have been looking for a new laptop, but I was quite shocked to find that most of the latest laptops seem to be badly built.
Usually the casing is plastic and flexes under pressure, and you feel it could brake if you exert too much pressure on it.
Also the screens are mostly glossy and seem to offer bad levels of contrast and terrible viewing angles.

On a good note though it seems if you look carefully you can get very well specked machines for a low cost.
I would be interested to know what other forum users think about the current build quality of laptops in the marketplace.
Do you think manufacturers should go back to building decent quality machines and charge a higher price premium accordingly, or do you prefer laptops to be cheaper, and therefore less well built?

 

You have the same choice as you did for the past few years: you can buy a cheap machine with lousy build quality or a better one for more money. Problem is, a lot of manufacturers now hide the good ones in the business section so it's not obvious to most consumers that they exist. If you want good build quality and good screens, look for Lenovo ThinkPads (the old fashioned ones, not the new and glossy), Dell Latitudes and Precisions and HP ProBooks and EliteBooks. Of course, you get what you pay for (i.e. these are generally not cheap). Another alternative for build quality and good screens are various boutiques selling Clevo laptops, but the warranty here is nowhere near as good simply because you're buying from a small store which you have to ship the machine back to rather than an international corporation with facilities in most large cities.

 

i have a simple "policy"

if the laptop is going to be carried around a lot- buy business grade. consumer grade ones wont last you more than 2 years on average

if the laptop is going to be sitting on a desk 90% of the time (like my mum's, or my sisters) then go consumer grade unless you have money to spend.

my sister's consumer grade dell is 8 years old now and still looks/works like brand new because it pretty much never left her desk, although about 3 years ago i had to change the hard drive as it was malfunctioning, and the battery dont hold a charge anymore.

 

A wise man once said;

You get what you paid for. Especially for electronics. And that is precisely the reason why I buy business oriented notebooks.

 

Right now I see maybe 3-4 brands of laptops that I'd buy.

Lenovo Thinkpads, Elitebooks, HP DV series (sturdy as hell, my sister has a DV5) and any Apple notebook.

I had an acer 3810 and I really got sick of it creaking and making sounds every time I'd use it. I'm sitting on a white macbook right now and there are 0 creaks. This thing is built like a tank!

My sister's DV5 has about the same build quality as my macbook. Metal casing, no creaking, and built extremely well

 

Which "Wise Man" do you quote?
Electronics is Electronics as long the it works according to the datasheet.
The chipset is provided by Intel/AMD all the rest is just electrical components provided by the market the main physical difference between "business" and "consumer" is your own misgivings and perception maybe casing if you are the superficial type and some TPM chip for enterprise management/encryption purposes.

It is the logic that processes the data the rest doesn't matter to me.

 

I meant you get what you paid for, and that especially applies to electronics. A 399 machine is a 399 machine. Don't expect the highest quality.

Uhh, business notebooks are built much more robustly than average consumer notebooks. ThinkPads have the internal rollcage, LCD rollcage, magnesium hinges, CFRP parts, rubberized lid, LCD latch, in an effort to protect the internal components vs a consumer notebook has none of these traits and explodes into 20 pieces if you drop it 3 inches.

There's also a misconception that business notebooks cost more than consumer notebooks. I got 2 Z61ts for 250, and it is one of the best notebooks I have used, I like it more than my Latitudes.

 

There are some consumer brands that are pretty good. Someone already mentioned HP's d-series and I will definitely back that up. Every d-series notebook I have owned (dv6 first gen, dm4, dv6 third gen, dm1) or seen (dv5 second gen, dv7 third gen) has had build quality comparable to current Thinkpads. I have also had a few Toshiba notebooks up there.

I don't think that you need to buy business grade for high build quality, you just have to know where to look.

 

A $1000 retail cost machine can be a $500 production cost machine with mark up.
Can anyone know the actual cost of production or do you think "SONY" or "APPLE" will tell you instead of keeping their high profit margins?

And my "consumer" grade plastic laptop has drop more than a 1m in height with few invisible scratches (because it is plastic duh) and still remain totally functional (plastic elasticity can be a force damper).
Do you need to throw your laptops in the world of business? I thought only Ballmer throw chairs?

Sure you can have cheap business grade laptops -- with lousy low end specs or obsolete models since you can't tell by the looks anyway.

By propagating the "consumer/business" concept they can keep the mark up high.
"Built Quality" only affects the perception in looks and feel, functionally there is no difference.

 

You can get lower cost business laptops as well. Most likely with integrated video. I'm using a $516 HP Probook (Sandy Bridge) and it was pretty good even before I upgraded the CPU. Step up a few models if you want docking though. Even though the advanced station is listed as an "option" there are no contacts on the bottom of the laptop.

 

I always get Thinkpads solely because of the build quality. I've had various other laptops (a Gateway, a Macbook, a couple Dells), and none of them feel as solid as Thinkpads. While I certainly wouldn't want to throw them across the room, I feel that Thinkpads are able to take a beating and keep on coming. I very much disapprove of the current trend towards cheap plasticy laptops.

 

I agree with Tsunade Hime, you do get what you pay for, however it seems that a laptop that cost £500 say 5 years ago was better built than a £500 laptop today...

 

Assuming you're correct, you'd be surprised how much people are willing to pay for "perception of looks and feel".

Not everyone is a pragmatist. I'd even say most aren't. The propagation of the clothing industry is pure proof of that.

 

I think part of the problem is that people conflate build quality with aesthetics/look/feel.

Build quality for most would be some notion of failure rates of important laptop components based on similar usage patterns.

I think the first thing folks need to do is split aesthetics from MTBF rates. A macbook looks/feels great but by most measures/studies out there is only average with respect to failure rates. A Clevo/Sager looks like it was hit with the ugly stick and is mostly sturdy plastic on the outside but lasts pretty well.

When you get to the argument about business laptops and their premiums, I think it would come down to does the internal roll cages, extra shock protection from drops save the motherboard/hard disk drive from corruption or damage. If so, then the argument that they are "more durable" holds water.

Otherwise people should remember, that the actual internal components are the same Intel chipsets, AMD/Nvidia GPUs, same HDD makers, same screen manufacturers etc. How those things are protected is what the build quality discussion should be about.

 

Business laptops also have different warranties though. Their markup isn't solely about their build quality. They also are the only laptops manufacturers will slap certain features on (such as IPS screens and ISV certified GPUs).

IMO, build quality denotes everything: from quality control to design(some products manage to hit the shelves even with flagrant design flaws) and to a certain extent to support for the product.

 

The actual cost of production for most of what we are using is low.
The manufacturers are the ones pumping up the prices to relatively high levels.
'Business' oriented laptops cost more simply because the manufacturers say so.
In terms of build quality, I will give possible credentials that the general assembly of the casing and quality of the material might be better along with cooling, but that's about it.

Consumer grade laptops aren't really that far behind, and I've been using such laptops on the go (moved them around a lot) without any issues for an extended period of time (over 4 years).
My Dell laptop's hdd ended up in the trash though (though I got a new one) and I had to replace the backlight after 3 years because I dropped the machine on the floor a couple of times by accident (and it was right after the accident those 2 aspects started to go - once they were replaced, the thing was back on track and is still in use).

I find it ridiculous how people generalize sometimes in terms that something which is more expensive is by default 'better'.
Speaking from personal experience, you cannot make such a generalization/assumption, because I've also witnessed very pricey hardware that had a high rate of failure.

'Cost' is an artificial construct... and a very limiting factor if you ask me.

It's not my post you are quoting but I would like to state that I prefer steering clear of 'assumptions'.
From personal observations and experience, I noticed that a lot of the people on this planet behave like sheep.
So the type of behavior we are talking about is hardly surprising.
It gives more power to the manufacturers to do what they please.

Look at Apple.
Now, I may be a Windows user and have to say that while I do see the use in Macs for some... Apple as a company has outrageously high prices on their products, despite the very notion that the manufacturing costs are minimal.
And they get away with it.

To be perfectly honest with you, since we HAVE to live in a system that requires money, why spend $1000 on something when you can probably find a product that does the same for half that amount or less?

People spend next to no time informing themselves about the products they are purchasing and therefore rely on salesmen to give them the information, when in fact, the salesmen often try to sell you their products for the highest possible price.
Yes, you will find those willing to make the effort and actually find you a cost-effective product, but in a lot of cases, this is not how it happens.

 

Deleted because it's not necessary to have 2 same posts.

 

I agree that with Sony or Apple you are paying not just for build quality or whatsoever, but for the brand status as well. Like someone else's made the clothing analogy, you pay much more for the practically same jeans if you go for a famous boutique brand.

But there is some important difference in "true" build quality. Besides the mechanical resistance, cooling is a critical factor and, depending on a poorly designed notebook, you can have your cpu performance limited or even throttling down... And even Apple with all its glamor isn't free of such things...
I have a Dell Inspiron that would become incredible hot on the touchpad. It is something someone should consider to avoid if he has the bucks to invest.

My point is that, build (overall, actually) quality is not just a matter of price. It is indeed a good estimate of such, but if you are concerned on your investment you should investigate a little harder.

 

I think this poll raise a valid and interesting point of view.
Are laptops mainly for production and pleasure or/and do it have to have a neat design so that you can use it as a show off and it has to "fit" in along with other design furnitures? Maybe people thinking that they will have their laptop for top 5 years anyway and don`t care too much about quality?

What is more important when showing off? Design or power? "Look at my beautiful laptop. Look at the flashing led lights and the cool fan exhausts." "Look at my stylish Macbook". "Check this out. 1080p with high details on everything. Awesome" "My laptop get 26000 in 3DMark".

 

I think they do cost a bit more even if its just $5 they are protecting themselves. Business users are the ones using them more heavily and more likely to return if you go too cheap.

 

Build quality is one of the more important things to me, I am one of those people that likes something to last, as this Inspiron 1520 was my first laptop, I was fortunate enough to make the right decisions when I customized this. After looking at the current make of laptops, I would honestly be sticking with an XPS 15 or a Lattitude-series for my next laptop, I can't stand the 1366x768 standard resolution.

But generally, I want something that will last a minimum of 5 years, so that's at most 2 laptops per decade for me now and I like that pace, as most laptops really just hit their limit at about 5 years. Hopefully, this laptop will last me through medical school and I can get one when I come out in 2015.

 

Resolution would bother me if I used it much. I've got it on a 25.5" LCD 90% of the time. I was very happy to finally get back off of VGA. VGA irritates me.

 

Sony is an good example to be throwing around in this thread (though this exact topic was already picked apart just a few months ago).

In 2003 I bought a 15" Sony GRV550 from Best Buy for $2000 and it lasted up until this past winter when I gave it to my brother after his desktop's mobo died. Though it was a tank and I've only replaced the cooling fan about 2.5 years ago after it crapped out, he desecrated the poor laptop (scratched up screen & AC jack wouldn't contact internal pins so no charging) and then bought an $1100 custom built 15" Sony EB from their website.

The new Sony is built like cheap pu pu platter. The bottom panel is thickest and thus the most solid feeling plastic of the whole construction but the rest is not even close. The screen backing is very flexible and the keyboard flexes a little but both have unfortunately come to be expected in modern laptops. The screen bezel looks like it's made out of spray painted cardstock and held on with chewing gum stuck to the reverse side but what I found most disappointing is that when picking it up with one hand, the body contorts much more than I would like if I had paid over $1k for something that was meant to be 'portable'. There is not a single area of the horizontal faces I can press without seeing noticeably more flex than doing the same with my 16" Dell XPS (bought in 2009). Yeah, it's not a scientific test, but I'm not paid to do this.

The new Sony also creaks and pops when you pick it up and the screen cannot come near the eye searing brightness of my Dell. To top it all off, the headphone jack stopped working a month after he received it. And yes, it is a hardware issue as opposed to an OS setting.

My 2 year old Dell (exactly as of this month!) also cost me $1100 and has the warm trackpad problem that someone mentioned a page or 2 back, this is mainly due to the wifi card and southbridge being directly under it. From what I remember, this was remedied on the next models. I've got a few minor screen scratches from when the keyboard contacts the screen (squished during travel??) but other than that, no problems whatsoever so far. I also recently replaced the hard drive and repasted. Not cause it needed to be done, but just for a quieter drive and cause I opened everything up for a cleaning.

As much as I dislike Apple, their Macbook chassis are a durability dream compared to a lot of what else is out there and they've finally updated their hardware to 2011 internals. They are a bit heavier than competitors but the aluminum chassis really helps. As someone said, plastic acts as a damper in some situations but a laptop will encounter lateral flex (picking it up w/one hand) and vertical pressure (squishing in a suitcase or backpack) more often than it will be dropped.

So laptop prices have dropped significantly in the past decade, but as someone else already said (if not in this thread than in another I read today..) that laptops from longer ago seem to last longer than modern ones. In my experience, I certainly would say they don't make 'em like they used to so consumers need to be more proactive unless they've got money to burn.

 

IMO I think the Unibody design is no good. It is super prone to scratches and dents and it looks terrible with cosmetic issues. Also Apple's heat management can be described as woeful in the nicest terms.

Those old school Dells (2004-2007) are built like tanks, and they just keep on working.

 

People have to remember 2 things:

1- "back in the day", a laptop was a premium item with only traveling businesspeople being given one by their company for work on their trips. The market was different and more niche. Nowadays every Joe and his mom can have access to a laptop.

2- Business laptops differ from consumer laptops in more ways than one so only arguing the build quality and the markup price is flawed since they have different support and features as well.

 

Back in the day, technology was not as advance, so cost of production is high hence it is rather justifiable that prices were high.

As Manufacturing Technology improves logically speaking we should see cheaper laptops and we do. "Consumer" Laptops are that. Except Business Laptop continue its high profit margin mainly because THEY CAN.

Companies are big, and IT cost are managed internally so employees/manager do not feel the need to cut cost for cheap efficient laptops because THEY ARE NOT THE ONES PAYING.
More than often they also do not evaluate/understand the needs
(Come on do you think most Managers care about Core 2 Duo/Arrandale/Sandy Bridge and cost? It just needs to look good and match market skewed impression of quality which Apple happens to be selling) hence buying into brand is the most convenient answer unless the user specify a need for certain CAD Applications that requires specialized hardware.

Ask yourself this:
Do you think additional cost of aluminum really value adds the product intrinsically when underneath everything it is just a IA-32 processor?

IMO what matters is things that affect the usability like Thermals, Power Consumption.
A lot of laptops in this days are missing the first factor: Thermals.
What good is a laptop when it overheats and shutdown when you do not want it to? Never mind its godly looks.
What I want is high performance components with powerful cooling components to sustain it.
Power Consumption will enable long usage without charging. It doesn't need to look like a champ it just needs to work like 1.

 

I never argued good looks so no point in bringing that up. We're just talking build. And I'm not going to advocate nor argue the markup of laptops because I know they're present. The thread is simply asking about general build quality of laptops presently.

To me, the quality of the "build" of a laptop represents everything, not just the casing so the things you mention I would also lump under a similar flag.

However I would also ask you this: Why should I treat myself to a nice well cooked meal when I could just buy nutriments and feed my body that and obtain the same biological response? It's because there's more to eating than just feeding my body its required nutriments. For most people, there's a whole experience around feeding oneself which includes appreciating the meal/action.

The same logic applies to any product and activity: there's more to it than the basic underlying function it's supposed to give. Therefore, the "experience" of using a laptop might just as well be important to a buyer as what the laptop itself does just as the experience of driving/being in a car might be as important to someone as its ability to get form point A to point B. Therefore things that you consider "paltry" such as a laptop's build or such might be something that some consumers will want to pay attention to.

I said this and I'll say it again: not everyone is a pragmatist.

 

You're right, and there are other manufacturers who are evidently neglecting updating their cooling systems. CPU temps in the new Acer Timeline X replacement hang out in the 90C area and Asus's ultraportable magnesium U36 is known for a laptop you don't want to actually keep in your lap.

Another second thought for manus also seems to be battery life. It's 2011, netbooks & ULV processors should not be the only answer to a reliable 8 hours away from AC power. Manu specs for battery life are known as useless but I'd be very inclined to spend more money for 10 hours on battery with a clockspeed over 2Ghz & a 13"+ screen. C'mon Llano!!?

Contrast ratio in screens for the sub $1k field is also something to improve on.

The number of laptops have obviously increased enormously in the past decade and prices have come down. But I think prices have arrived at a plateau while build quality is becoming less and less. Sadly, this is not something consumers seem to care about though I also think many simply just don't know any better. Mass production makes things significantly less expensive to manufacture and of course it's reasonable to expect a rate of diminishing returns for decreasing prices, but we're seeing this already but accompanied by the dilution of quality.

It's like the jar of peanut butter that costs the same as it did in 2007 (pre-econocrisis) but now has a dimple in the bottom twice the size. Smaller cans of tuna fish, the always amusing larger bags of potato chips but the same net weight (25% more for free!), the interior of cars now being made with thinner plastics and so on.

The Elitebooks, Thinkpads and ultra high end Dells seem to talk the 'business league' talk and actually walk the walk, but these computers have a long history with their revisions relatively unchanged other than the hardware. They have their model and don't stray far from it, cause it works. Apple took some trial and error to get to where they are now.

And when I refer to build quality, I've got in mind chassis construction, thermals and anything the manufacturer is responsible for building & assembling. If a chipset malfunctions, that's an Intel/AMD product and most likely not Acer's fault, same for the hdd, screen, network cards, etc. However, a broken hinge, cracked bezel, bad grounding or something along those lines would be a defect of the computer's manufacturer. Yes the lines do blur at a point but this isn't a court hearing so I'm just saying 'in most case' examples.

For user experience, I fit into this ergonomics and aesthetics. Aesthetics is simply bows & ribbons, it has little to do with what it encases and the looks of a laptop are the easiest part to get right and modify if you didn't. Companies these days want consumers to establish an emotional, physical, passionate and even erotic connection with their products. The masses gorge on the idea that the image is worth tens, hundreds or thousands more, and the internals of that image are too difficult to understand so it's not worth considering. Thus it's not at all surprising these days that the look & feel take marketing limelight and consumer precedence over say, the ability to use your laptop without the CPU cutting back to half its clockrate because it runs so hot. Who out of the computer world actually knows what that means?

 

No argument with you here man, is it me or do Dells nowadays seem that much more of a pain to upgrade as opposed to the models which were released back when we bought our laptops? I was really optimistic about buying the Dell Studio 1558 a year ago, but I'm glad that I chose to stick with the Inspiron 1520. By the way that 6GB RAM was a go, 4+2 running in Intel Flex Mode.

The build quality of laptops nowadays is far inferior to the ones of a few years ago. It's just that budget laptops that are designed nowadays are essentially designed to breakdown/be outdated in two years tops, thus forcing users to upgrade. They are offered with so many less options as opposed to a few years ago when they were offered with pretty much everything including the kitchen sink without any drawbacks whatsoever.

Take for example Inspiron 1520 and Inspiron 1525, compare those two models and you'll see why replacing a dedicated video card with pretty much an HDMI port will pretty much drive the build of your system into the ground. Not to mention replacing speakers with crappier ones will definitely earn you points in the criticism columns. It would make sense if they used a different chipset all together but Dell really milked the 965-chipset even through their earlier studio models.

No one's arguing the breakthroughs with processors in the past two years because Core-i processors are better than Core 2 Duo. But honestly, there ways to make a dependable machine and then there are ways to make money. It just seems the latter is easier to do for companies nowadays and well a good amount of the world is stupid enough to believe anything that is marketed.

 

With current laptop tech cycling so quickly and the lack of user-friendly upgradeability with most models, I suspect most users won't need to invest the extra bucks in a business-class notebook; buying a nice sleeve would be cheaper and more effective. If you've got the money, though, and don't mind the weight, I don't see why you wouldn't go for the extra security of a more durable build. As for the quality of laptops going downhill... I'm not seeing it. Sure, parts are getting cheaper overall, but paying the equivalent price can still get you an equivalent product.

I also think it's important to distinguish between "well-built" and "durable". Apple's aluminum unibody Macbook Pro, for instance, is well-built and reliable, but it is NOT durable. Just ask any laptop technician what models are most often brought in for accident repair.

Fixed.

 

It is a myth that a laptop is designed to breakdown after 2 years.
If you can get any evidence of that please tell me and I will sue and get rich.
All Chipset have parts specification and uses Run of the mill ICs, no more no less.

And Laptops do not obsolete that fast.
Ask anyone who reformatted his old core 2 duo or any one who doesn't download bloatware on his/her computer.

Marketing is the reason why prices can be high, by change the perception of value they can charge at any prices they fancy.

If you buy into marketing without any correct/accurate product info you lose (You may not know it or care though).
We only get back our real value and quality if people stop being stupid and learn some real knowledge, and demand true quality of everything.

 

you are really misinformed. regardless of the chipset, and by the way, the chipset is a reference design provided by the designer, the mobo manufacturers use different components for it. so you can have capacitors with lower op-hour ratings, etc. hinges is an obvious example. ask any first year mechanical engineering student to take a look at the hinges on a business grade laptop vs a consumer grade and they'll tell you its a world of difference.

if we follow your logic, just because on paper the technical sheet is identical, therefore a mercedes benz and a ford should have no difference.


one more thing you neglect to consider is the fact that companies/individuals rarely ever pay sticker price for business grade laptops. after getting a quote, the price is usually just a slight premium over an equivalent consumer grade laptop, and this premium is well worth it as you have a better warranty, superior build quality and ruggedness.

not to mention, there is not much marketing done for business grade laptops/systems. the marketing is all on the consumer systems. this is because corporate IT departments test the systems, look at the TCO, etc. support can be a considerable cost. i dont know where you got the idea the marketing spend is the reason why business grade notebooks are a bit pricier. even ISV certifications cost money too you know. and in use scenarios where software packages can easily be 3-5 times the cost of the hardware running it, you better be darn sure its certified to run it.

bottom line is, business grade machines are essential for work. one day of downtime costs a company. the opportunity cost of lost productivity etc.

 

All Notebooks uses Solid Capacitors, and there is no op hour rating on solid caps. There is no measurement for that. It is only graded by material and they are all solid capacitors with the metal encasing not the plastics one.
Open up and compare the capacitors and you will find they are identical.
Only on enthusiast OEM PC Motherboard can you sometimes find ultra grade capacitors of different material because it is a marketing feature.
Enthusiast buy those motherboards and look at the capacitors hence it is a visible selling point.
There are 3 type of PC Mobo caps.
The cheapest uses the lowest grade electrolytic caps, the middle grade uses solid metal caps the same types you find in laptop mobos and the highest most expensive motherboard uses high grade caps.
Even so longevity is subject to thermal conditions the more extreme the temperature the board faces the higher the likelihood of failure.

Who cares what capacitors laptop mobos uses since it is under casing.

Sure the hinge may differ structurally but not all "consumer grade" are built to self destruct just as not all "business grade" laptops are built to last.

There are also built issues in business laptop just as there are in consumer grade laptops. Only difference is when you complain on the business laptop you get more attention since you paid for it.

My point isn't about support
(Of course you get better support people who pay more demand better support)
it is about physical differences.
"Business Grade" did not save laptops with the affected nvidia chips from the infamous nvidia solder failure.

 

Why does creaking or clicking sound come from laptop body\casing actually.....i know it is a cosmetic build quality issue but there must be a reason behind this right?
i mean this issue only shows up after a year or so of usage

 

I have to say that high-end consumer notebooks are on-par with business models.
I have a Latitude 6410 at my office and an XPS15R2 at home, and they have the same quality, both are very sturdy.

 

Come back in three years and report your findings... While on the outside, things may seem similar, on the inside, it's a totally different ballgame. Also, service is better on average.

 

Most people look at a laptop as a commodity, like a microwave or toaster, they want it to a few specific things that's all, so buy whatever is cheapest that meets their needs and don't heed build quality.

Personally, if I didn't care to game on a laptop, I'd buy a business line notebook as has already been discussed here. Probably a Thinkpad or even Dell. They will last longer both from a durability, and also from a technology point of view. You don't need top of the line to run business apps usually, just a solid running machine with a good keyboard and screen.

But if I'm going to be spending good coin on one for gaming, it better last and have a decent build quality. I expect to replace my laptop about every two years anyhow, so beyond that, I guess I don't care much, as long as it's in good enough shape and high enough tech to resell it for a decent amount.

 

If I ever have to buy a gaming laptop, it'd most likely be the Dell Alienware M15X of that time, not going to sit here and make stuff up, but honestly for me that'll never happen. I find that gaming should be reserved for X-Box/PS3, perhaps even the Desktop as you can find ways to sustain an experience for a longer time. With the laptop, I feel like it's 2 years in and your GPU is given the same respect as a transmission of a 1982 Toyota Camry by gaming developers. It'll run alright but it won't get you far...

 

Thats an idea from 2005...current notebook GPUs are very capable...just look at the 8800M, that card came out 2007 and even today, its usable for gaming...thats 4!! years.

On the other hand, not everyone is a power gamer...if you only play casual, current mid-range notebook GPUs are pretty usable for you 2-3 years...a 8600M GT from 2007 can run Unreal Engine 3 on 1440x900 on almost max...

 

I have the 8600M GT, I don't know, it seems like after my laptop was completely upgraded my GPU eventually became the bottleneck again.

 

My GTX 485m is now four months old (wow) and still going strong, lol. Should be for the next two years even.

If you buy a mid range GPU, then you can expect it to bottleneck your machine much more quickly. But buy a top end one, and you should be good for a solid two years, possibly three. Plus with many gaming laptops, they have MXM cards so you will most likely get the option to update them later with something more powerful. At least that's my plan.

Obviously a desktop is better for longevity, ease of expandability, and cheaper, but sometimes it just doesn't fit the situation. But even then, you update your GPU every couple years if not sooner anyhow.

 

My vote went to Machines built to last, but paying extra for superior quality. However, I wanted to add that this is not always the case. It really depends on my needs at the time. For instance, I bought a cheap Hannspree 12" notebook (with SU4100 CPU) for a long vacation because I wanted something much smaller/lighter than a 15.4" notebook, but wanted something more powerful than the netbook that I already had. For this purpose I went with something really inexpensive. That way if it got stolen/lost/broken on the trip, I wouldn't be out much.

 

I'm a fan of older cheaper machines with good build quality.

There are a lot of Acers made by Compal, like the 5720g. Very solid, better than MSI gx620 and such.