why do laptop hinges have a spongy feel to them?

All the laptops I've ever seen seem to have this spongy flex in them, if you press down onto laptop hinges they seem to move and down, seen this on about 10 laptops of all different brands.

Is there any particular reason behind this?

 

lil give and take when you carry the laptop by the screen for some reason?

I dunno

 

I haven't noticed any bend or flex in the stainless steel on mine...

 

Because 90% of the laptops sold today are cheap and cheerful. Aka not made with the highest quality parts/materials.

People want faster and cheaper. Thus quality goes down.

 

You know better than to make a broad statement like that. Not only do I want quality and longevity, I'm willing to pay for it. And I suspect that a good percent of the members here, feel the same way.

Nevertheless, computers are a mass market item; and I suppose that when you choose a generic brand, cheap is what you usually get.

 

But it's true lol. People on this forum are power users. I think he was referring to the general public. And of course you must pay more for quality EXCLUDING Sony lol

 

I can assure you I'd never do anything so silly.

 

heh. I have but it's more of a "lift it up a bit to check under it for something that rolled under there/it's on a cord, move it) kind of thing not a "carry it across the room by the screen, that's crazy" kind of thing

 

This laptop cost about £500 (about $800 USD?) I don't know if that's "entry level" pricing in America, but this asus laptop certainly isn't without its perks and little things that make it great.

Would you say the "flex" in plastic hinges effects the longevity of a laptop?

my cousin does that to his ageing advent laptop (carries it around by the lid), the screen has a ton of play in it, I don't understand why people buy little kids laptops.

 

I've never had a laptop hinge break so...gonna go with no.


I mean it's also a possibility the screws for the hinge aren't tight enough.

I know for my old asus G1 that kind of happened (though I might of caused it myself when taking it apart once, either way it had 3 screws for the hinge stuff)

 

well my laptop for example has these thick plastic hinges that are built into these really thick reinforced plastic speakers either side of the unit, the "flex" I describe is when I press down on them with my finger when the lid is open, it moves down a little, it doesn't appear broken and I figured its designed that way so there is some give if the lid comes under any stress when opening and closing.

by no means is this laptop weak, literally no creaks and a ton of love went into the design of it (most asus stuff is just plain awesome)

 

Depends on your definition for "entry" level.

The most basic notebooks NOT netbooks is 260-350. Then up a tier is like 400-500. Then 550-600.

Computers these days are made like white goods, like drying machines, blenders. They are mass produced. I believe maybe Sager and Falcon NW maybe one of the few manufacturers left. Price only aggravates that.

In no way shape or form am I saying 279.99 computers are crappy computers. They suit 1 market, and that is not what I am looking for. They are just made with lower quality plastics and stuff.

 

I think the cheapest laptop I ever owned was a real low spec inspiron, the hinge covers popped off and exposed a ton of wiring, the plastic would creak loudly when even slightly agitated and was just urgh, but saying that I bought that next to nothing when I could have stepped it up and gone for a business class or xps.

This Asus has a nice feel to it, it has this sort of textured palm rest, no creaking or flex and feels good.. things you wouldn't find on an otherwise generic laptop, it has altel langing SRS premium sound and a chicklet style keyboard with a gloss underlay, it doesn't feel cheap at all, I just wondered why the hinges moved downward when pressed .. and its not like broken loose.. but I'd say its noticeable when you watch.. I'm just scrutinising everything while I can still get a refund, also the store model also had the same flex in the hinges

 

I take it you're talking about the Inspiron 1520 in your sig? I love mine! It's certainly not the same physical quality as my thinkpad (I can't say the thinkpad was a good computer - at all) but it's been good to me.

The hinges aren't good on these cheap Inspirons, that's for sure. They come lose from the "lid" and will break off eventually if you don't tighten them every few months. Back when I used mine in college and was travelling around with it all the time I had to tighten them up a few times a year.

There is also the part where the hinges sit in the base. That part gets lose and the hinges are lose to the laptop. A few pieces of duct tape to "shim" everything and it was all good again!

Maybe the problem isn't cheap hinges but cheap materials where the hinges go to.

My $300 netbook has great hinges. The hinges on my inspiron aren't terrible I guess.

 

Can't be. I have a Vostro 1500 (business version of the 1520). Yeah the hinges aren't great but aren't spongy. My Vostro 1500 started at 450 but I upgraded it up to about 900 dollars.

 

Ugh my gf carries her laptop around by the hinge and I cringe every time she does.

 

Well honestly, the inspiron served me well and I must admit I rode that thing hard and left it to dry, it lasted a good two years even without the hinge cover for a year, I wanted to get something that would last about 3-4 years and I believe I've made the right choice, when you open the lid and close it on this laptop it doesn't creak, its silent, its smooth... I just figure plastic will flex some if played around with, I just wanted your guys opinions on it and whether or not I should have gone with metallic hinges if I want it to truly live to that ripe old age.

 

yeah my cousin walks around with the laptop grasping it with both his hands with the lid mercilessly flopping around, I mean the laptop he uses is about 3 years old now and has done well especially for one he got really cheap in fact advent sells much cheaper than compaq and acer in the UK, goes back to the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover"

the Sony Vaio FW I was using cost me about £1,000, I put serious money down on the table in hopes of receiving some über laptop, it has the blu ray, true HD screen.. the works.. the barrel shaped sockets either side of the unit (power button + DC jack) got loose over 13 months and using it around the house became a risk, I rang Sony asking if they could fix this for me considering I treat this laptop well and they put it down to accidental damage and wanted £300 for the fix, I mirthfully declined and went for Asus because of their brilliant track record with faults, this was £500 cheaper and the build is FAR superior.

my cousins £300 laptop after 36 months is still running strong while my just out of warranty like.no.other £1000 Sony is sat on a desk with its lid propped up by a couple books
Again: Don't judge a book by its cover

Oh, I just thought I would like to make it clear I'm not attempting to put down Sony, not in the slightest.
I've owned several Sony electronics and they're really good, the point I'm trying to make is that even the big boys make mistakes and create lemons, its not just the budget people.

Don't worry moderators no attempt at starting a flame war here

 

In that case you should have gone with a business grade machine. Sturdiness of construction is one of the main things you pay extra for.

For the record, hinge failure is a common problem throughout the entire laptop industry. Only recently have manufacture made efforts to address this common problem.

 

my envy has metal hinges (...well metal a lot of things since HP wants it to be a macbook)

nice computer though. wish the screen could go 180 degrees like the old G1 but *shrugs* not like I really ever used it like that.

 

I really need to take pictures of this laptop, the only pictures I've found of this Asus are the ones comet put up to show you the machine, its got two hinges either side of the laptop with nothing in the middle of the screen, both hinges are directly connected to the screen with no gapes or screws.. its part of the screen.. its actually a really cool design, the plastic is thick, I'd say about an inch thick in diameter.

 

I mean my Vostro 1500 just hit past the 3 year mark, purchased Sept 2007 still running very good. Yeah hinges aren't the greatest, and the battery died last year but other than that been very reliable. I spilled half a can of Pepsi on the keyboard, no leaks onto the mobo, keyboard replaced just like new. Very reliable laptop and design.

 

goes back to what I said, just because a laptop cost more than your face doesn't mean its automatically solid, I paid an arm and a leg for my vaio and in the end was extremely disheartened and gutted, cousins "generic" laptop is still going strong and hasn't once skipped a beat despite the abuse its been through.

it's not the cost that matters its the overall design the manufacturers go for.
Asus designs their own stuff, most companies don't even do that any more, that was a big selling point for me, I'm gonna be loyal to Asus now

Dell gets a ton of bad press purely because of the sheer amount of people who use Dell, Dell laptops are generally very rugged and can take a hiding, my dell dimension (desktop) is a dinosaur and can still work great, no repairs nothing.

 

I wouldn't recommend it. You'll change your mind when you have to deal with customer service.

 

don't be such a pessimist
can't be any worse than Sony forcing repair cost estimates down my throat as soon as I mention a problem.

 

Yeah Sony's are terribad. Fixing computers unofficially for 10 years and officially for 3 years I would never buy a Sony notebook.

I don't know why Dells are bad mouthed so much, they are really great for the money. There is some truth to that, as Dell sell a huge quantity to the general public.

ASUS design is good but their ASP is very limited. Most of the time you must ship it to ASUS for warranty repair, which isn't bad but losing your laptop for a business professional or a lawyer is lost $$$$$

 

I work a mediocre unskilled job for my bread, so if heaven forbid my asus has to go back to once it came (in a manner of speaking) I can live without it for a time

I did a ton of research before committing to a notebook and for months I said it will either be Toshiba (rugged designs, never had problems with them) Dell (surprisingly resilient machines with amazing specs for a relatively merge sum of money compared to competition) and Asus who is popular amongst the gaming community for its robustness.

Sony fought me all the way, I sent them emails, wrote them letters and called them, all they wanted was my £ and didn't give a rats backside about my custom, they got my money and as far as they were concerned I should have been bowing down in reverence to their godly machines which are flawless in their eyes, Sony has an overinflated ego and they won't be seeing my custom again until they buck up their ideas.

Again, would just like to elaborate to moderators and Vaio owners that the laptops they produce are high quality, but sometimes they go a little overboard with trying to create "stylish" laptops and sacrifice longevity over appearance, sure it was nice looking at the laptop with its nice apple style appearance, I consider the FW the PC equivalent of a mac book, and yes for those of you out there who will put it out to me, Sony was the one who created the chicklet style keyboard, here is a picture of the FW for those who are curious:

 

agreed. Most are cheap and quickly made....my asus screen wobbles a good 15 degrees...its not even stiff...stupid asus.

EDIT: A guy at my work had a toshiba and his usb port went dead and they said it was a software issue and refused to fix it because it was a software issue....freakin idiots....dead usb port is a software issue....whatever. It went dead because the port soldering or whatever broke so it was floating around lol

 

I think my issue is just the covering of the hinge itself, the plastic makes the laptop appear more aesthetically pleasing to the eye, what do you think?

 

The price means nothing.
$800 for an I7 is cheap, so you get a high end processor with a low end system, as an alternative, you can buy an $800 I3 which has absolute awesome quality.

My bigger concern is when the screen itself wobbles due to crap hinges, hinge mounting, or the hinges break or wear out and become sloppy. I just fixed a Dell the other day where the hinges were mounted so poorly that they broke the lid from normal use. I also replaced the hinge on an Lenovo because the hinge broke rather than a simple bit of plastic. I have seen several others where the hinges were non adjustable friction bits that were dead in 2 years of use.

I have 3 Sonys, one is 10 years old of hard life, it still works like new, as do the younger two. The 4 year old HP and Dell on the other hand, are flexy piles of garbage. Funny enough, the cheapest,a 4 year old Gateway is still in fantastic shape (like new).


If you are just seeing hinge flex, great! It's better than a crappy hinge.

 

The Lenovo Y510 had horrible hinge issues. The whole hinge would pop out and half the hinge area would just come undone.

I tend to find when slammed, HP hinges easily come out, esp DV5, DV7 with the full glass. (Course I don't recommend slamming your notebook but in case it does happen)

 

the screen on this Asus doesn't wobble, the construction is very good.
is it common for plastic overlays to have give/flex though? I can see there is metal going through the plastic coverings and figure they are there purely to make it look nice..

 

most of the hinge on consumer laptops are covered with a plastic casing, the actual metallic hinge is inside the casing.

Thinkpads Classic of the recent years use an uncovered stainless hinge... so basically what you see is what you get, no gimmicks.

 

Cool, I thought it did, I can see metal on the sides and it seems to go through the plastic.. to be honest I'd rather see the metal hinges but ah well xD

 

I wouldn't worry about it if it feel solid otherwise.

I've seen some pretty ugly metal hinges, on the other hand I would rather see if they are quality, but usually you can get an idea just by how a laptop feels in a store. Display models take a beating so if it's been there a while and looks good, you can be pretty confident the system is tough. My SZ was actually a display model for a few months and was in perfect condition other than a scratch on the lid from their security system. 2(?) years and many miles (and lots of abuse later) it's in almost the same condition.

Like Lead_org said the hinges on the newer Thinkpads are visible, but while some of the hinge may be stainless, some of it seems to be of crap pot metal and are of the non-adjustable type. If they get sloppy, you can only replace them, luckily, they're cheap. The Dell I fixed the other day was a nice adjustable one, however it was really thin sheetmetal holding it to the lid which also supported the hinge, so when the lid was damaged the hinge lost all strength.

I just try to get a sense of the manufacturer (know what brands and models are decent) and try a display model if possible before buying. Be careful though, sites and magazines are paid, IT people often advise "what they know". Computers are like cars, public perception of reliable/good, doesn't always coincide with what really is good. Promotion is how they skew that.

 

lol don't talk about Dv5.. used to slam it a lot and now screen cable's dead.. great .... i do agree.. hinges are iffy nowadays... my G73JH's hinges flex quite a bit if my table gets an earthquake but they look properly attached and solid so i don't worry... you have to be careful before you buy.. look up stuff like this to prevent unnecessary pain from happening which is happening to my due to my Dv5...