After our HP laptop died from a mainboard failure, I suspected that they were shit and vowed never to buy HP again. Out of curiosity, today I decided to carry out a "scientific" study to see if I was right. I was.

My method was simple: go on eBay, and list laptops by brand. Now make a note of the number of laptops for sale that are refurbished or used, and compare against the number that are sold as "for parts or not working".

Here's the list of results, from best to worst:

Dell
3843 used or refurbished
844 for parts or not working
Reliability score 82%

Acer
1916 used or refurbished
751 for parts or not working
Reliability score 72%

Sony
1139 used or refurbished
603 for parts or not working
Reliability score 65%

Toshiba
2166 used or refurbished
1251 for parts or not working
Reliability score 63%

HP
2457 used or refurbished
1763 for parts or not working
Reliability score 58%

Guess I'll get a Dell next time.

Ha - just found this:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/lapt ... -hp-fails/

HP were crap in 2009 as well!

Thanks for this. Never owned a HP Laptop but will avoid them now. I do have a HP Touchpad which is still working after almost a year of very light use.

The HP DV line of laptops have more dead parts than a cemetery.