Laptop's Build Quality Is Getting Poor?

[Asmar Sheikh]

Hi there,

I've noticed that old laptops were better in term of build quality, compared to the ones right now.

I've recently bought Dell Insipiron 15 3000 - Its build quality is okay but not as laptops of old time.

What's reason behind this? Why the quality is reducing in majority of laptops?

 

[rgd1101]

because it a low end laptop, you could buy a better laptop

 

[dudeman509]

I had an Inspiron 6000 (looks like a dinosaur these days) back in college in 2005. It survived many a drop, but I wouldn't say the build quality was great even then. My 2010 Dell Studio is built much better, and a Macbook or my HP Elitebook put that one to shame.

 

[Solandri]

I tend to buy in the $1000-$2000 range (mostly Thinkpads) and haven't noticed any reduction in build quality. You get what you pay for.

The move to thinner laptops (ultrabooks) makes flex a bigger problem. It's possible to overcome this with good design (placing additional plastic or metal in the case in certain locations), but most cheaper laptops don't seem to care.

 

[Asmar Sheikh]

I could get much better quality for the same price long ago, that's what I meant to say. And I have even seen many high end expensive models, having good build quality but not as good as old machines.

 

[hang-the-9]

I could get much better quality for the same price long ago, that's what I meant to say. And I have even seen many high end expensive models, having good build quality but not as good as old machines.

What are you basing this on? What models are you talking about?
Keep in mind that "old" systems were generally built pretty large and using heavy parts, with slow CPUs and video card that did not generate much heat.

If you are looking for a solid system, Lenovo ThinkPad is probably the best chassis you can get outside of the tough laptops that start at about $2,000.

 

[whiteleyj]

I've noticed this as well in the sub $600 market where I normally buy laptops. My old $350 acer from 8 years ago wasn't a great machine but it had a (relatively now) heavy hard plastic shell. My 4 year old thinkpad (w520 i think?) was a $700 machine but it was an absolute brick. There is still a dent in my bathroom floor where I dropped that thinkpad and it came away without a scratch.

Just bought a $600 asus 'business class' laptop with a basic i5, 8 gigs of ram, 512 gig spinning rust drive. The plastic on this thing is so thin the screen bends about a half inch out of shape every time I open the lid. The base is also so flimsy you can grab both sides and 'twist' it. I thought it was crap until I took a drive to best buy and every laptop under $600 on their shelves had about the same build quality.

The high end has vastly improved over the last 5 years with all their cool magnesium/aluminum/space plastic materials, but the low end has gotten much much lower IMO.