How Long Do HP Laptops Last? Consider This (Before Purchasing)

HP laptops are no stranger to the laptop world since these have been in the industry for quite some time now. The quality of HP’s products is superb and a lot of people within the computer hobby/community can attest to this.

Now the question is, how long do HP laptops last? How durable are they? Do they live as long as other laptops?

How Long Do HP Laptops Last?

HP laptops usually last three to five years. Of course, this is a general estimate of an HP laptop’s lifespan, so there’s a big possibility for HP laptops to either last longer or shorter, depending on how it’s being used.

If you look at HP’s official website, you can see that the brand itself has stated that their mid-range laptops would typically last three years. Take note that a laptop’s lifespan would be dependent on four main factors: brand, care, use, and type. All three of these would be in decline once the following practices are done:

  • Overclocking
  • Not taking care of the laptop itself (especially the hardware)
  • Regularly using the laptop while it charges would eventually degrade the battery of the HP laptop be it temporarily or permanently.
  • Leaving a laptop at 100% battery and not using it for a long time would degrade the HP laptop’s battery as well.
  • Using an HP laptop in poor conditions (e.g. being exposed to heat or continuously being used while the laptop itself is hot) would degrade the battery life of the laptop over time.

In addition, laptop parts also degrade over time no matter how well you take care of the whole laptop itself. Laptop parts such as the motherboard, RAM, and batteries are the ones that would degrade fast.

How Durable Are HP Laptops?

Some of HP’s laptops, usually in the mid to high-end range, are very durable, to the point that they can handle drops, dust, humidity, temperature shock, vibration, high temperature, transportation shock, etc.

Take note that when we mention the durability of a laptop this would refer to its hardware parts. According to HP’s official website, what makes a laptop durable would be its ability to withstand harsh conditions such as high temperatures, abuse, and extreme environmental conditions.

For a laptop to be considered durable it must be able to endure any external accident or condition that would happen to it.

HP is no stranger to providing durable laptops, however, it’s important to note that not every laptop made by this brand is considered a durable laptop. There are a few factors to consider when it comes to the durability of HP laptops, for instance, let’s look at the price range of HP laptops.

HP laptops have a ton of models for consumers to choose from, some laptops belong to the low-range spectrum, mid-range, and of course the priciest range of them all; high-end. HP laptops belonging to the low-range or low-end spectrum wouldn’t have premium features to begin with.

An example of a low-end laptop from HP would be the HP Pavilion (older models and budget models). If you decide to get an HP laptop from this series, then don’t expect it to last long, especially if you managed to drop it or expose the laptop to extreme weather conditions.

Why is that? Well, first of all, the hardware used to build laptops in the low-end range wouldn’t have premium hardware parts (which would commonly be seen in mid to high-end HP laptops).

How Does HP Determine If Their Laptops Are Durable?

HP runs its laptops through a test called HP Total Test Process. This test consists of various strength and durability assessments such as drop tests, functional shock tests, humidity tests, etc. Usually, business laptops are being tested with HP TTP.

The HP TTP tests have these evaluation standards called MIL-STD 810G which is also known as military-grade standards. These can show how much an HP business laptop can handle when it comes to abuse.

There are several conditions in which HP business laptops go through to test just how durable they are:

  • Functional drop. Will the laptop be able to pass a test of being exposed to physical shock?
  • Drop. Will the laptop be able to withstand a 30-inch drop from any angle?
  • Altitude. Will the laptop still be able to function and be stored at an altitude of 15,000 feet?
  • Sand. Will the laptop still be able to function even after being exposed to blowing sand of 20M/S at a temperature of 140°F?
  • Vibration. Will the laptop still be able to survive after being exposed to high vibrations for a long time?
  • Dust. Will the laptop still be able to operate even after being exposed to blowing dust?
  • High temperature. Will the laptop remain functional after being exposed to 140°F and stored at a temperature of 160°F?
  • Low temperature. Will the laptop remain functional after being exposed to -20°F and stored at a temperature of -60°F?
  • Solar radiation. How will the laptop react after being exposed to sunlight for a long time?
  • Temperature shock. Will the laptop be able to survive a sudden spike in temperature even when it’s not in use?
  • Transportation shock. How would the laptop respond to repetitive shock loads (when something accelerates or decelerates suddenly)?
  • Bench handling. Will the laptop be able to survive shock from a workbench as well as bench maintenance or packaging?
  • Freeze/thaw. Can the laptop be turned on safely even after being exposed to a sudden drop in temperature (14°F) for two hours?
  • Crash hazard shock. Will the laptop put out sub-elements when it crashes?
  • Electrostatic discharge. Can the laptop be used safely even after being exposed to a sudden electrostatic discharge of 8,000 volts?
  • Humidity. Will the laptop still be able to work after being exposed to 95% humidity?
  • Explosive atmosphere. Will the laptop be able to work safely even if it’s exposed to a fuel-air atmosphere? Would the laptop spark an ignition?

If the HP laptop being tested using HP TTP has passed more than one test, then the laptop is to be considered a durable one.

Do They Last As Long As Other Laptops?

Yes, HP laptops do last as long as other laptops. For instance, HP has a similar average lifespan with brands like Dell, ASUS, and Lenovo (three to five years of laptop lifespan).

In terms of battery life, an HP laptop would usually last 10 hours and 45 minutes. Not too shabby for battery life, however, HP would lose to brands like MSI (11 hours), ASUS (6-12 hours), Apple (12 hours), and Microsoft (14 hours and 30 minutes).

Moving on to hardware specs, HP can last as long as other laptops when it comes to this because HP has TTP wherein they test their business laptops by making them undergo a series of tests. Said tests would determine whether or not the HP laptops can be considered durable.

Moreover, when it comes to durability we’ve already established that it’s all about hardware parts, right? Well, this time we’re going to tell you that durability can be classified into two different categories: rugged laptops and durable business-grade laptops.

The former refers to laptops that have a very thick shell and just by the looks of their hardware parts, they can withstand just about anything, be it drops or being exposed to extreme temperatures. Rugged laptops are most often used in construction, military, or industrial purposes.

On the other hand, business-grade laptops refer to laptops that are a lot more durable than consumer-grade laptops. Business-grade laptops are a lot more durable thanks to their hardware parts’ material, for instance, a consumer-grade laptop would usually have a plastic case while business-grade laptops would have a case made out of reinforced carbon fiber.

With that being said, one of HP’s most durable business-grade laptops would be the ZBOOK Fury G7 Mobile Workstation. This laptop is considered to be durable since it has a liquid cooling system that would prevent the laptop from succumbing to overheating and its case can withstand a lot of cleaning products and light spills.

Overall, the average lifespan, battery, and durability of a laptop are what you have to look at if you want to determine how long a laptop would last. This thinking applies to every brand of laptop out there as well. For a brand like HP, it surely is up there when it comes to competing with other laptop brands when it comes to how long laptops would last.

How Long Is The Warranty On HP Laptops?

The warranty on HP laptops would be one year.

For all HP products, be it printers or laptops, their warranty would usually be a year long. There are also a few things that are included in their warranty such as:

  • Repairs or replacement of defective parts.
  • Hard drives that fail during the warranty period.
  • SSDs that fail during the warranty period.

So how does HP’s warranty work? It works by basing it off on HP Hardware Limited Warranty, which is an express limited warranty right from the brand that is granted to customers that bought an HP product.

HP’s one-year warranty may only apply to an HP laptop if it’s free from any kind of defect (be it the laptop’s material, or workmanship) during the Limited Warranty Period. HP guarantees that it would fix, repair, and replace any defective laptops parts so long as the defect happened within the Limited Warranty Period.

If you would like to amp up the warranty of your HP laptop then you can avail of their HP Care Pack Services. So what is a care pack? According to HP’s official website, an HP Care Pack Service plan grants a customer to increase the duration of their warranty, expand the coverage of their warranty, and add extra protection to their HP product.

Under this Care Pack Service would be printers and HP consumer-grade laptops, all of which already come with the standard one-year warranty. So when you avail of the Care Pack, you may extend the warranty of your HP laptop’s hardware.

The customer is given the freedom to choose how long their coverage would be in the Care Pack Service. An example of a duration of coverage would be one year, two years, and three years.

This would take effect the moment a customer has bought an HP product. So if they bought an HP laptop on May 5, 2021 and availed of the two-year Care Pack Service, the coverage would last up until May 5, 2023.

How To Make HP Laptops Last Longer?

You can make HP laptops last longer by keeping them clean, not overusing your charging cable, keeping hardware parts cool, upgrading software and RAM or HDD, and keeping food and drinks away from them.

If you want to have a long-lasting relationship with your laptop then you must take utmost care in using them. Also, you should know what type of laptop you’re getting and if it meets the demands of what you’re planning to use it with. For instance, if you’re heavy on gaming then it would be best to purchase an HP gaming laptop.

A consumer-grade laptop wouldn’t be able to withstand the demands of pc games and will therefore overheat in an attempt to run the game that you want to play. Ultimately, this would degrade the lifespan of the laptop over time.

Other factors can make your HP last longer, please refer to the bullet list below:

  • Make sure to keep your HP laptop clean for the majority of the time. You can do this step by wiping off the dust from the laptop’s vents. Keeping dirt and dust off of your laptop’s vents would prevent it from overheating since dust and dirt tend to block the fans (the blockage of the laptop’s fans would lead to slower performance and cooling).
  • For older HP laptop models, using the charging cable too much and leaving it plugged into the laptop for a long time would heat it up (batteries normally get hot when they’re being charged and used at the same time) and we all know that heat is detrimental to batteries.

Luckily, this step wouldn’t apply to newer HP laptop models since they’re already designed to stop charging once they’ve reached 100%.

  • Keep your hardware parts cool since overheating will lead to a shorter lifespan for your laptop. You can keep your laptop cool by not leaving it out in the open, especially in places where there’s too much exposure to sunlight. You can also invest in a cooling pad to ensure that your laptop doesn’t overheat.
  • Once software updates are available for your laptop make sure you do update. By updating your laptop’s software, things like anti-virus protection would be updated as well and this would help keep your laptop free from viruses and prevent your laptop from succumbing to performance issues and such.

You may also want to update your storage devices like the HDD or SSD as well.

  • Lastly, this is a no-brainer, keep your laptop away from food and drinks. The crumbs from the food you eat may get into the vents and block the fans and drinks may spill on your laptop, thus causing damage to the internal parts of your laptop.

What Are The Most Durable Laptop Brands?

Apple, Microsoft, Lenovo, Dell, ASUS, HP, MSI, Razer, and Acer would be the most durable laptop brands.

Out of the bunch, Dell would come out on top as the best durable laptop brand. This is simply because Dell’s laptops are made from premium materials, the battery life on their laptops is solid, the internal hardware used is decent and reliable as well.

Of course, you can only reap Dell’s most durable laptops that are on the high-end spectrum, given that the materials used are a lot more quality than Dell’s budget laptops.

When it comes to comparing the average lifespan of all these brands, the ones that would come out the top would be Apple, Microsoft, MSI, and Acer.

A lot of people can testify to the durability of Apple Macbooks and some have even claimed that they’ve been using their older Macbook models for a long time (e.g. 10 years), specifically, exceeding its average lifespan of four to seven years.

Microsoft on the other hand has an average lifespan of five years and this would specifically apply to their Surface line of laptops. A Surface laptop would be able to withstand several drops without affecting its performance thanks to its alloy case and gorilla glass display.

Resources:

https://www.techosaurusrex.com/average-laptop-lifespan-by-brand/

https://durabilitymatters.com/durable-laptops/