Hi William,

William Sommerwerck wrote:
I learned recently that laptop failure is so common that the
manufacturers have outsourced warranty repair to UPS (or
maybe it was FedEx.) A room inside the facility has 100
techs swapping out motherboards and such all day long,
then returning the thing to the customer the next day.

Is there a connection between price and quality -- are more-expensive
laptops less-likely to need service?

Yes and no. There is always the "flimsiness factor" to contend
with. But, it's hard to make a "robust" laptop, regardless.
(though I had a Tadpole that was very durable)

All laptops break. Consider them as "consumables" (disposable).