Are Tech Products Less Reliable Today?
Tue Feb 5, 2008 9:20AM EST
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A couple of years ago—say 2003 to 2005—you bought a piece of technology almost expecting that it wouldn't work right out of the box. Hardware vendors were getting squeezed out of business, the number of players in the consumer electronics field was shrinking. And price wars and margins made it tough for manufacturers to do the quality assurance testing they should have.
Experts say that product reliability has continued to improve. But I'm not so sure. My suspicion is that quality assurance may be getting sloppy again. And I'm naming names.
The last four products I bought (or tested) all came with problems on arrival. First there was a new Dell XPS laptop. The display screen was fine if you ran office applications; but if you displayed an image there were red halos and bands. (See photo that I sent to the tech guys.)
Next up was my Kindle book reader, which has intermittent bouts of being unable to connect to the Amazon bookstore. It requires a weekly reboot. Then it was my NeatReceipts. The scanner was wonderful for scanning business cards and receipts, but has problems with 8 x 11 documents and leaves a black stripe down the scan (usually indicative of bad sensors in one place on the scanner). Last, but not least, I was testing an InGrid home security system, and after I went to the trouble of placing sensors in doorways throughout my home, the base station couldn't communicate with them. Diagnostics proved that it was a defective unit. A replacement worked just fine.
So who's right about reliabilty? Me, who sees a new downward trend, or the analysts, who say that things are getting better? I picked 25 random folks from my address book and asked them how their tech lives were faring.
From San Francisco, a mom of three reported that her teenage daughter's Canon SD 600 ELPH died a sad display-death just past the warranty date. Her son's Paparazzi Swatch watch (a discontinued model) took a lot of technician time to set up properly and had extra service charges that were not well documented.
It actually did my heart good to note that Apple users live on Prozac, too. An executive in the entertainment business writes: "I bought my wife and I matching Macs last Xmas. My wife has had hers replaced once and it has been in the shop numerous times. Now mine is on the fritz. We have owned numerous iPods and they go down regularly. The design is beautiful but the quality is weak."
An analyst in Pennsylvania says he thinks I'm just seeing the effects of a mass market. He writes: "Other than the suction cups on my Garmin life has been fine." He adds, "I think I'm buying a lot more CE products than I did in the past, and they are more complex and perform more functions, so I'm thinking that there's a lot more opportunity for things to go wrong."
A New York writer just replaced an old eMachines with a brand new HP minitower. There was a mysterious clicking sound coming from the disk drive, though everything appeared to be working. He had it checked out and, sure ‘nuff, it turned out to be a bad drive. "At this stage of the game bad drives shouldn't be leaving the factory," he says.
Another New Yorker doesn't put much stock in my argument, though he hears more "bad product" stories than ever. He says, "the percentage of gadgets going gimpy is about the same, but there are a LOT more gadgets that bite off more than they can chew." And the only other Kindle user I know? He's having issues with how the unit powers up. Sometimes it goes off and can't be turned back on even after it's been charging all night.
Call me paranoid, but I smell a decline. The profit margins, the increasing demand for products, and the unpredictable nature of electronic components (worse than batches of cookies) all make it tough to make good products.
How can you find out more about which products have better street cred? Both PC Magazine and PC World report on service and reliability issues where they poll a lot more people than I just did.
And feel free to share your reliability experiences.
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47 Posted by sleepeeg3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:27PM EDT Report Abuse
Robin, I have been thinking the same thing lately. I think this effect is particularly noticeable in products with low margins and high levels of competition. Expensive electronics tend to be more reliable, offer better warranties and are less likely to fail, but they are not immune and warranties have been slowly decreasing. Recently my parents several hundred dollar 2.4GHz Panasonic phone system failed. Both of their computer's DVD-burners seem to have failed and I have also been through two myself and we rarely burn disks. Cheap, USB stick products are also reliable sources of failure or at least problems for me - treat them as disposable. On the other hand, products like digital cameras and computers have been very reliable. Now take a look at top-end products. Warranties have been declining across the board. Hard drive manufacturers even tried to reduce theirs and consumers balked. If the manufacturer's don't support their products for at least three years, what kind of quality should we expect? My parents new $2000 electronic washer and dryer combo only came with a 1 year warranty - they had their original set for around 10 years and it was still working. LCD monitors and HDTVs range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand and almost all of them offer abyssmal warranties - typically 6 months to a year and lack of dead-pixel guarantees. We are expected to pay this much money for products that most likely will have some kind of issue immediately or in the near future? The problem is technology moves so quickly, you are beta testing every product. Manufacturers won't give quality warranties because the quality simply isn't there. Eventually these products will stabilize and we can hopefully start demanding it then.
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48 Posted by ewas08 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse
Let’s be real. The quality of most mass products is below any level of decency for many different reasons. I was working for the fabless Semiconductor Company and have seen: 1. Products release for manufacturing without proper initial design testing or even knowing about multiple problems. 2. Manufacturer who was changing processes without assessment of consequences. 3. Prototype and unproven application designs that were pushed for manufacturing at Far East product suppliers. 4. Far East product "improvements" that violate basics engineering principles. The list can go on and on. Yes, we want the chip products and gadgets with long list of capabilities we never use and therefore to complicated to be reliable. The most pronounced reason for the quality of products is however the Executive Greed. Get the money fast and get the bonuses before liabilities pile up. Anyone wants to comment on something simpler like the Lead Paint on Children Toys. This is a criminal issue which is sliding under the table and very close cousin of the gadget quality.
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49 Posted by smsraym on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:30PM EDT Report Abuse
I say look inside ANY ANY ANY electronic or electrical anything and you will see MADE IN CHINA!!!!!. No matter what CHIPSET or anything else you think is important there is virtually NO quality control on anything made in China. They can take good specifications and cheat or substitute inferior components or materials with no oversite on our part. Just read the news in the last few years on all the product issues out of China. We've made our own bed and now we have to sleep in it. I agree with the author of the article that people now expect thing to be bad out of the box or break shortly thereafter. The problem is we accept this as normal!! As long as we accept this way of thinking the USA will no longer make ANYTHING and the worlds garbage dumps will be filled with throw away electronics.
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50 Posted by supergroovey2005 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:48PM EDT Report Abuse
hello everyone, im a tech head but i keep things light. i do alot of research and with that i end up helping other people make the right decisions, some things ive learned over the years. for example, if you dont want to learn everything about a certian style of product, buy sony, except thier computers are overpriced and their digital cameras force you to use a sony brand memory card, if you buy less types of items you can spend more on each item you buy and you will get better quality. for example marantz makes some amazing hi-fi and home theatre componets they come with a 3 year warranty, and to this day you cant go wrong with bose speakers, even though they are ugly, if you want your computer to last, dont use it for every thing, its not a tv tuner, its not a mp3 player, its not a telephone, its a computer, just because a program exists doesnt mean you have to use it. so what does everyone want? quality or quantity? you cant have both unless your super rich or super stupid with your credit cards. so everyone, have fun and buy better quality items from smaller companies when you can.
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51 Posted by groovejerusalem on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13PM EDT Report Abuse
I completely agree with the writer. I suffered from a streak in which almost every gadget I got suffered from one problem or another. A brand new Dell XPS 410 was suffering from abnormal noises, and after having Dell's (atrocious) tech support try to have me fix it myself, suffered a complete hard drive failure. They sent a replacement computer. The keyboard from a Logitech S510 wireless keyboard and mouse combo stopped working, and they sent a replacement. One of the ink cartridges that came with a Canon Pixma iP4200 malfunctioned, and the printer refused to print without it. They sent a replacement. A WD Mybook Premium external hard drive turned into a rock after a failed firmware update, and they sent a replacement (but made me pay to ship back the original). A Canon SD550 digital camera had the LCD screen crack for no apparent reason, which unfortunately was no longer covered under warranty (and according to the company wouldn't have been covered even if the warranty hadn't expired). I've also had issues with a Linksys wireless router that kept disconnecting, but eventually resolved itself, and Altec Lansing VS2321 2.1 speakers that have absolutely no magnetic shielding (despite consistently high reviews), meaning they constantly pick up interference from the wireless router, microwave, cell phones, etc. Every single one of these items was purchased after considerable research, and they were all among the highest rated items in their price range when purchased. Between the cost of shipping replacements, staffing technical support, and either trashing or refurbishing the bad models, it seems to me that it would make more sense for the companies to improve their quality control. But the evidence would seem to indicate otherwise.
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52 Posted by ntgoc on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:42PM EDT Report Abuse
What bugs me the most is how uninformed our society is when it comes to electronics. Yes, a good chunk of it is on the part manufacturers end, but a lot of it is on the retailers end. I'm including Dell, HP, and Compaq in this group since you can buy their computers on their websites. Here's an example of what I mean in the above statement: When I've gone to Best Buy and acted like someone who doesn't know a thing about computers and asked what Vista computer I should get, they went right to the featured computer and said "this one". I read the specs for that computer and then read the specs for the computer sitting next to it. Not saying anything about the specs of the 2 computers I asked why I should get the featured computer over the one sitting next to it. Their response was "I don't know" or some other lame reason. I've had the above situation happen at numerous Best Buy stores. The Best Buy commercial where the woman acts like a psychic and suggests the Gateway laptop and walks away is the epitome of Best Buy reps. All they care about is the sale. They don't care about informing people *why* they should buy this device. Like another person said, we've made our bed and are now laying in it and seeing the consequences.
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53 Posted by cwopp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:33PM EDT Report Abuse
Many companies have gotten rid of quality departments. There is no more audits, checks, tests. This is not only electronics but food, toys, etc. China builds garbage, poor quality, unsafe, poision food etc. Same with Mexico. Its killed people and pets. Our Republican Government doesn't have the balls to enforce incoming quality, food safety. We are screwed! Caveat Emptor!
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54 Posted by loupusey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:57PM EDT Report Abuse
Quality electronic products are a thing of the past. In the past couple of years I bought a high line Dell laptop that was replaced twice, after the third one didn't work I got my money back and bought an HP. The HP has been replaced twice and the third one has been recalled.
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55 Posted by ldva on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:58PM EDT Report Abuse
At PC-Doctor, our QA lab probably sees more systems from more mfgs than just about anyone because our diags are bundled by four of the top 5 makers and used in design, manufacturing, support and repair. Although it's hard to comment on individual experiences, here's my take. First, what was already complex is becoming more so; and complexity compounds the number of things that can go wrong. I am reminded of a quote about PCs from NY Times writer David Pogue: "... there are so many cooks for what you are using. Microsoft made the operating system, some company in Taiwan made the equipment, you’re running software from a company in California, and now you're installing the driver for a digital camera from a fourth company. You know, what are the odds that all of these are going to work flawlessly together for all 400 million people who have PCs? Zip." Second, the analysts tend to look at aggregated data, not model by model. Budget models use different components than premium models, which helps explain quality differences. It's also why some warranty periods are longer than others. Third, we hear more anecdotal information now than ever before, and that's also growing. Our "circle of friends" has grown considerably over the last five years with social networks, so we know more friends of friends who have had problems that go along with ours. I'd tend to agree that the quality trend is improving because they are looking at a broad swath of information, but that's little comfort to folks whose latest gadget went on the glitch.
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56 Posted by ricky_williams2007 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:40PM EDT Report Abuse
I think this article shows more about society than about reliability. As someone that has sold many, many electronic items and have a daily role with electronics lets think about it how is Dell doing right now? not well. Society wants everything to be bullet proof but to be free or cost next to nothing. It is just the nature that things break, someone may get a lemon and some don't I mean seriously all the things mentioned does anyone have any idea of the volume that are produced daily? now cross reference that with how many have issues? Then there are the issues of users, many people do things that are not meant to be done and then blame electronics. I've had my ipod shuffle for and have had no problems, I have a macbook pro and it's had the hard drive replaced 3 times ok well I've never had to pay for any of the replacements and I've always backed up my data and setup regularly.
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57 Posted by ntgoc on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:42PM EDT Report Abuse
Speaking of end-users, I've built roughly 10 computers and have kept a record book for each one with the computer. My co-worker is the one that keeps having the most problems since she and her son keep doing stuff that isn't meant to be done. Some of these things screw up PCI cards that I've put in and it's just easier to yank the card and not put another one back in so I don't have to deal with that problem again in the future.
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58 Posted by scott.mcelwain on Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:18AM EST Report Abuse
Well, I haven't had anything break in recent memory--I mean like 10 years--and I've bought a lot of stuff in that time. It was a Micron computer in '97, and they fixed it. I've had, along with family members, several PC's, monitors, printers, routers, 2 televisions, DVD players, all the major gaming consoles (including an early XBOX 360!!!), cameras, iPods, and now 2 iPhones. In other words, I buy a lot of tech. Oops, I just remembered an el cheapo Samsung monitor that went bad...but that was probably 7 years ago. Nevertheless, I do think quality has declined, and I think it is intentional. There's no reason to make electronics that last forever, when most people won't be using them in 1-3 years or 3-5 years, depending what you're talking about. Your parents bought a TV, paid dearly, and expected it to last 15-20 years. We want a 46" LCD for under $1000, and we want something else in 5 years or less. A lot of plausible reasons have been offered, but I think another reason that has merit is that these cheaper components are not as "tolerant" as the older, more expensive stuff. In other words, they can't take much abuse. Someone like me may have no problems with an original XBOX 360, but some dufuss who won't keep it ventilated, bangs it around, etc does have problems. We had a totally cheap Compaq laptop that we bought at a back-to-school sale for $400. We used it for a year, gave it to another family member who used it for a month, gave it to another family member and it was dead within a week. Just a coincidence or poor quality? Maybe, or maybe it was the fact that the last family has 2 teenage kids. They are like many of the posters here--lots and lots of dead electronics. Go figure. And for all the people with multile DOA electronics, I frankly believe you must be some of the most unlucky people on earth or you've got some serious electrical issues at your house that are causing all these things to fail right away. Anybody might get one or even 2 in a short time if you're really unlucky, but come on...at some point you might want to call an electrician.
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59 Posted by batikrose on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Interesting I found this article ... we were just talking about how no one seems to do Quality Control anymore .... Two weeks ago we purchased $4,500 of electronics ... a desktop computer, 22" monitor, LCD HD TV, PS2, Battery backup unit -- a total of about a dozen items. Half had to be returned. Two items, once we got them home, were in boxes that had been opened, the items obviously not "new, factory packaged". One item had to be returned three times, at which point we decided not to get it. We did not purchase the least expensive items .. we did quality research before buying. I recommend anyone who purchases an item that isn't wokring properly to return it; and to also return items that have obviously been opened and used previously, unless you get a discount for it. I understand things are complex, but come on, if there was old fashioned basic quality control, the return and defective rate would NOT be this high!
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60 Posted by philbautista on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:09PM EDT Report Abuse
This article caught my interest because I was planning to get a Dell xps m1330. I read the reviews and there were quite a few who had problems with their laptops. Of the ones that did bring it up with Dell, their reviews regarding Dell's customer service were mixed, some of whom complained about shabby service and constantly having to return their items while others raved about how they were treated. Which got me thinking-is it worth getting their extended warranty or would it be better to just have it serviced elsewhere when the 1 year warranty expires? Another option would be to get an Asus C90S laptop which offers easy access to the innards so I can take care of it myself. Any thoughts?
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61 Posted by royestridge on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:53PM EDT Report Abuse
My history with tech devices has been good. My three digital cameras have all been fine, I have just traded up. I have had 7 Macs, both desktop and laptop, and have only had trouble with one. My iBook G4 started showing a bad screen after nearly three years of hard use. I had AppleCare and they replaced the screen in less than a week. The main trouble I have had is with watches. If I get one with a rubber (plastic) band, they crack or bread within about a year, but this is not really a high tech issue.
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62 Posted by dherberg2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:42PM EDT Report Abuse
People... we are in a throw away culture! Either fork out the cash for the best quality or don't complain about the Walmart electronics. I repeat my earlier post, you get what you pay for.
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63 Posted by kiroc_99 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:51PM EDT Report Abuse
To keep it short, I have an iPod and an Apple G5 tower with 17" flat panel monitor and both will hit 4 years of age this April. I use the iPod heaviy. I also have an iMac that is about two years older than the G5, I don't use it much, but it still works.
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64 Posted by regine.rm on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
I try to avoid anything MADE IN CHINA. Frankly most of the stuff made there is rotten and won't last. My grandmom's AC Made in the USA in 1985 is STIIL working. While I have already bought 2 Acs within the last 4 yrs due to malfunctioning. 90% of MADE IN CHINA is crap! Send the work back to USA or even Germany manufacturers!
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46 Posted by glfhack1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:10PM EDT Report Abuse
Most of the tech parts that are inside the gadgets that we buy are made in China. Not to be hard on China, but they have quality control issues right now. I work as a process engineer in a semiconductor plant and we are closing our American sites and sending the production to Singapore. I have seen the quality and defect density analysis of some of our Singapore plant's work and it is pretty dismal. I have had experience trainning some of the techs from there & I believe we will see a lot more issues with all our electronic equiptment not just ipods, laptops, but cars, dishwashers, etc. - anything that has a semiconductor (chip) inside it.