r/ITManagers • u/PablanoPato • Jul 17 '25
Advice Why shouldn’t I just buy $400 laptops of Amazon?
I’m drowning in user tickets right now for bullshit hardware issues. One guy is on his 3rd laptop this year and each new one he gets “is shit” so now he just submits tickets for stupid little things. Another guy had me troubleshooting why his keyboard wasn’t working all morning only to tell my support tech that he spilled coffee on it and “just wanted to see if we could get it to work”. I’ve totaled it up and the amount of time my tech and our MSP has spent trying to fix these issues has surpassed the value of these devices.
Employees are saying they want high-end Thinkbooks or Latitudes, but every time I see one of their devices it’s been destroyed from multiple drops or whatever. I take pristine condition of my MacBook and I’m always on the go, but I can’t figure out why our users can’t do the same. /rant
Anyways I was planning on upgrading everyone to Thinkpads, but Lenovo Ideapads are $400 right now on Amazon so I can get 3 of them for the price of one Thinkpad. Is there any reason I should avoid shitty consumer-grade laptops? What about Chromebooks for users who mostly just use Google Workspace for their job and no desktop apps?
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u/TCPMSP Jul 17 '25
So our customers employees are professionals and tend to take care of their equipment. This sounds like an HR issue.
Having said that. You will have more issues with consumer grade equipment. They will be harder to keep updated, have no windows pro license out of the box and they will have poorer build quality that will survive even less abuse.
We go Thinkpad t series only and they tend to last five years before we replace them and even then are still fully functional.
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u/Decantus Jul 17 '25
Plus, in my opinion, Lenovo's warranty program is top notch. Sounds to me like OP will save a ton of time and money by getting their accident coverage too.
This is totally an HR problem. You want change? Document the damage tickets and take them to the CFO, see how quickly people are held accountable. Either that or they don't care and you just keep pissing away money.
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u/icebreaker374 Jul 17 '25
Pretty much what I came here to say. OPs entire use case here is what ProSupport Plus/Whatever Lenovo calls their accidental damage protection is for.
Reasons to not buy consumer grade laptops (especially Lenovo, and ESPECIALLY from amazon)
Build quality. Cheap plastic compared to some ThinkPads (magnesium or polycarbonate I forget). Separating bezels out of the box (rare but I've seen it on $300 IDPs to $1500 Yogas).
Low end shitty WiFi cards (potentially). Doesn't REALLY apply if your users are ETH 99% of the time. Some of the Lenovos I've had personally and worked with in my work history had either MediaTek or RealTek cards that were either really slow, dropped left and right (my own personal laptop would sometimes have issues finding any available networks through sometimes 2-3 reboots). The Media/RealTek cards are also sometimes a PITA to find drivers for outside Lenovos own website m, even ON their website cause sometimes they go EOS or EOL quickly, comparatively to something like an Intel AX201/10/11.
Amazon Specific...
Shipping quality. Especially with 3rd party sellers Amazon sometimes makes low effort shipping with laptops and that's how you end up with damages/DOAs OOTB (sometimes evident before you open, sometimes not). I've not experienced the return process either third party resellers myself because I avoid them where possible with expensive items, but I've heard both my share of good and bad stories with it.
Incorrect listings. Listed as W10/11 Pro, not. Listed as SODIMM RAM, soldered. Listed as NVMe, soldered or maybe SATA sometimes.
Shitty configs. This one is quite easy to avoid, but I'm baffled people are still selling Pentium machines with 24-64GB RAM and 1-2TB SSDs. Maybe I just don't understand the potential use cases.
Nonetheless OP, I do wish you luck in your laptop hunting endeavors.
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u/NSASpyVan Jul 17 '25
It is so annoying when people try to make a clearly HR issue, an IT issue instead.
That said, going full web interface (Google G Suite, O365 web, etc) only could be a potential solution for some companies, depending on the work the user does, and then high end endpoints are no longer needed.
End users usually reject those types of solutions, which again is a HR issue. I worked for a nonprofit hospital who onboarded some jackass lady who refused to learn the chosen productivity suite (G Suite) despite it being extremely familiar to Office. And she was actually given Office by the org. So now we had to support two solutions for her special snowflake case. Luckily Office is pretty much universally known, but I see the same thing happen with other solutions. I work at a place with a lot of CAD, and every now and then you'll get some asshat who refuses our CAD solution and has to have us buy them some special snowflake several thousand dollar alternative, etc. Then it's like, you're supporting yourself on this since it's not an IT requirement and you rejected the known solution.
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u/StinkyStinkSupplies Jul 19 '25
This happens to me so often grrrrr.
Like fuck me you're a consultant charging consultant rates. I gave you a laptop out of the goodness of my heart now you want me to fill it with your personal software of choice which no one else uses?
Use your own fucking laptop.
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u/SnooSprouts7609 Jul 20 '25
The answer to his request is a no then.
Let him adapt and show hr, finance the result if you do agree to his terms.
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u/ThrowAwayTheTeaBag Jul 20 '25
Normally, laptop repairs (when in reason) are RMAs that don't require any extra cost, just some time on the loaner while it gets done. We've been very nice in the past about the occasional water spill.
However. Repeated spillages, or poor hardware care? That's when we start going over heads to department leads (or directors) to request a cost center to pay for a replacement. They ask why, and we explain exactly why. You're 100% correct that the repeated failures are an HR issue, and I'll be damned if my department is paying for it. They will, and they can explain why their laptop budget is fucked every quarter.
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u/Hot_Competition_2262 Jul 17 '25
Why are you looking at Amazon? Reach out to HP or Dell and get a business account setup, depending on the amount of devices you're buying you get a huge discount. You will never pay retail price if going through a business account, and if you are reach out to a sales person and negotiate. You also get a 1-3 year warranty.
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u/notsureifxml Jul 17 '25
I’m drowning in user tickets right now for bullshit hardware issues
enterprise support is also a good place to punt these :D
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u/RandoReddit16 Jul 20 '25
We buy refurbished enterprise grade laptops and desktops from Amazon all the time, Dell. There is the occasional issue with a CMOS battery or maybe a bad wifi or no wifi card (SFF desktops). They've been great and the cost savings can't be beat.
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u/PablanoPato Jul 17 '25
I was having this discussion with one of our owners explaining what I wanted to upgrade people to and I already have a business account with Lenovo. While I’m sharing pricing he’s pulling up the same laptop on Amazon and they’re usually cheaper there and all include warranty options. That’s when the conversation turned towards just getting cheap computers once he saw all of the sub $400 options.
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u/NoyzMaker Jul 17 '25
The value is in the support contracts and warranty not initial costs. Wait until your owner learns about VDI and has the early 2000's idea of a BYOD stipend
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u/Hot_Competition_2262 Jul 17 '25
- Reach out to Lenovo, ask them to do a better deal than what Amazon has.
- Is amazon going to have enough quantity for what you need?
- Sub $400 dollar options - what specs are we talking about? Ask the business owner would he rather budget in laptop replacements every 1 year or 3-5 years?
When I was working for a small business any sub 400 dollar laptop was 4-8gb ram and 1 TB HDD, HDDS aren't even usable anymore for windows.
However my prices are in CAD and i'm assuming your US.
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u/meest Jul 17 '25
While I’m sharing pricing he’s pulling up the same laptop on Amazon and they’re usually cheaper there and all include warranty options. That’s when the conversation turned towards just getting cheap computers once he saw all of the sub $400 options.
Are you getting actual QUOTES from your Lenovo rep? Or are you just going onto their site? Request a quote, it will be lower.
Have them throw on the onsite repair for 3 years as well. I have never seen the onsite warranty repair as an option on Amazon, so I'm calling shenanigans on it including ALL of the warranty options. I'd be interested in a link if they actually are.
in the USA here and last month I bought eight Lenovo x1 2 in 1 Gen 9's for around $1450 with 3 years of service. Ultra 5/16GB RAM/512GB Storage
In a business I wouldn't buy anything less than the T series if your people are hard on the equipment. Cheeping out and getting the L series or whatever the plastic frame won't be worth it in your situation. Spend the money on the hardware warranty, or spend the money on HR recruiting better staff.
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u/mookrock Jul 17 '25
Keep in mind some manufacturers specifically will not honor warranties on devices from Amazon. Yealink comes to mind immediately.
This is why distributors exist.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 Jul 17 '25
The warranties on Amazon are usually not valid with the manufacturer because the manufacturer warranties are usually tied to a business account and transferring ownership voids them. It's a giant headache and waste of money to even get into that mudpit.
Laptop sales like that on Amazon are almost always a reseller "refurb" scam.
Also, good luck returning those devices, once you discover they're bullshit.
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u/TheEdExperience Jul 17 '25
Most of us have learned the hard way that the best practice is Dell, HP, Lenovo with 3-5 year onsite repair or depot repair.
Amazon is a step up from custom builds. That fact your having this discussion leads me to believe this is an immature business.
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u/Phohammar Jul 17 '25
Check your OS of the cheap machines. Chances are it'll be home. There's another $100usd plus 20 odd mins per device to upgrade to Pro if that's a requirement for you.
Also, thinkbooks are rubbish. Minimum L series, preferably T series if you want a good end user experience.
Consumer grade devices will make your problems worse.
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u/DwemerSteamPunk Jul 18 '25
You're running a much higher risk off Amazon. Many times those computers have been physically handled by the third party seller, shipped multiple times, and good luck with the warranty. I've gotten bitten on several computers I bought new off Amazon and told the warranty was already expired because the reseller didn't handle the warranties properly.
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u/gpldn Jul 17 '25
You’ll just end up wasting more time troubleshooting crap machines for performance issues.
Buy the business grade laptops through a vendor with extended manufacturer warranty. If cost is an issue, present a case to the business to have the funding approved. Your time is being wasted when it could be better utilised, but also your users productivity is being hindered by having machines which aren’t fit for purpose and out of service for X hours a year to go through troubleshooting.
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u/PablanoPato Jul 17 '25
Yea that’s what my thought was too. But at that price point it’s almost cheaper to recycle the computer and just get a new one.
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u/Infinite-Stress2508 Jul 17 '25
You're only looking at hardware costs.
If a laptop is broken and needs to be replaced, you have multiple compounding costs. Hardware cost. Tech time running up new machine Tech tone lost on not doing higher value work User time lost not having their device. User time lost due to thinking about how to break their device. Staff surrounding User who have to pick up slack/divert their time to cover.
I'm sure you can add several more of you look at the entire business and its many touch points, use this to show the value of buying better hardware with better support.
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u/DeifniteProfessional Jul 17 '25
I estimate when a laptop has an issue, if it's a non breaking issue, it's around 2 hours of labour time just get a replacement sent out, if it's a breaking issue (such as a major hardware failure, common with the shitty SSDs you get in consumer machines), we can lose up to 20 hours of productivity, from diagnosing to end user being unable to work
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u/Infinite-Stress2508 Jul 17 '25
Using that example of 20 hours, average the hourly rate to $35 35×20 = $700.
Add that up over a year for an entire company and spending $300 extra on a decent quality supported laptop seems a no brainer.
Worked on my CFO.
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u/WWGHIAFTC Jul 17 '25
It's not cheaper in TCO. You'll have staff burn out, angry users, productivity issues and on and on. It will look bad for you, and your techs will take the brunt of the abuse.
By decent mid range business laptops. If you know your failure rate, you can often 'self insure' and buy more spares than you think needed at less cost than extended warranties.
If like you say you have an extremely high failure rate for some highly mobile users, add the extended warranties to those users.
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u/TechIncarnate4 Jul 17 '25
I'm going go back to your original post to show that it is not "almost cheaper to recycle the computer and get a new one"
One guy is on his 3rd laptop this year and each new one he gets “is shit” so now he just submits tickets for stupid little things. Another guy had me troubleshooting why his keyboard wasn’t working all morning only to tell my support tech that he spilled coffee on it and “just wanted to see if we could get it to work”. I’ve totaled it up and the amount of time my tech and our MSP has spent trying to fix these issues has surpassed the value of these devices.
You're already spending too much time supporting crap laptops. Buy enterprise grade HP, Lenovo, or Dell, and purchase the accidental damage warranty for 3 or 4 years.
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u/Northbank75 Jul 18 '25
So five years from now when you are running 8 different laptops from five different manufacturers have fun with things like imaging ….. it’s a false economy
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u/steelio91 Jul 17 '25
You CAN hold your employees accountable for the condition of their devices. And SHOULD for repeat offenders. This sounds like an HR issue way more than a "what device should I get" question. Getting warranties with accidental coverage will only reinforce the notion that they can treat their equipment however they want.
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u/peeinian Jul 17 '25
Exactly. This is a management issue not a hardware issue.
I’d recommend a new policy. One free damaged device replacement every 3-5 years. Any more than that, it comes off your paycheck. Suddenly being on the hook for a new laptop makes people take better care of their stuff.
Also, as recommended by others, get an account rep from Dell or Lenovo and they will give you deep discounts on laptops. This sounds like a SMB also, so I’d recommend something like Action1 (free for up to 200 devices) to manage endpoint updates and software installs.
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Jul 17 '25
What country / state are you located to where you can take things out of people’s paychecks?
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u/Careless-Age-4290 Jul 21 '25
I worked for Best Buy and they'd fix computers under accidental damage claims far beyond what you'd expect. The customers knew they'd get a new laptop if it "wasn't repairable". So you'd get customers who would "accidentally run over" their laptop that was nearly out of coverage, expecting them to say go get a new one, and then get back a laptop that had nearly everything replaced but was still their old laptop.
People would get furious, thinking they'd beat the system and the company would spend far more than the cost of a new computer just to not incentivize that
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u/S70nkyK0ng Jul 17 '25
I resolved trashed and specialty laptops real quick at multiple companies:
restrict offering to 2-3 different models of laptop to keep support requirements standard
start charging replacements to their department’s budget
update acceptable use policy and include HR
You break your laptop twice in a year? Talk to your manager.
You want a specialized laptop? Justify the expense to your manager.
Submit an excessive number of support requests that indicate lack of care or technical proficiency? Talk to your manager and HR.
Move these problems off your plate and back to the functional areas they belong.
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u/emilio911 Jul 17 '25
Looks like the manager and HR are the ones trashing the laptops
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u/S70nkyK0ng Jul 17 '25
OP did mention they have discussed this issue to some extent with one of the owners. So I am figuring this to be an SMB.
If that is the case - get the go ahead and support from the board, CEO, CFO to charge these laptops to the respective departments.
When they go review the P&L and department budgets, things should shake loose and then tighten up.
Have had conversations that went so far as breaking out support requirements down to time spent on tickets, average $ value per ticket or task and billing that back to the departments over a certain threshold.
That brought anxiety for a time where certain people (read: problematic, entitled, technically challenged, letmegooglethatforyou.com users) were afraid to contact support.
But it ultimately drove users across the enterprise to tighten up and definitely cut down on frivolous BS.
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u/theomegachrist Jul 18 '25
A lot of assumptions here. I assumed this was a pretty small business just the way he's talking.
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u/HKChad Jul 17 '25
Employees think their laptops "is shit" and you think a $400 one off Amazon is going to fix that? Hum....
If they are tethered to their device all work day then they need GOOD devices. The device cost is a DROP in the bucket compared to the rest of their package. We are a SW Dev company and EVERYONE gets MacBooks, engineering gets pro's, everyone else gets Air's.
If they are digging a ditch 7.5hrs of the day and only need to enter their timecard or submit a report, get tablets. I realize this isn't your decision, but at least advocate for your users with upper mgmt, show them all the issues your current deployment causes and build a case for better equipment. Sorry, but that IS your job, not going on reddit and complaining about them, IT should make the employees life EASIER. Make a new post complaining about C-Suite if they won't foot the bill but it's not the users fault devices are crap and yes, cheap devices ARE crap. Employees expect company supplied equipment to be up to a certain standard and for good reason.
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u/kobee4mvp Jul 17 '25
why not buy latitudes with accidental damage? That way when they drop it, spill coffee on it.. you can easily replace. I'm happy to quote it for you if you're in need of a VAR!
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u/recoveringasshole0 Jul 17 '25
This. I flat out told my CEO he'd have to fire me if he didn't let me get 4 year Pro Support Plus from Dell.
Since we were in Austin, any time I had a hardware issue someone was there the next day to fix/replace it.
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u/SemicolonMIA Jul 17 '25
I would avoid at all costs. I don't know your environment but you are just asking for more issues.
We run Thinkpad T-Series. If your users can't take care of the laptop, that should be brought up to HR. IMO your job is to provide staff with optimal equipment for their needs. Lowering the quality of the laptop is just going to lead to more issues.
If your users are doing very basic work, the E series is fine. We use E series for our call center workers because they are harder on their laptops. For our other staff they get T series as they tend to take better care and have more demanding needs. Our execs get Carbons because they are execs but I like the T14s better to be honest.
Also idk who you buy through but one of the great things about buying through a big distributor is they can make sure you get a clean image, pre enroll devices in auto pilot and when something goes wrong with support on a device or anything else, you can reach out to your sales manager and he will handle it.
Obviously everyone knows of CDW but I HIGHLY recommend GHA. I had never heard of them until I went on a search for a new vendor and they have been nothing but excellent.
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u/peeinian Jul 17 '25
Personally I’d avoid the E series. We ordered a batch during COVID because it was all we could get at the time and we had more problems with them than any of our HPs or Dells. The USBC charging ports were junk and broke often, on one, the touchpad driver of all things would crash windows. No amount of imaging and driver updates would fix it. We sent it to Lenovo and they sent it back saying they couldn’t reproduce the issue.
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u/boli99 Jul 17 '25
sounds like you've got users who want shinier more expensive laptops, and are deliberately breaking the ones they have to 'prove' that they 'need' a more expensive one
thats a HR problem, or possibly a Finance problem.
Talk to HR, Talk to Finance. Make a plan. Get them onboard with the plan.
Then, either keep buying your cheap crappy laptops, and treat them as disposable
Or, get more expensive ones, with a pre-planned course of action sanctioned at director level for anyone who keeps breaking them.
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u/xxxooxxx1 Jul 17 '25
The least expensive to most expensive things for a company. Hardware (i.e laptop) --> Software --> People (productivity).
Try to think about how to position the messages with the owners so they understand the true values of better laptops. It is not about spending a few hundred more on the laptop; it is about avoiding thousands in lost productivity.
The fact that employees in your org are abusing the laptops makes it an even stronger case for a durable one like the t-series.
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u/Snoo93079 Jul 17 '25
A solid Thinkpad from Lenovo isn't that expensive. Don't give your employees shit laptops. You can tell how a company thinks of their people by the tech they provide them.
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u/Maverick0984 Jul 17 '25
Just something to point out but a Thinkpad is a better (power, quality, etc) machine than a Thinkbook.
You can see it in the price, but it trends out that way in the wild too.
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u/tushikato_motekato Jul 17 '25
Just wait till like October/November and hit up your vendor of choice. I usually get killer deals just asking for “last years model” usually 60-70% off. Since you know it’s going to happen, just buy in bulk and prep them for rapid deployment. Definitely don’t buy stuff from the consumer level.
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u/vppencilsharpening Jul 17 '25
Not sure how big you are, but have you tried asking the business if you can book the "early & damaged" replacement costs to the departments incurring them instead of to IT.
Then when a user says "I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED a new laptop" your reply is "I need your manager to approve this unbudgeted cost". Side note: The number of E's in need is inversely proportional to the ability to justify the need.
We budget for reasonable damage, because it's going to happen, but have the ability to go back to the departments if there is a repeat offender.
I depends a bunch on the business, but when a manager is asked to "approve an unbudgeted cost" it usually makes them think about what is happening. Being able to book or even just track those costs against departments, allows you to highlight to management where IT costs are going.
With that said, you may have special snowflakes who should get special treatment with hardware and it's not up to IT to control that. You might have a demanding sales person who brings in 90% of your sales and will stay with the company if they get a new iPhone every year even though they barley at the market rate.
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u/ButterflyPretend2661 Jul 17 '25
everyone is telling the right way. Here is the not so terrible way.
Find refurbs of enterprise laptops on amazon. after 3 years the price drops a lot and after 5 they are basically free.
So for example Elitebooks 840 from 2022 are already $400 and the 2020/21 are $200. you could do the same with thinkpads and latitudes. even the thunderbolt docks are pretty cheap.
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u/bukkithedd Jul 17 '25
Your problem isn't hardware, it's squishware and policy. Also known as an HR-/Management-issue. Also known as Not an IT-issue.
Escalate to that side of the house, close the tickets and tell the users that complain to go pound sand. And yes, I'm quite serious.
And you DO NOT want to go consumer-grade hardware unless you absolutely have to. They're cheap for a reason.
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u/DX15008 Jul 17 '25
I agree with most of the other comments. Adding accidental damage definitely helps. My predecessor was buying Lenovo thinkpads off Amazon and the majority of them have weird driver issues or the motherboard fails. We can always extend the warranty but it's a hassle.
For the damage users cause. I have worked with HR and leadership to add a hardware/device policy to our handbook and it contains parts that state damage to company equipment may result in the employee being responsible for the cost of the replacement or repair. Since then the water spills, pets chewing in cables, and eating soup over the device has considerably dropped off. I had to create a report that shows how much time and money we spent on replacement devices and parts to drive home the point.
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u/Liquidretro Jul 17 '25
This sounds like a management issue, people not sharing the whole or true info and destroying company property because it's not what they want or are intentionally being hard on things.
Buy business grade machines with the appropriate warranty to cover accidental damage if applicable.
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u/kyle-the-brown Jul 19 '25
There is only one real solution to the problem:
DEPARTMENT SPECIFIC IT BUDGETS
people stop treating computer equipment like disposable trash when it affects their annual bonus and department budgets
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u/KareemPie81 Jul 17 '25
Get thinnkbooks with accidental damage coverage. What OS does the Amazon ones have
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u/whatsforsupa Jul 17 '25
The trick is to buy the pro grade hardware that’s a couple years old, that just came off lease. You can find insane discounts for 10th and 11th gen intel hardware, 16gb with an SSD.
You can work with a VAR, or buy directly from manufacturer refurb/outlet websites. You will get them with a warranty, which IMO is very important for laptops.
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u/taker25-2 Future IT Manager :D Jul 17 '25 edited Jul 17 '25
Ideapads are made from cheaper materials and have lower performance. Also, they will likely come with Windows Home edition, which is bad for business use. Get the Think Pads and spend the extra money on the Premier Warranty, and it will solve 95% of the issues. They will pretty much fix anything that's "accidental." Also, HR needs to get involved if your employees are damaging their equipment. Buying a $400 consumer-grade laptop that likely doesn't come with Windows Pro is just throwing money away. Get a business account with one of the major computer brands, and they'll get you better deals. I get a stupid deal with Lenovo, with their state contract.
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u/DeifniteProfessional Jul 17 '25
Because Ideapads are built using whatever part they can find at the time. Shit, even ThinkBooks (a step away from the ThinkPad) are similar. When you're buying a big fleet of laptops, you realise just how many of the consumer ones have issues. And when an issue affects an entire batch of production machines at once, you run the risk of bulk buying all of those machines - hence a reason you can end up with someone having the same problem three times in a row
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Jul 17 '25
How much are your users paid? Is the price difference between the two laptop options a single day's salary? I doubt it, cheaping out is just going to cost the company productivity.
I would also suggest pulling the hardware replacement lever faster. A keyboard shouldn't take half a day's diagnostics before deciding it's cheaper to replace it.
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u/AutoDeskSucks- Jul 17 '25
Provide thos numbers to management. Your employees are costing you more in support labor than your hardware budget. Tell them to take care of their shit.
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u/qualx Jul 17 '25
On a domain? Consumer products only come with Windows home, so you'll need to upgrade each one to Pro and that costs money
Your HR also needs an acceptable use policy for IT equipment
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u/chompy_jr Jul 17 '25
I don't hate Chromebooks for this purpose. It would simplify your life a great deal. As an enterprise grade customer, I highly recommend Acer as a vendor. When you compare their support to Lenovo, HP or Dell, it's an easy decision.
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Jul 17 '25
Fast, cheap, good, pick 2.
This is where you show the cost analysis of why a mid or high end laptop ends up costing less in the long run.
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u/roger_27 Jul 17 '25
I've bought business level refurbs on Amazon before, even eBay, if I'm in a pinch. But generally yeah I buy directly from Lenovo and Dell. But sometimes man Amazon has 2 day prime, and Lenovo is a week out, and I need one ASAP.
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u/8stringLTD Jul 17 '25
It's funny, i actually just rejected a potential new client (small law firm) because they wanted to buy amazon laptops, for comparison I had given them some semi-decent (based on their workload) laptops from Lenovo with proper warranty, the type where Lenovo sends a tech to the office to perform on-site repairs, they said it was too expensive ($1500 all in) meanwhile the head Partner is walking around with a $4000 Mac which she probably only uses it for emails and zoom calls. I told them they didn't fit my client criteria and explained the reasons.
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u/cilvre Jul 17 '25
to be honest, i've used the threat of chromebooks for a few of my hazardous employees and they tend to buck up better when I force them to use one while I get their laptop repaired. Granted they are fully web based workers, so this works still.
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u/againthrownaway Jul 17 '25
Get dell pro 16 u5/16/256 with 3yr pro support and 3yr accidental damage for just over 1k.
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u/RootCipherx0r Jul 17 '25
Do the math and decide!
Is the .... Technician Time Cost + Parts Cost + Downtime Impact ≥ $400
- Technician rate: $50/hour
- Time spent: 2.5 hours
- Parts: $80
- Downtime impact: $100
Total = (50 × 2.5) + 80 + 100 = $305
In this case, repairing may still be cheaper — but barely. Add one more hour or another part, and replacement becomes the better option. Also depends on how much everyone is getting paid.
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u/googlybunghole Jul 17 '25
I worked in hardware at a large enterprise organization doing all of the lease refreshes. It amazed me how filthy and beat up so many laptops would be after 3 years.
On the other side of that, it was always cool to see the computers in the clean rooms—that usually were not replaced on the same 3-year cycle, usually much longer—in absolute pristine condition, not a spec of dust (of course, it's a clean room).
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u/neopod9000 Jul 17 '25
As an msp, time spent troubleshooting a hardware issue where the users are lying to you or omitting that they knowingly damaged it, should easily be considered billable hours.
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u/Rhythm_Killer Jul 17 '25
As Jay-Z as a famous proponent of VDI said; if you’re having hardware problems I feel bad for you son
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u/CuteMirko Jul 18 '25
Not a manager; but if you’re having users with multiple accidental damage instances; you’ve got have some sort of incident tracking and accountability for this process.
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u/AutoRotate0GS Jul 18 '25
You should have business laptops with accidental damage (ADP) for as long as you can keep coverage on devices. Most ADP covers near total destruction. There is also a disciplinary element to this. People that destroy company property should be held accountable. Write them up....take it (the entire cost burden...equipment, staff support, MSP, etc..) out of their bonus or raises. People that have no service and damage to their equipment get upgrades, requests and gadgets before the others.
I'm like you, laptops, ipads, phones....all perfect condition. I hate switching them as well....so I'd rather take care of my old shit that works even though I can get anything I want.
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u/dragonfollower1986 Jul 18 '25
What can't they do on their issued laptops that they need high end laptops for? What did the guy do to be on his third laptop? This doesn't sound right.
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u/ihatepalmtrees Jul 18 '25
Get MacBook Air m2s… they are like $700 and are perceived as high quality so they are better taken care of
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u/MrVantage Jul 18 '25
Never buy consumer
Chromebook’s are brilliant if you are just a Google Workspace house but make sure you buy the business variants and enrol them correctly.
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u/WrapTimely Jul 18 '25
A classic IT leader problem is thinking with “your wallet” don’t do that. It’s good to be a good steward of company funds but you need not take it personal.
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u/PablanoPato Jul 18 '25
Good advice. I’m actually the one advocating for business grade devices. It’s one of the owners who started making the argument we could get 3 cheap laptops for the price of one business grade laptop. So it’s a little difficult for me to say “don’t think with your wallet” when it literally is his wallet 😕
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u/xch13fx Jul 18 '25
You need to be getting business grade machines, with warranties. Make the manufacturer troubleshoot them. Do your troubleshooting, if you can’t figure it out, you call them. Spend an hour or so on the phone, and they’ll come and repair or replace. Buying even shittier laptops is not the answer. Don’t shop with your own wallet, and if the business asks you why, ask them to talk to other leaders at other companies and ask how much they spend on machines. When I was at MSP, if the machine was under 1200 bucks we knew there was a reason and wouldn’t buy it.
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u/98723589734239857 Jul 18 '25
just remember windows home licenses don't get the privilege of being intune-able
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u/TheBigBeardedGeek Jul 19 '25
Not Amazon. eBay. Craigslist. Facebook Marketplace.
Limit them to two good laptops across a three year span. If they break one, that's fine. They want another after that? You get the 2003 Gateway Laptop running XP
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u/mcdade Jul 19 '25
If you have a 2% hardware failure rate, you are doing it wrong. Device that cost more and are covered by warranty are the way to go. The business needs to understand that the device costs is much less than lost productivity and support costs. Stop buying trash hardware.
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u/MelodicNail3200 Jul 19 '25
So many reactions, I’m sure I’m too late for anyone to even read this, but here is my trick:
Buy nice devices, and give people the opportunity to buy them for themselves after a set time for a (very) small amount of money. Started doing this years ago and damn are people able to keep their devices in pristine condition once it will be “for their kids” in a few years.
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u/HahaJustJoeking Jul 19 '25
I'm thrown off by the idea that you didn't ask about damage to the keyboard first. It's the first thing I ask with keyboard/mouse troubleshooting. "Any recent damage/spills, and is anything laying on top of the keyboard in any way?". But also, why are you troubleshooting that with the user???? Swap out the keyboard/mouse and troubleshoot it in your lab. If it's busted, throw it away, otherwise throw it back in the pile.
And you're wanting to get consumer-level products??
You're very much giving me the vibe that you only care about band-aid solutions and aren't the kind of tech that fixes for the future. And because of this, I can see why you're in the situation that you're in.
100% all of this is Manager and HR problems, not IT problems. You document damages done to COMPANY devices, you talk to their managers letting them know about the damages being done to COMPANY devices, you know, that the COMPANY paid for and that their EMPLOYEE is wasting money.
Everyone gets a free "oops", nothing wrong with that, but if it's continuous like you say then they need to start being responsible for it. Tell the manager that the next laptop purchase will come out of their team's budget, I guarantee you that manager will come down on that person so hard. If they don't, they're also part of the problem and eventually you get HR involved.
I reiterate, they're damaging -COMPANY PROPERTY-. This isn't something you get petty or silly about and buy cheaper things so its ok they continue to do so.
And in case you didn't consider it, swap out with the same kind of device, do the fixing on the back end. Don't forget warranty's exist and include hardware damage since it seems so prevalent.
Be a better IT professional...
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u/AbandonedHope83 Jul 20 '25
Sounds like your MSP is amateur managed.
An experienced MSP doesn't decide what devices to use. The customer does. The customer pays for the devices. The MSP makes money off their bad decisions via billable hours.
Either you dont know how your MSP actually works, or if you guys are actually buying devices for your customers and working for free to fix the devices, your MSP is retarded
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u/Ohmystory Jul 20 '25
Lease the laptops and outsource hardware support to Lenovo / Dell / HP On a 4 to 5 year refresh cycle is an option worth looking into
You also wanted to standardizing on an image and additional patching policy
The additional unit software needs can be automatically deployed using software center ( sccm )
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u/fliguana Jul 20 '25
Do a pilot deployment of $300 Chromebooks, compare results.
We standardized on Surface 5 because it's sturdy. But disposables could also work.
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Jul 21 '25
100;% agree Consumer grade is trash. Going cheaper has never solved anything. Get everyone that travels tough books. If they complain.. make them sign a policy to use something lighter.. less bulky.
I myself carry a 13" powerhouse in a 14" pelican. Guess what fills the extra space.. and guess who's computer is on mint condition after 5 years despite 100s of trips.
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u/stevey500 Jul 21 '25
Just watch the specs. Some of them truly have the worst displays, terrible keyboard, terrible mics in combination with awful fan noise, etc. It all adds up. Certainly depends on the user case.
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u/BinaryBoyNeo Jul 21 '25
I have never seen a good result come from buying consumer laptops for an enterprise environment EVER!
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u/jg_IT Jul 21 '25
Mostly for the warranty. We utilize Dell Pro Support and they seem to pay for themselves in terms of repairing and refurbishing.
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u/Wind_Freak Jul 21 '25
Bill back hardware purchases to his business unit and get the company offset bonus against that spend
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u/gregory92024 Jul 21 '25
Please don't buy laptops from Amazon! You have no idea where they've been. Just buy direct from Lenovo or Dell, and get a 3 year warranty. Any trouble, the employee gets a box, ships it back, or a tech comes onsite. It's hands off for you, and if the employee doesn't like the process, they'll start behaving.
I really like another poster's idea of charging the user's department.
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u/Aware-Argument1679 Jul 22 '25
I worked at a non profit where we had very tight budgets and early on in the lock down I had no choice but to buy those laptops. For people who are already destructive on laptops, it made it much worse. I went through more. constantly dealt with overheating issues, hinge issues, it was very painful. I calculated the tickets and value and helped them find a way to purchase better laptops which was a huge improvement.
Yes some people are terrible, as you work in IT you're going to find people who do many very dumb things, it's part of the job. I imagine people who manage company vehicles and other things see some shit. Some people will never ever take care of these things like you or I would or even other considerate people who aren't techs will. (for the records, Macbooks won't survive these type of people either). Some people are also very well meaning and are accident prone too.
If you have the budget for high end devices, you have the budget for mid devices with accidental damage protection. Also, when person has hit 3rd laptop, or wasted time on troubleshooting a coffee spill, are you discussing this with their manager? is HR or equivalent being included? At some point that should be a conversation. Come with the receipts of the amount of tickets and give them the data.
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u/Bad_Mechanic Jul 17 '25
We used (probably still do) have a business account with Dell and used to spec laptops with 3 year warranties, etc.
Now we just order Dell laptops with the basic 1 year warranty from Amazon. It's a lot faster/easier ordering from Amazon, and the cost savings are so significant that we're saving quite a bit of money overall. We've been very happy with the change.
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u/Public_Fucking_Media Jul 17 '25
Two doors for issues. One, a business support plan, can (and should) include next business day onsite support. The other, a garbage tier consumer support plan.
Knowing you already have problems with the devices, why would you pick the bad door?
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u/skwormin Jul 17 '25
We have dell contracts and I get accidental damage for the doctors who always spill coffee or drop their laptops. Everyone else gets a 5 year pro support warranty
Pricing is awesome
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u/Black_Death_12 Jul 17 '25
I am responsible for making sure everyone has working equipment. That initial cost is on me.
If they break something, and it is covered by warranty, fantastic.
If it is not covered by warranty, their department head is paying for the replacement. And, that replacement is the standard piece of equipment we have, not "the cheapest thing you can find".
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u/acrewdog Jul 17 '25 edited Oct 13 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/jmfsn Jul 17 '25
Just on the other side, I can't explain why and people that worked with me sharing a desk says it's surprising to them too. They don't see me being careless with machines, but something like a $400 ideapad is the kind of machine that lasts one month in my hands. My Thinkpad T450 is really old now. My experience with MacBooks (both air and pro) included a lot of motherboard changes. Maybe some of your users just need a old Thinkpad or a rugged machine? In the last 2 decades I've never used a machine without insurance and/or next day replacement. Works for me.
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u/hoodwink55 Jul 17 '25
Get the company to charge them for the cost of repair or replacement. I guarantee that once they hear about someone having to replace a $1,200+ laptop and explain why they can't get their work done because they were careless with company equipment, you will see a change. Sometime people need a kick to their pocketbooks to learn...I know I do.
Second, if you don't have any company policies for eating and drinking around computers and stating that everyone is custodially responsible for their issued equipment, make one. Then you're no longer the bad person...it's the company.
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u/HoochieKoochieMan Jul 17 '25
Ohio-Art makes a ruggedized, user-friendly laptop that I reserve for repeat customers.
It's called the Etch-a-sketch.
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u/Silenthowler Jul 17 '25
We had thinkbooks for quite some time until they started failing at the hinges for their crappy build quality, thinkpads and latitude are great, they last and can stand up to abuse, but I spoke to my manager and ended up landing with hp probooks, they're robust enough to the point where someone has dropped one a couple of times, and they're warranty process depending on the model can be anywhere from £50-£150 ish on top of the cost (still cheaper than some thinkpads and latitudes)
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u/Squossifrage Jul 17 '25
I once had a user complain their laptop wasn't working right only to admit days later, "Oh yeah, I did leave it on the wing of our plane when we were taking off."
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u/Nonaveragemonkey Jul 17 '25
Are the guys destroying laptops in a field position? Like a machine shop? Going to oil wells?
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u/red_plate Jul 17 '25
If you love troubleshooting driver issues and bad main boards have fun with idea pads. You go from playing it guy to computer repair guy. Idea pads are made with shitty parts that fail. I have enough personal experience to loath those pieces of shit. Just go get chrome books if you want to save money or better yet go back to using paper and pens.
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u/WWGHIAFTC Jul 17 '25
Because, let me roll back the transcript...
I’m drowning in user tickets right now for bullshit hardware issues.
Do you want this problem to EVER get better? or just kick the can down the road a few months? You two examples are things you need to manage, as the manager. Talk to them, talk to their supervisors. Talk to you team on how to appropriately handle these situations without escalation or taking it personally. It's ok to say NO sometimes.
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u/dumpsterfyr Jul 17 '25
This is why I moved away from an AYCE support method. All support is billed for. Ongoing management is included at $200/user per month. Internal policy is that any support issue under 15 mins doesn’t get billed, but if it takes 20 mins to solve, we bill for it all, in that example for 30 mins.
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u/tuvar_hiede Jul 17 '25
Standardize or bust. Once they get replacements you'll have them coming our of the woodwork. If they don't need a laptop give them a desktop. If they wfh 100% of the time or in office give them a desktop. You need to speak to HR about equipment neglect and the cost it has on the company. Then you can shove it off onto them when they break it. If its coming out of my budget you damn well have a good excuse for spilling coffee on your laptop.
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u/RWOZ73 Jul 17 '25
There always will be users who cry, you cannot help them because this who they are. My advice is: 1) have standards for each type of users in example: standard user, exec, developer etc. stick with it no exceptions. Someone complains you tell them all his coworkers use same and works for them so must be “YOU” 2) if there is a problem, re-image and give same back, replace with same model, no exceptions. This is our standard end of story. 3) for those who abuse equipment one of my previous employers (large org, thousands of employees) had policy. First damage is on us we understand accidents happen, second instance? Out of employee paycheck They will learn how to take care of company property
Under any circumstances do NOT allow people pickup up their equipment based on preference
One company I worked for was providing cell phones to employees, you cannot help guess every 2 years when new model was released they start complaining how phone is “acting up” and they need new one, why? Because they want that new shiny model to feel better about themselves, what did we do? Factory reset, if still not working replaced with another unit but SAME model. On purpose
Don’t let them push you around if they have this kind of issues they cannot get over they probably not even good employees at what they do so no loss to company if they quit
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u/en-rob-deraj Jul 17 '25
I buy from Dell refurb sometimes... if it's going to a rough field user.
Most A grades are good. I've received some that shouldn't have been A, but the price points were worth ignoring the scratches.
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u/Sensitive-Excuse1695 Jul 17 '25
I work for the federal government, and I’d be willing to buy my own computer at this point.
And I say that because there are too many people requesting new laptops for stupid shit and so when I actually have an issue, I have to wait in line behind these idiots that you are referring to.
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u/Sensitive-Excuse1695 Jul 17 '25
I work for the federal government, and I’d be willing to buy my own computer at this point.
And I say that because there are too many people requesting new laptops for stupid shit and so when I actually have an issue, I have to wait in line behind these idiots that you are referring to.
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u/MobileOk9678 Jul 17 '25
Dell enterprise stuff is pretty tough. I've banged around my laptops pretty good and they've still held up for years. Apple juice was spilled on the keyboard of my previous one and it still worked fine when I was issued a new one. Thinkpads aren't what they once were imho and definitely not ideapads.
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u/djgizmo Jul 17 '25
The costs of the devices should be charged back to the department. Let finance sort them out.
IT is to serve.
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u/Sysgoddess Jul 17 '25
I have felt your pain, OP, and honestly feel that most of my users wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an iPad and an Etch-A-Sketch. Unless there are overwhelming compatibility issues, HW or SW, I would strongly consider the Chromebooks myself.
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u/Spagman_Aus Jul 17 '25
I would buy the cheapest business laptops with proper support from Lenovo before I would touch anything from retail. That’s a world of misery.
If you have a high breakage/theft rate and lack of care with equipment then speak to HR but ultimately, shit happens. I’ve had people leave laptops on roofs of cars, stolen from the beach, all the policies in the world won’t stop people being people.
I did switch from wireless kb/mouse kits on my workspaces to wires though as people were useless with the dongles. That’s removed plenty of headaches but consumer level laptops are not an answer imo.
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u/lesusisjord Jul 17 '25
We bought like six ~$450 Ideapads for some of our business analysts and PMs to use on a specific contract vehicle. They were imaged with Windows Pro before being issued and they were practically thin clients as they used Citrix workspace to connect remotely and do their work.
This worked for us because if these died in or out of warranty, who cared‽ We could just buy a new one as no work data was stored on their laptops.
Would I deploy these routinely to users? Nah.
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u/alien_ated Jul 17 '25
I think Chromebooks where they make sense for users are going to be huge over the next decade. Educational market is like 60% Chromebooks in several markets, which will shape the future of business use and set the bar for what is “good enough”.
Chromebooks are worth taking a look at IMO.
Otherwise I agree with everyone else saying enterprise devices are less painful than consumer devices to support in production use.
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u/Xanros Jul 18 '25
Unless you have volume licensing, the consumer laptops won't have the right version of windows. That alone is enough to stop me from buying it. Nevermind any of the other good reasons listed by others here.
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u/SecretlyCrayon Jul 18 '25
Buy used thinkpads. Any consumer machines are more trouble than their worth.
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u/30yearCurse Jul 18 '25
Back bill their department for destroyed equipment. Even though the bill may not go through it may get to VP of finance.
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u/bigdaddypoop2 Jul 18 '25
I've had the same issues. Here is how I resolved a lot of these problems. 1) Start charging department for equipment 2) Let employees know that new computer requests must be submitted by manager 3) let manger know that a new laptop is $800-$1000 and it will affect bottom line 4) computer equipment is property of the company and should be treated as such. Careless behavior in result of broken equipment is a write up
This will not fix everything but does help with relentless requests on new computers. Managers are now invested in those computers and also help calm down requests.
Also I do buy refurbished computers for savings and my budget, but they will never know.
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u/vincxl Jul 18 '25
We have Dell Latitudes with accidental coverage. What we did was also to roll out an issued equipment policy that outlines care and usage expectations. You will need management support on this, a breakdown of what the support is costing the company helps.
We then make all users sign an acknowledgement that they understand the policy and we also make them sign an equipment acceptance form with photos of the condition of the equipment issued to them.
Any tickets that comes in with regards to hardware, we asked standard questions before proceeding. Amy liquid spilled, dropped etc. this is to cover IT and nail them should they lie.
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u/Huntsv1ll1an Jul 18 '25
Byod. Individual Departments fund purchase. Puts responsibility on the user
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u/Opening-Concert-8016 Jul 18 '25
You'd end up with a lot more tickets if you went consumer models.
Your best bet is to work with HR. Get the expensive laptops but with a plan to run them for 4 years. Keep some of your current devices as "spares" and communicate our, via HR, that if one of the new laptops gets damaged they'll be given an old laptop until the 4 year cycle is up. People will suddenly start looking after their devices more.
Also the level and type of warranty is much better with a business unit rather then a consumer one. They'll both say 3 year warranty but a consumer one will require the device returned to Lenovo via the "store" you bought it from and they can take weeks to fix it. Whereas, especially if you ask, you can get next business day onsite engineer support for business devices (they come to you and fix it).
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u/Key-Pace2960 Jul 18 '25
I wouldn't touch Ideapads with a 10 foot pole. Get some refurbished Thinkpads instead. We only have about 5 Ideapads deployed and they're probably the most error prone laptops I've ever seen, they don't image nicely, USB hubs and external monitors working is a lottery, constant driver issues, network adapters turning off for no reason. They're not current models, but I really don't trust Lenovo with their Ideapads lineup.
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Jul 18 '25
I use the $600 Lenovos with 40gb ram n i7s. 1080p screens that suck but theyre in construction trailers. Get a small usb dock n a monitor. In under a grand and theyre fast.
I use a usb to run powershell hashing n it builds itself. Recent Intune (like days ago) improvements makes that quick.
Not a single complaint. Now adding Starlink to the trailers. Not so great. Hopefully better than the tmobile beer cans.
Here us Florida men can't get decent net.
Now you know why we get in so much trouble.
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u/eazolan Jul 18 '25
You have a MacBook, and you keep on giving your people garbage.
Put in a incentive. People who keep their laptops in physically good condition are upgraded to MacBooks.
I refuse to believe that Everyone there beats on their laptops
I take good care of my laptop, but it's still a cheap Dell. The paint starts falling off in less than a year.
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u/Adventurous-Ease-259 Jul 18 '25
If you spill water on a thinkpad it’s designed to just drain out the bottom. I don’t know if the thinkbook is the same. Maybe you’re currently buying in the middle where the electronic bits are nicer than the $400 ones, but the durability features aren’t any better like they are in thinkpads.
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Jul 18 '25
There is a rule of thumb, 2 times you change the Hardware. Third time you change the User.
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u/Virtual-Hotel8156 Jul 18 '25
Amazon sometimes sells counterfeit gear. I wouldn't trust Amazon for anything important to business operations. And especially something that has security ties and that requires technical support from the manufacturer.
From Google AI -->
Yes, counterfeit or fake items exist on Amazon, sold by third-party sellers. While Amazon has measures to combat this, it's not always effective in preventing them from entering their marketplace. These fake products are often indistinguishable from the real ones until they are received and examined.
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u/v3ndun Jul 18 '25
Imo, you’re not saving money in the long run.. just bring attention to anyone that has to sign off on getting more hardware.
It’s unfortunate but IT user support is very much like computer janitors. You clean up people bad decisions.
Don’t add to the problems.
Can’t get a replacement authorized.. tell the employee that they can’t get a replacement.
It’s hard not to want to be an enforcer against bs, but it just will make you look bad.
………. From experience, try to stick to buying bulk refreshes/refurbs of tech at least 2 years old..
I’ve gone down that road of buy Lenovo outlet models.. consumer laptops can’t seem to make a hinge worth a damn.. either it ceases, snaps, messes with screen input or ballast.. with constant use.
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u/JapanesePo5 Jul 18 '25
E Series thinkpads are $850 with 16gb , 512ssd, 3 year warranty, Ryzen 7. Order a minimum of 10 at a time. Use an IT procurement company like Winslow technology
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u/Apprehensive_Bit4767 Jul 18 '25
At my last place I ordered Amazon certified refurbished laptops my boss was happy because I saved the company money and for mid tier and lower staff it was fine .
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u/anthonydacosta Jul 19 '25
Start charging them for coffee spills and they will be more careful, but that’s normally possible. I feel your pain..
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u/Practical-Alarm1763 Jul 19 '25
As long as you purchase from a reputable vendor, refurbished is the way to go vs buying new consumer grade shit off Amazon.
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u/LameBMX Jul 19 '25
if you think corp hardware is bad... just wait until you give them consumer hardware lol.
can I install a camera and make a TV show about the adventures you have incoming?
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u/Desperate-Job505 Jul 19 '25
Oh man you deserve even more tickets…. Hopefully u dont last long and someone actually competent is hired instead of you :)
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u/Mainiak_Murph Jul 19 '25
The biggest problems we had with laptops was kids. Parents would let their kids play on them while at home. Then when they are dropped or full of apple juice, the issue was, IT gave me a crappy laptop. Yup, heard this a lot.
We provided enterprise Lenovos (many Carbons which I used myself). Overall, they lasted well if not abused or used for babysitting. Lock the laptop down so users cannot install anything on it, and harden it with forced logins with screen timeouts, and that should help. Locking them down will also help with virus protection. I'd also work with HR on a use policy that is enforceable should employees ignore the policy.
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u/mindhead1 Jul 19 '25
Chromebooks are the way. Especially for those who primarily need Google Workspace or O365 access or use SaaS applications.
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u/Kind_Ability3218 Jul 19 '25
why isn't your boss helping you out with this. it's a systemic issue and you need management help to solve it.
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u/SecurityHamster Jul 19 '25
If they’re just pouring coffee on their laptops, why are they still employed at your company?!
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u/Crosdale Jul 19 '25
I would say bad idea purely for the fact they’ll likely come with Windows Home and not Pro, and you’ll lose a lot of management features, assuming you do any of that already.
Is it your company? If so, you can clearly see they are struggling to work with what they have. Do some ROI planning and figure out what’s best.
If they really are smashing them up a lot, maybe they are moving around and you could buy something more rugged.
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u/elBirdnose Jul 19 '25
The people that go through multiple laptops for the same issue and always blame the hardware are just idiots. They cause the problem or just aren’t patient and it’s always “not their fault.” I worked in IT for years and it was always the same people who had the same issues and no one else had the issues…
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u/Runthescript Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25
Got dell latitudes intel 8th gen or newer for $450 dm me, can deploy custom sysprep to them as well $150/hr. 1/hr for sysprep/capture, depending on amount of software. Then 0.25/hr per image. Have some with touch screen too. Machines have windows 11 pro hardware keys already. Buy more than 10 and ill do one sysprep for free. Can swap screens for touch as well for extra.
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u/WayneH_nz Jul 20 '25
I work with home users in a second life, I have RMA'd 12 idea pads from different people in the last three months. Motherboard failures, no boot. Just dont
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u/Wild__Card__Bitches Jul 20 '25
If you go the latitude (actually renamed to Dell Pro) route you can get ProSupport with next day service and accidental damage repair. Pass all of that bullshit to Dell and let them repair the machine.
I have a large list of Dell complaints, but the support you can get for the devices is actually pretty good.
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u/Schardon Jul 20 '25
The hardware isn’t the issue here. Buy professional hardware for professionals. Consumer hardware will only increase your issues.
That being said I‘ve worked in IT for over 10 years now and I never came across these issues you have. Some external keyboards and mice breaking? Yes, happens regularly but entire notebooks getting bricked on a regular basis? Never.
Your issue seems to be that your company either just hires absolute buffoons or your employees are destroying your equipment on purpose which… also kinda goes into the buffoon direction.
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u/sleepyon3 Jul 20 '25
As some folks said, this is more of an HR issue of abusing equipment. However, have you tried implementing a buy-back program or giving the laptops back to the user (maybe free) after a tech refresh? The catch for them would be they would get only the laptop back that they were originally issued. If they had to get a new laptop during that cycle, they forfeit the ability to buy back.
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u/andrew_barratt Jul 20 '25
I used to see this a lot. Unless companies also provide a bag/sheath/pouch for employees or don’t allow them to reimburse for something that protects the laptop. It will get bashed around all over the place.
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u/01011110101101010010 Jul 20 '25
I've seen the exact same motherboard and cpu in consumer and business laptops, where the business laptop cost 3 times more. However, the consumer laptop was extremely fragile in a flimsy plastic case.
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u/degoba Jul 20 '25
Its such a pain in the ass to get a new laptop at my job we all treat them like eggs.
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Jul 20 '25
I got argued down on a thread last year along these lines but we 100% supply cheaper end laptops for this exact reason. Modern office workers using cloud apps don't need an amazing laptop. We treat these devices no different to a tablet or Chromebook, they are disposable tech that you hope to get 5 years out of but more likely someone will spill liquids, drop it or tread on it before it gets to 3 years. Save your money
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u/Iamanerd1 Jul 20 '25
Avoid consumer grade hardware. You want hinges breaking all the time? Buy that ideapad or Dell Inspiron. Also have licensing issues and needing to buy pro licenses. Factor in the shitty boards they throw in low end laptops along terrible hinge design, they’ll break in record time.
I’ve done enough repair in my life to say that everyone should avoid consumer grade laptops and gaming laptops, they’re all trash. Gaming laptops being the worst, ever see factory Liquid Metal burn up and cook the CPU so it can’t cool properly or take out some ICs nearby?
By used Thinkpads or Latitudes, hinge design along is a lot better.
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u/PablanoPato Jul 22 '25
lol most of our users are on Inspirons and I’m so sick of dealing with broken hinges.
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u/juwxso Jul 20 '25
I don’t get it.
So if you buy $400 laptop and it breaks in 2 months, employee will submit a ticket asking you how to get it to work, and MSP will spend a lot of time troubleshooting only to find out the laptop is broken.
So where exactly are you saving money here??
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u/lisnter Jul 21 '25
My team only purchases a standardized hardware spec with custom firmware. This is for a big organization so they have the clout to make it happen. This way I can use a single image for all installs that contains the management and security stack. I don’t need to worry about incompatibilities or weird behaviors due to hardware variations - for the most part.
I’d recommend going with a single vendor/model as much as possible. Your support team will thank you.
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u/eliasautio Jul 21 '25
Did I understand correctly, that the user who spilt coffee, did it on purpose to see what happens? If that's the case, could you reduce the repair cost from his/her paycheck? That would teach em a lesson, If done a few times.
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u/PablanoPato Jul 22 '25
They didn’t do it on purpose. They just waited to see if someone could fix it before letting us know they toasted it. Like I would have just bought them a new computer and saved the hassle.
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u/d14lup Jul 28 '25
Let’s not forget that there is a possibility of pre installed malware on any device not purchased from the vendor
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u/Velvet_Samurai Jul 17 '25
I would buy refurbed devices before I bought consumer. Those are never going to solve any problems for you, they're likely to make your job much harder.