Reliability: the single most important feature a laptop can possess

Reliability is not something that can be bolted on. It has to be built in. That's one reason we continue to design and manufacture our laptops in-house. To make sure we've succeeded, we test new designs thoroughly. The result? Toshiba's laptops set industry benchmarks for reliability.

The Highly Accelerated Lifetime Test pushes new laptop designs to the limit and identifies potential weaknesses quickly. First, they’re baked at 75°C. Then they’re rapidly cooled to -25°C. And then they’re re-heated to 75°C and then re-frozen – over and over again. Meanwhile, they’re subjected to intense vibrations that expose them to accelerations of 45G (that’s 45 times the force of gravity – top fighter pilots black-out at 6 to 9G). This aggressive process has one objective: identify potential weaknesses so we can fix them. Only then will a new design go into commercial production.

See a side of Toshiba's laptops you may have never seen before. The inside.

Heat is one of the leading causes of laptop failure. Not surprising, when you consider that modern processors run at temperatures of 100°C or more. That is why thermal management is a key part of Toshiba’s design process. For instance, we model the interiors of our new laptops at 1mm intervals to ensure that air flows smoothly through the complex architecture and eliminate hot spots (see the thermal map, above).

We are also constantly looking for new ways to actively remove heat. For example, we developed the world’s first water-cooling system for laptops and the world’s first cooling system for high-power LCD screens. This focus on thermal management helps make Toshiba’s laptops more reliable, and the schools that use them more productive.

Toshiba's laptop testing process - just like real life, only tougher.

Hinge durability test This machine opens and closes the lid thousands of times to simulate a couple of lifetimes of heavy use.	Palm rest pressure test This device applies two 25kg loads to the area of the palm-rest to simulate someone pushing down on the unit to stand up.	LCD cover point-pressure test 25kg of pressure is applied to the screen cover via a 30mm rod to simulate conditions in an over-packed bag.
Vibration test Will the hard disk drive survive working on a surface that's vibrating 500 times a second (like a car)? This test finds out.	Drop and impact test Notebooks are dropped from 30 centimetres and then from 1 metre to simulate falls from bags and desks. This test is repeated for all six sides.	Keyboard pressure and durability tests Each key is pounded millions of times to simulate the impact of a heavy-handed typist over a lifetime's work.