There’s one particular element most consumers don’t take into account when purchasing a new tablet. Yet, it’s a detail that everyone should certainly be aware of.
iFixit has released a comprehensive list of tablets rated in terms of repairability. The reason for doing so is, well that’s pretty straightforward I think. If you break your tablet, or damage it somehow, a higher repairability score means it will be easier to fix. DIY gadget fixes are a pretty common thing these days.
At the risk of angering a few folks, I can rightfully say that DIY screen fixes for the iPhone are some of the most common. After all, Apple was foolish enough to coat the outside of the iPhone in glass. Lots of folks have figured out that it’s much cheaper to fix a broken screen and outer cover at home, than it is to take the affected device to Apple “gurus”.
Regardless, iFixit’s list gives an accurate depiction of which tablets are easy to fix, and which ones are not. The higher up in the list a tablet is, the cheaper it is to fix as well.
To populate the list, iFixit engineers tore down and rebuilt the devices, analyzing them on ease of repairability.
Surprisingly, right at the top of the list, are two of Dell’s tablets, the Dell XPS 10 and the Dell Streak in spots 1 and 3 respectively. Also at the top of the list, in position number 2, is the first Amazon Kindle Fire.
The Google Nexus 7 is almost smack dab in the middle, at position number 8 with a repairability rating of 7.
Down at the very bottom is the Microsoft Surface Pro with a score of 1, followed by the Apple iPad Mini, iPad 4, iPad 3 and iPad 2. The first iPad is slightly higher on the list with a score of 6.
To translate all of these numbers, Apple’s tablets and Microsoft’s tablets seem to be extremely difficult to repair. No doubt this is thanks to a design decision, or at least in Apple’s case, a marketing ploy. The harder it is to fix a device, the more likely consumers will get another or take it into an official shop for repair.
Head on over to iFixit to see the full list, along with the tear down guides for each of the related devices. Feel free to insert your own Apple and Microsoft jokes below.