Dell laptop?

macman

Do you mean warranty when you say 'support'? I'm tempted to say that if a laptop is going to fail, it will fail in the first twelve months. However I do know of a Dell where the mobo failed in about 15 months. Had they taken the extended warranty, that would have covered it (even though I think the failure was due to misuse in this instance).
But in another case, someone took a 3 year extended warranty-and the hard drive failed just a month later.
Having said all that, the majority of Dell's I've seen go on beyond 5 years or more without major problems.
Laptops are more fragile and likeley to suffer accidental damage, especially if they're carried about. The warranty won't of course cover such damage.