Every socket pin is a hit to reliability. That’s a Mother Nature problem there is no getting around. A soldered joint will always have better reliability than

Every socket pin is a hit to reliability. That’s a Mother Nature problem there is no getting around. A soldered joint will always have better reliability than a pin-and-socket joint. The MTBF math is easy. So the right way to look at this is you are spending MTBF to get MTTR wins and also upgradability. This may or may not be the right choice for every user, and for most manufacturers its a losing proposition. Personally, I like the upgradability and understand that real-world shock-and-vibe issues may show up and need me to dig out a screwdriver. Not everyone may share those expectations.