What is the lifespan of a laptop?

wazza

Had my laptop since mid 2006. It is used daily for approx 4 hours. It is a compaq model. Was wondering what is a typical lifespan of a laptop.

How often do you replace yours?

grizzly1911

wazza wrote: »

Had my laptop since mid 2006. It is used daily for approx 4 hours. It is a compaq model. Was wondering what is a typical lifespan of a laptop.

How often do you replace yours?

I have managed portfolios of laptops of several 100s. My own laptops don't "fail" but it is surprising the attrition rate suffered by certain users. around 3 years used to be the refresh point unless system/software dictated otherwise.

It really does depend on the treatment they get. If they are used gently, not moved around too much, especially while processing, could last a good time. Good housekeeping will help keep them from filling up. New programmes and system upgrades can dwarf capacity over time.

Chucked into cases, in the boot of the car, lots of plugging in/out, keyboard spills/debris take their toll. Screen failure if if not closed or handled properly. Leaving them on the car roof isn't good either.

Batteries are variable from months to years depending on whether they are cycled or just powered on all the time. Overheating from lap/duvet use.

Physical connections can wear USB sockets, power sockets, adaptors.

For personal use I have a PC at home its just easier as I have a dedicated space, proper keyboard and monitor. Kids only got a laptop when they went to uni they had PCs too.

Hammyman

wazza wrote: »

Had my laptop since mid 2006. It is used daily for approx 4 hours. It is a compaq model. Was wondering what is a typical lifespan of a laptop.

How often do you replace yours?

If its cheap tat that Tesco, Asda, PC World etc sell or you get "free" with a mobile phone contract, you'd be lucky to see the year. The used corporate grade ones I sell, which cost typically £1000-£1500 when new, are still going strong at 5+ years old, some still getting 2-3hrs from their original batteries. My friend has some Dell Latitudes he uses for radio programming that are a decade old.

Enterprise_1701C

My old Dell that cost me about £800 7 years ago lasted me 5 1/2 years. It is still sitting upstairs because it will replace one that gets a bit battered when it fails, the battered one is about 8 years old now and still going strong, although not used that often, about once a week on average. I will clean the Dell off down to the OS and replace any necessary software to speed it up a bit, the battery is next to nothing now but that bit will not be vital.

paddyrg

Agreed with the above - costlier models generally are built to last better than the cheapo ones. I have three lappies that in their day were each around the £1400 mark (oldest is ~10yrs old, latest is 6 months) - the old one still out-specs many of the cheaper newer ones, even though the battery wheezes a bit now compared with a decade ago (as do I!).

Personally I like to buy the top end of 'just superseded' line of machines - the prices are better than the absolute latestgreatest, but the machines are still built to last and please.

Sublime_2

Must admit my my previous pc lasted 10 years, but cost over £1000. My current one, was approx £360, and has had all the main parts replaced at least once. This time I did myself, and its running better than it ever did. It was a cheap PB, which had an inadequate PSU, the cause I believe of the problems, with other components.

PlutoinCapricorn

I have an ACER Aspire 1644 that I bought in January 2006. It has not been taken out very often because it is heavy - perhaps just 20 occasions or so - and I try to take care of it. The battery died last year, but this does not matter as I have a tiny netbook for use when travelling nd when I take the AA1644 to the library to get free WiFi I can plug in.

It cost around £800: I could have got a cheaper deal at the time but I still have plenty of disk space left and the longer it lasts the less the overall cost is. I am tempted by some of the recent models but have no real need at the moment. I am wondering how many more years of life are left.

macman

Laptops are just a collection of components. On a five year old machine, the hard drive is the most likely component to fail. It could last another 3 years, it could fail tomorrow, so a back up is essential. But component failure does not require a replacement laptop.

ada1988

My pc is a HP one,i have used for 3 years and it lokks new because I don't use it usual.
I think if your Configuration is ok,you need to change your PC just because of the years it has been used.

Lemon_Labs

Hammyman wrote: »

If its cheap tat that Tesco, Asda, PC World etc sell or you get "free" with a mobile phone contract, you'd be lucky to see the year. The used corporate grade ones I sell, which cost typically £1000-£1500 when new, are still going strong at 5+ years old, some still getting 2-3hrs from their original batteries. My friend has some Dell Latitudes he uses for radio programming that are a decade old.

Can you tell me what makes a laptop "corporate grade"? 5 years ago you'd get a fairly solid laptop any way regardless of price or where it was used. Most new laptops will probably last 3-4 years before an HDD replacement is needed or maybe screen fault etc. But in today's electrical items you get what you pay for, doesn't matter if it's from PC World or eBuyer. If you want a decent laptop try Asus, Lenovo, Sony, Samsung or Apple.

fred7777

Depends entirely on what the model is and how it's used.

I bought a used 2005 Compaq NC6100 last year which I use for web and office stuff and it's still working perfectly (albeit with more ram and a new non-compaq battery)

Up until last year I used a much older 1999 Compaq laptop for presentations and playing DVDs in locations where I didn't want to take a more expensive unit (although presentations were created on another machine).

One of my friends let her two sons play computer games on her 2 year old laptop and some of the keys are already showing faults!