"A reasonable length of time"

I'm_With_Stupid

I've been looking at the rights to get a product repaired and it's quite easy to find out that a product should last "a reasonable length of time." It's also quite easy to find out that "what is reasonable depends on the product and could be up to six years." What is harder to find is any information whatsoever on how long I should be able to expect particular types of products to ask. Does anyone have a list with that information on it? I'm particularly interested in how long a laptop should last, but I'd be interested to see a whole list. The information available on the internet seems pretty vague.

Hintza

I think it is pretty vague (probably deliberately) but I don't think you could go wrong arguing 6 years for a laptop of reasonable quality.

arcon5

There isn't a list. It also depends on price and description. Some laptops may be expected to last 6 years, others half that could be reasonable.

Fosterdog

I work for a company that sells laptops and I work in the repairs and maintenance department and can honestly say it would depend on a number of things.

How much the laptop cost?
What spec it is?
How often it is used?
What it is used for?
Who it is used by?
How well it is looked after?
How often it is moved around?
How it is stored when not in use?
What the fault is?
How has it been maintained (cleaning, upgrades, servicing etc.)?
Has it ever taken any knocks or bumps, if not how can you be 100% sure?

Those are just a few things off the top of my head.

As a few examples:

Laptop A
Very low and basic spec, cost £250-£300, used by an older person, only used once or twice a month for a bit of web browsing, never connect other devices to it, put in a padded laptop bag and kept in a dry cupboard between uses.

I would expect this to easily last 10 years, unless a massive change in technology like dial up to broadband and even then an upgraded port will extend it's use.

Laptop B
Mid range laptop bought for £500, used by a teenager for gaming, downloading, homework and social networking, used for several hours a day, carried around the house regularly while turned, has sticky marks all over from food and drink being consumed around it, sometimes taken out of the house in a normal rucksack, regularly used on the bed, has had a few small falls from bed or sofa height, multiple devices being connected.

I would expect this laptop to struggle to make it to 2 years. The spec wouldn't be up to high end gaming so it may just need changing for a better spec but all of the other things are likely to cause damage and shorten the life of the laptop. Carrying it in a non padded bag leaves it open to knocks and bumps, carrying around while turned on can damage the hard drive, especially if there is a sudden jerk or movement, using it on the bed will suffocate the cooling fans and cause it to overheat (can also cause fires so very dangerous), a knock or fall may not show signs of damage straight away but if it knocked something loose it could take a while for it to show a fault if still just hanging on, multiple devices being connected and disconnected regularly is likely to damage the ports, which can short out the motherboard if damaged badly enough.

Laptop C
Another mid range laptop at around £500, used by a couple to browse, check emails, Skype, social networking, streaming films, occasional working from home and playing a few basic online games, used for a couple of hours a day each, used mostly on a laptop tray on the sofa and put on a side table when not being used, sometimes used in other rooms, not perfectly looked after but not abused either, has had a few checks and upgrades done to it and an air canister is used every few months on the fans.

I'd expect this to last 5-6 as an average, there's no set reason for it to fail sooner but it does also get quite a bit of use so wouldn't expect it to last up to the 10 years of laptop A.

There really is no set and definitive time for a laptop to last, I'm basing the above on the types of repairs I carry out and the ages of the laptops I see and the types of users. If you answer the questions above it will give more of an idea of what is reasonable but still can't be 100% without looking at the laptop and doing some diagnostics.