Technology How often do you replace your laptop?

[silas2642]

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I was just wondering how often (on average) you guys replace your laptops. I have this Sony Vaio that I ended up getting for "free" because my other computer was under warantee and ended up being a lemon-- I had bought the insurance plan (thank God). I think that it's starting to die. It's now going on its fourth year. I hate it. It's slow, it reboots on its own, I think it may have a virus, and its a PC.

Anyway, since the new Macs have come out with the lowered prices, it is really, really, tempted to get one, particularly since they come with a new Ipod touch and I believe a new printer. With the educational discount, I think they're around $1,600. I'm just worried that if I wait that Apple will raise their prices again. Is now the time to buy? I think I might be ready to make the switch into the cult of Mac believers.

 

[16846]

I usually spend $1500-1600 every 3 years or so.

 

[southerndoc]

I usually keep mine about 4 years, but my last MacBook (black plastic one) I replaced after only a year because I liked the aluminum design better. Now I'm thinking of getting the new 13" MacBook Pro after only 9 months with my aluminum MacBook because of increased battery life. I get about 3.5 hours on my MacBook, and supposedly the MacBook Pro gets up to 7 hours now. Hopefully can extend this to 8 with a solid-state disk drive.

 

[deleted87716]

I just replaced my wife's G3 iBook after seven years. My 5-y/o PowerBook G4 is still going strong.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Damn.

I hoped you guys were going to say "every 2 years". Then I would have an excuse to walk down to the Grand Opening of the new Apple store which just opened down the street from me.

On this note, should I upgrade to Leopard? I have OS 10.4.11

 

[deleted87716]

On this note, should I upgrade to Leopard? I have OS 10.4.11

I'm still running OS 10.4.11 on my PowerBook. I haven't decided yet whether or not to upgrade to a new MacBook Pro this year, so I'm holding off for now. The next release of OS X ("Snow Leopard") drops support for PowerPC-based Macs, so Leopard will be the last version that we can use on older machines. If I decide to keep the PowerBook for another year or so, I may go ahead and get the Leopard upgrade.

 

[16846]

If you guys can hold off upgrading this year you would be far better off upgrading next year, much more so than any year since the Core2Duo was released.

2010 is going to be something of a banner year for laptops and PC's in general. The 802.11n standard will be finished and fully implemented, the first USB 3.0 standard chipsets will be put into systems, HDMI 1.4 will be implemented, and the successor to the Core2Duo with significant architecture changes will be available. We're probably also looking at the first patterned media HD's as well, not to mention most likely another new generation of SSD's that will more or less finally hit the mainstream.

I would imagine as a result of all the major upgrades due next year that the models of Macbook released Fall 2010 will probably be the largest revamp made since the switch from Powerbook to Macbook.

2010 is going to be a game changing year by all accounts for the IT world.

 

[deleted87716]

I think I'm going to sit tight for now. I'm not having any performance issues with my PowerBook, and have no need to run Windows apps. The biggest feature of Leopard that I really want is Time Machine. Since my wife's new MacBook has Leopard installed, once I upgrade the OS on mine I can go ahead and replace my old Airport base station with a Time Capsule.

I'm also going to bump the RAM up to 2GB (that will only cost around $30 from Other World Computing).

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

For my personal laptops (all that I have now,) I generally go the "disposable" route: I buy a $300 - $500 laptop every 2 years (and backup frequently.) Generally, these laptops don't last any longer than that. In my experience, however, MOST laptops don't last much longer than 2 years, if you use them as laptops (i.e. carry them around with you a significant amount of time.) This seems largely independent of brand, and of price, as I have owned nearly every brand of laptop (yes, the math works out, because before I went to medical school, I had a work laptop and a personal laptop simultaneously) at some point in time over the past 10+ years.

 

[rc4ch]

For my personal laptops (all that I have now,) I generally go the "disposable" route: I buy a $300 - $500 laptop every 2 years (and backup frequently.) Generally, these laptops don't last any longer than that. In my experience, however, MOST laptops don't last much longer than 2 years, if you use them as laptops (i.e. carry them around with you a significant amount of time.) This seems largely independent of brand, and of price, as I have owned nearly every brand of laptop (yes, the math works out, because before I went to medical school, I had a work laptop and a personal laptop simultaneously) at some point in time over the past 10+ years.

I gotta say, those $300-$500 laptops are just plain awful. lol.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

How so? They do the job (until they self-destruct.). I use my laptop as a laptop, not a desktop replacement. I toyed with getting a MacBook air for this iteration, but decided to wait one more iteration for the price to come down.

 

[DrJosephKim]

I replace my mission-critical laptop every 2-3 years. At this point, I wonder if things are starting to reach a plateau. Netbooks are becoming increasingly popular and they are running specs of a 2-3 year-old laptop. So, software vendors will be pressed to create software that can run on older machines. As a result, the impetus to upgrade to the latest and greatest is diminishing.

 

[Cp22kjer]

I gotta say, those $300-$500 laptops are just plain awful. lol.

At that price I tend to agree. On the same account for about $650-700 you can get a nice one which is more than capable. See the Lenovo website...

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

I replace it when it doesn't work anymore.

My 2005 Thinkpad T43 is still rock solid. Seriously, not a single problem, hardware or otherwise.

 

[marithe18]

I jusy bought my HP notebook early this May, I find it easy to use because I can bring it with me almost anywhere. 🙂

Maybe if I can save up extra bucks for a new laptop, I will buy one. I want a Sony Vaio.

I was hoping that my dad would give me a new one as a gift next year. 🙂

 

[movax]

My laptop is so old, its got a non-widescreen display 😉

I'm thinking I'll get a Latitude E6xxx come next fall before matriculation...my D600 has served well for five years now, nothing broke. Pentium M power!