View Full Version : How long do your computer usually last?
Benjamin Marks
09-16-2011, 11:17
I have had a series of hard drive and other failures over the last 6 years. Gone through an extraordinary 4 CPUs (Systemax, Dell, HP). Sometimes it is the motherboard (or a component on the MB, like the LAN connection) that fails; in another case the operating system has become corrupt. I just lost the HD on a less-than-one-year-old HP, along with, apparently, a corrupted registry. Will have to do a clean install of the operating system and then re-install all software. I have good data back-ups, but the thing is a huge time-suck. Soo: average age of your CPUs/laptops? What do you mentally budget when you get a new machine? 3 years? More? Less?
tunalegs
09-16-2011, 11:26
My current laptop is going on five now. I back things up on an external hard drive to be careful, but I just bought a new battery for it last year so I'm hoping to at least get another year out of it.
On the other hand, this sheet metal beauty is going on 25, and still running strong!:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5650863622_e6244f13a2_z.jpg
Dektol Dan
09-16-2011, 11:28
My oldest working lap top is an Apple 550c (1994), first with track pad, first with a TFT screen, and first with wireless (yes, it's wireless). It still works as new, but now on the net I can only retrieve mail, no web pages will open. It was up dated to a Power PC, the first! I still have the original processor with math co-processor.
Next, I have a 1998 apple 2400C. Everything works just fine. It was updated to a G3, the first!
Those from there are not so uncommon, but they all work fine.
I stick with Mac, hardware and OS is integrated and first class and I've only had one hard drive fail on all may many computers. I keep some old ones around so I can run old titles, like Photoshop 2.
brainwood
09-16-2011, 11:29
My previous computer was a Windows XP running desktop bought fairly cheaply new. It lasted about 5 years before it creaked and ground to a halt. I had repair cover with it which was handy as it consumed a new Motherboard and power supply in that time. I replaced it with an iMac which I hope will do better than five years but five years seems to be good going for a computer these days. 18 months into the Mac and no problems it just works. ( I should probably be touching some wood or such like as I say that)
Depending on the purpose of the machine, I might look to upgrade it within three to four years. I've never had a computer completely fail on me, although once did have a string of ten, yes, 10, Seagate hard drives all fail within a year of purchase. While they had something of a warranty on them the hassle factor was very large. I've not bought one of theirs since.
Aside from laptops I have always "built" my own machines, buying good quality parts and assembling them myself. This isn't always the most cost effective way of acquiring a computer but I like being able to make my own choices.
Old computers that I no longer need get donated to worthy causes or, often enough, to aging parents.
f16sunshine
09-16-2011, 11:33
I've just replaced my 2008 Macbook pro17. That's 3 years. It had not failed But I expect it would soon. As well a faster CPU/drive/larger memory capacity is running 64bit Aperture3 faster. My Guess is that the machine I just sold is likely to give good service another 3 years but who knows. For me it seems the technology cycle outdates most of these machines before failure. From that standpoint I would (and do) budget for an every 3-4 years full replacement (not including storage which is as needed). I just got a Macbook air for travel. The little beast I'm shocked at it's speed and dependability. Has yet to lock up on me while using Aperture3. Very impressive and has no moving parts so runs quite cool. I will use solid state drives for onboard storage from this point forward.
I suppose you are talking of your personal desktop PC, not a dedicated server machine.
Working in the IT my daily work notebook is always sponsored by my firm. But that doesn't mean I own always le dernier cri, because I like to configure my computer exactly to my own taste. All the bells and whistles and the 90 % unused function are de-installted or hided and all the automatics, which newer Windows versions have always enabled, will be switched off.
I don't need most of a big Office package or the power of multi-core CPUs. I mostly write mails (90 % text only), work often with spreadsheet and do some presentation work. Additionally I remotely work on servers, which also doesn't need local power. Privately it's quiet the same, plus some image processing work.
If I had to re-install and re-configure all that stuff, although well documented, I will loose up to a week off my working time. And that's why I try to use the one I have until it will be imposed by the company that I have to change.
Worn out keyboard? You can change it! Defective other parts? Take the same or similar model with your own hard disk and you have a new PC!
In the last decades I arranged to change after an average of five years.
Spleenrippa
09-16-2011, 11:52
I usually build a new PC every 1.5 years or so
I usually get a new one every 5-6 years but usually just to take advantage of more RAM. Having a speedy machine is nice. Never actually one that really needed to be replaced. Such a waster!
dave lackey
09-16-2011, 12:15
Nine years and counting...works like a champ! It is NOT a crappy laptop.;)
ruby.monkey
09-16-2011, 12:27
I tend to assemble a new one every two to three years; at the moment I'm waiting for Ivy Bridge to hit the shelves before embarking on my next build.
As long as Microsoft and Adobe say they will last by whatever software advance they make.
Steve
Frank Version Two
09-16-2011, 12:29
As long as you have clean power, Mac desktops are hard to kill. The laptops last a long time but motherboards tend to get zapped by surges more and laptop hard drives fail more frequently because they are small, hot, and abused.
But I just turned on my 1990 Mac IIci and it ran just fine, even the monitor.
Landshark
09-16-2011, 12:40
1st EMAC for 6yr. didn't fail, soft ware compatibility problems
Mini Mac this time, so far 2 yr. no problem.
What's a blue screen?
Benjamin Marks
09-16-2011, 13:00
Ah. Clean power. We don't have it. We are on a rural Vermont highway and have brown-outs or voltage sags that are sufficient to reset all of the electronic clocks in the house 1-2 times a month. I bought a UPS for my computer, figuring that it would protect the electro-innards from the worst of it. My computer at home is not even turned on most days -- it is mostly a weekend thing. That is why I am a little surprised at the short life-span of the machines I have owned in the house. Of course, any component can fail, but to have three machines go belly up because of corrupted registries or boot sectors? That seems unlikely.
Bob Michaels
09-16-2011, 13:14
I have never worn one out, they just finally get too slow to run the software I want to use. .................
Same thing here. Still got an IBM XT that should power up. Just don't know what DOS programs only needing 256K memory that I would use now.
Brian Sweeney
09-16-2011, 13:16
One of the Nixie tubes went out on my Calculator. Also picked up a bad bit in the arithmetic unit. I'll have to disassemble it ans try to find the bad card. The core memory still works in it. 1967 Wang 360K.
On a humorous note, i still use DOS for embedded systems, running on an 800Mhz processor. "Screaming". I found a note made to myself in one assembly language routine that the fixup in the 8th bit position for the value for "year" read out of the battery backed clock would have to be changed in "2000". I changed it today, works fine. I left myself that note in 1990.
Frank Version Two
09-16-2011, 13:24
A UPS won't protect you from everything, the best thing is to leave it unplugged when you're not using it and don't have it on around thunderstorms. And Saturday nights when drunks run into telephone poles.
Ah. Clean power. We don't have it. We are on a rural Vermont highway and have brown-outs or voltage sags that are sufficient to reset all of the electronic clocks in the house 1-2 times a month. I bought a UPS for my computer, figuring that it would protect the electro-innards from the worst of it. My computer at home is not even turned on most days -- it is mostly a weekend thing. That is why I am a little surprised at the short life-span of the machines I have owned in the house. Of course, any component can fail, but to have three machines go belly up because of corrupted registries or boot sectors? That seems unlikely.
Jani_from_Finland
09-16-2011, 13:24
Mac(crap)book was the worst, about 10 months only and Apple refused to service it and claimed it was my own fault, well i found out this week it was a standard failure but did they come in contact with me again, nope! I hate that company now!
Then my Sony Vaio, probably the same designer fault (overheating) causes the HDD or motherboard to fry, its in service now (hopefully).
I think about buying those big monster block computer and istalling some serious cooling to them, but anyway i am not going to pay anything over 500€ in the future as they just dont last that long. My old HP laptop that cost me 600€ in 2004 lasted until 2009 and man did it have some serious smashes and crashes (worked at sea previously mainly on cargo ships amd this one flew aroud the cabin in storms etc and the power source was not constant Hz and Amps or reliable), but it always worked on and on with minimal cranks, i think it had more beer on the keybord than i can consumate on an evening. So HEY HP, you're the best and long lasting!
I have never worn one out, they just finally get too slow to run the software I want to use.
I found an appreciable benefit from formating them upon installing operating system based on Linux, like Ubuntu (freeware too).
I got this Macbook at the end of 2007, so about 4 years and still going strong. I'll probably upgrade the hard drive on it's birthday (bigger and 7200rpm) but other than that I have no real need to upgrade.
Stuart John
09-16-2011, 13:51
My first PC I bought in 2000 with a 196 mb ram and a 433 celeron I used it until mid 2006, I finally upgraded it as I could not process 6mp RAW files with any kind of efficiency.
My second PC a P4ht I used until a couple or 3 of weeks ago when it suddenly became very unstable and would crash repeatedly or not even boot up. At first I thought it was a windows problems so I tried my live linux CD and even that would crash after a couple of minutes so there was some kind of hardware problem when the computer starts to warm up. I had planned to replace it around December/January time,I did hope it would still by working but what can you do.
For now I am using a used PC that I bought with Pentium D processor so it has to be pretty old (but slightly newer than the previous one). I will try to get as much use out of it as I can but it will need to be replace at some point.
Macs (not high-end models) for everyday work usually last for 3 years, then they start to feel slow with continual sofrware upgrading. HD failure is common thing, regular backup is heavily recommended.
Not my experience. I have owned a lot of Macs starting with a Plus. HD failure totally depends on the drives involved.
I have only had Maxtors fail, and never catastrophically. All the Macs I have had with IBM disks never failed. But drives can fail, no question about it.
I have very bad experience with external Maxtor drives, I avoid this manufacturer since then.
From 7 macs I ever used 3 of them had exchanged HD, 2 optical drives, 1 display.
willie_901
09-16-2011, 14:39
A UPS won't protect you from everything, the best thing is to leave it unplugged when you're not using it and don't have it on around thunderstorms. And Saturday nights when drunks run into telephone poles.
I am curious to learn about a scenario where a proper UPS won't protect you.
By proper I mean an UPS designed to cleanly cut off power when the battery is about to die. For a dozen years I had over 2 million dollars of scientific equipment protected by a room-sized UPS. We had failures due to lightning, wind storms, ice storms, telephone pole accidents, contractors severing underground lines, etc. We never experienced a single failure. Best of all when a vendor would try to blame component failure on poor quality power to avoid responsibility for warranty and service-contract repairs, we would show them to the UPS room and laugh.
imac 2005
http://www.etiennemichiels.com
semordnilap
09-16-2011, 15:49
I keep two machines–desktop and laptop. Desktop is a first generation Mac Pro from 2006, still running without problems. I've upgraded the storage along the way but I don't have any problems with it, and expect it to do what I need it to do for a few years more at least.
My last laptop was a 2003 12" powerbook, which I did have to replace the hard drive and battery on. With older laptops I don't always upgrade the OS, and that machine was still running Tiger when I basically gave it away. I bought a Macbook air this year and it's great, but still slower than my five year old Mac Pro.
totifoto
09-16-2011, 15:53
My first computer was a PC and lasted me for 7 years, bought another PC and after only a few months using it I sold it and bought a Macbook Pro, that was about a year ago.
I probably have twenty plus computers. My small Atom based servers usually fall apart after a year or so. The fans usually stop, or some mystery death. Not reliable, but I run them 24x7. My office iMacs and Mac Minis get replaced somewhere between every two and three years, so I replace them before they crash. My Jan 2008 Mac Pro is still going strong, but replaced faulty memory under OWC warranty and replace main drive every two years and all other drives are Raid 5. Just picked up an OWC 120GB SSD for the main drive. Should be at my house when I get home tonight. My PC's aren't used much. Just for specific tasks not available with Mac. Atom based netbooks are going strong. Have three, two of which run 12 hours per day. Macbook Pro, took one year to get it to function, but last year has been good.
My current PC is six or seven years old and really struggles with the file sizes from my D700 and X100 so a 24 megapixel digital is not an option for me.
Every day I turn it on and it works I thank the gods for letting me use it for one more day! :D
I've only run Macs, starting with a 128k model in 1984, and can't recall any that failed. Hard drives, sure, and monitors fade away. Looking back at the record it seems I run them about 7 years, by which time they feel old and slow, and won't run the current OS version. Now, the problem is the lack of Intel processor in my 2004 dual-G5 PowerMac at home. Current OSX and lots of software now require Intel. The 20" Cinema Display burnt out one of its two fluorescent illuminators a year or so ago, so it got a new screen. I may replace it with the 2-yr-old 27" iMac from the office and get a new office iMac...
Chriscrawfordphoto
09-16-2011, 17:24
My old Powermac G4 (dual 1.25 ghz) MDD was bought new in 2003 and I just replaced it a few months ago with a new Mac Pro because the PPC processors weren't compatible with some software I needed. The old G4 still works though! It did have a power supply failure a few yrs ago, and I installed a new one that I bought from a local Apple Specialist. The part was $150, a lot for a power supply, but its the only thing that's ever failed on it and the $150 was less than a new computer! Kept me going a few more yrs till I could afford a new one.
I have never worn one out, they just finally get too slow to run the software I want to use.
I have had a couple of HD's go bad, but was lucky enough to catch them just in time.
I've only used macs at home, and the above has been my experience.
Although the external floppy drive of my 512K Mac was acting right unreliable the last time I fired it up.
White plastic imac - 2.16ghz, maxed out @ 3gb ram. Had it since 2005, never been turned off. Still runs perfectly.
White plastic macbook bought 2006, still runs perfectly.
Previous to my Macs, we had Dells, IBMs, Gateways and they never lasted more than 2-3 years without grinding to a halt, intermittently restarting by themselves, or just slowing down to a mush.
I had been managing OS and application updates carefully on a 2004 Apple G5 desktop with a plan to attempt to extract 10 years out of it. However, I recently bought an 11" Macbook Air (with a little pimping) that was for the purpose on not having to carry my heavy windoz machine for biz travel. Unfortunately, after seeing the performance of the MBA I realised just how bad the G5 had become and that I probably didn't need a MacPro to replace it.
So, after 7 years of the G5 I finally replaced it with a Mac Mini - which after experience with the MBA was pimped with the i7 processor, an SSD and max RAM - unbelievable how powerful such a small box is. It is then paired up to my NEC monitor and I use a NAS - as previously - for data storage. I have tried working 550MB RGB scans of 6x7 negs and its quick - this would have brought the G5 to its knees.
iMac 2006, with three external drives. Latest external is a 4T and I just learned about time machine for auto backup.
Before that many many PC dating back to a 286 machine. I think my old Mac book from '93 might still turn on.
My kids had some Sony vaios which lasted about a 1.5 years, and we replaced them with MBPs, which have been going strong for a couple of years.
Finally, we have a couple of PC notebooks around here that have lasted a long, long time.
ColSebastianMoran
09-16-2011, 19:29
My approach is: Buy middle of the line laptop, buy AppleCare, use it every day. When AppleCare runs out (3 years), that machine gets a new disk drive and goes to someone else in the family; I buy a new one. Cycle continues. So, six years for each laptop.
After that, they still run, but generally the performance has been so comparatively weak that the older machines are only turned on for occasional interest or to run some old piece of software. Old machines run OK as servers for a long time, if I update the disks every few years.
Gabriel M.A.
09-16-2011, 23:35
My current laptop is going on five now. I back things up on an external hard drive to be careful, but I just bought a new battery for it last year so I'm hoping to at least get another year out of it.
On the other hand, this sheet metal beauty is going on 25, and still running strong!:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5650863622_e6244f13a2_z.jpg
Lemme guess: not made in China? 99% of the computer parts that have failed on me were made there. I now shop diligently to see where it came from. Which is why I still have a computer that's over 27 years old, another that is 16, another which is 12 --and still using as a Linux server--, and my current one is almost two, because the previous one died (the motherboard was made in you-know-where).
I've had three four hard drives die on me. When I noticed where they were from, that's when I began to take notice. It was a horrible week. Always make backups!!
Never could get my around the notion one of them things.
Brian Sweeney
09-17-2011, 04:24
I am so in luck. Yesterday I found an unopened Box of 5.25" high density Floppies. And a boxed IBM OS/2, V2.1. An OS that I never used.
My guess is the 1GByte drive that has been running since 1993, came with an ATT Pentium 100, will be running after the 500GByte in this Laptop fails. The 1GByte drive sits in a Pentium Pro bought in 1996, gets used 5 days a week. I use the 1GB as backup for source code.
I've been using Macs for over twenty years. I replace about every 3.5-4 years. The older machines usually stick around for low-intensity use (music servers, hand-me-downs) for a couple years until something breaks that isn't worth fixing.
Stephen G
09-17-2011, 05:34
My macs seem to last longer than my old PCs did. They generally get the highest customer satisfaction & reliability ratings. You may pay a little more up front, but you get more in terms of software, and a cleaner, more integrated package.
They actually hold some value as well. When I had a 4 year old mac laptop, I sold it for 30% of my original cost. Most 4 year old Dells go in the trash, or you pay someone to recycle it for you :-).
Taking a quick peek - my 2.5 year old iMac can be sold on eBay for 50-60% of my original cost. It still is more than fast enough for what I do day to day, and only chokes when I'm doing too many things at once. Image processing in Lightroom or Silver Efex is no issue. I plan to use it at least 18 more months.
I do recommend upgrading RAM down the line in any computer if it still has spare capacity. It really brings new life to an old machine.
These days any computer with multiple processor cores is going to feel reasonably zippy. A lot of recent hardware advances have been on making more and more cores, and more power-efficient processors.
For your image processing needs, multiple cores aren't necessarily fully utilized that you will notice a big difference from 2 to 4.
The big step is when all CPUs went multi-core a few years ago.
I use Mac & PC, not noticed any reliability difference really. Cheap Macs break quick, so do PCs. I tend to replace computers before they need to be replaced, although at my work, they run computers until they run no more.
Stephen G
09-17-2011, 08:28
My parents are still using a bottom-of-the-line Macbook from early 2007.
Not only does it not break, but it's still powerful enough to run the latest & greatest OS X Lion.
My sister's iBook from 2005 has survived drops, dings and bumps.. and never died. This includes knocking it off the bed so hard she ripped the power adapter out of the wall.
Quite simply, most "bottom of the line" Mac's compare with "top of the line" to "medium line" in the PC world. On some form factors, such as Macbook Air size compact powerful laptop, the competitors are actually MORE expensive.
In my PC days I only used Thinkpad laptops, which were considered best of the best in build and reliability. Went through 3 of those, none of which lasted more than 3 years. All of them had major component failures requiring shipment to manufacturer in the first 1-2 years (motherboard, hard drivesx2, cd drive, keyboard).
Dektol Dan
09-17-2011, 09:44
Nine years and counting...works like a champ! It is NOT a crappy laptop.;)
My 550C Mac cost $5200 in 1995.
All Mac's are made to the same high standards. quality wise there is no difference between the least and most expensive Mac.
Yess do get the Apple Care (big discount if you are able to use a College discount!). As long as you don't drop or drown your Mac you will be taken care of. An even if you have had an accident they still can make a "One time Exception" ;-)
No matter what Mac you get, do get as much memory as possible. Don't worry about processor speed etc unless you have some very specific computing needs.
Next thing that will boost your computing experience is a SSD drive witch makes everything go much faster. I often revive a Apple computer by changing the HD for an SSD and maxing out the ram. Together with a good clean-up of the OS and data will make it run fantastic.
Having used all the top of the Line Mac Pro's. I am currently super satis fight with a humble Mac Mini where I replaced the HD with SSD and maxed out to 8GB of ram.
Its hanging in a bracket under the desk feeding graphics to 2 monitors.
My scans are mostly over 25 megapixels and have no trouble running Photoshop CS5. Everything works instantly.
What "cheap" Macs did you have break quick? Better question, what Macs do you consider "cheap?"
I run the least expensive Mac, the Mini, second one, never turn them off, nothing poorly made in then which would make me assume they will fail any more than the most expensive ones, the motherboard is quite elegant, HD Hatachi, memory Samsung.
Pherdinand
09-18-2011, 01:31
i have a macbook that is tunning fine since 2006... 1g ram still seems to be sufficient; the harddisk i swapped a year ago to a 500g (nominal) version which improved it a lot.
I love old macbooks where you can do this yourself in a matter of minutes.
However when i put snow leopard instead of tiger, some things changed software-wise.
At least it seems to be related, that since then it can't handle my external HD TV playing full screen movies on it, only if i reduce the resolution from 1080 to 720.
Which is pretty strange, since the video card and memory is the same as before...
to be honest, i see about zero improvement on this machine from tiger to snow leopard.
So to answer the original question, 5 years is the max i have so far.
fixed point
09-18-2011, 03:49
On year 5 with my Mac Pro and it is still running strong. Power consumption is the only thing it has fallen behind on.
sepiareverb
09-18-2011, 04:52
I'm going into my fourth year on this MacBook Pro, and it is beginning to show its age, slowing down despite regular maintenance. My screen has been getting bouts of static as well- I'm just starting the process of finding a new machine.
Frank Version Two
09-18-2011, 04:54
It is funny to me but die-hard PC users often try Macs and hate them, manage to break them in months, etc. and then tell us their HP or Dell is a workhorse, lasting through generations, out in blizzards and on the deck of fishing ships.... and how it was half the price of a Mac, etc.
Apple must have a program of sending its Lemons to the most ardent Windows maniacs.
Still going strong are my:
1980 Apple IIe (I use it in the office for making forms)
1998 Compaq Presario Laptop (I use it in the office for billing)
Two year-old iMac, running Snow Leopard (Typing on it now)
Two year old 13" Macbook (For travel; wife has it on the plane currently)
Dead and buried is my 2003 (or so) Sony VAIO. The screen died after fewer than five years of use. Best Buy wanted $1000 to replace it. Most expensive ($2500) pile of junk I ever bought.
Averaging all my computers, I will vote for "more than 5 years."
There is really only one way for a computer to slow, the hard drive is so full that it is having a problem creating temp files. The processors and ram either work or don't, they can't slow down.
Unless subsequent OS or apps updates are slurping resources or leaking memory
I had an AMD Quad-Core PC running Vista built for me over 3 years ago by a boutique house in NJ (Maingear (http://www.maingear.com/index.php)) and it's still going strong. Prior, had a Win98 Dell box for over 5 years, and prior to that, Apples. May go to an iMac next after this PC dies.
What "cheap" Macs did you have break quick? Better question, what Macs do you consider "cheap?"
I run the least expensive Mac, the Mini, second one, never turn them off, nothing poorly made in then which would make me assume they will fail any more than the most expensive ones, the motherboard is quite elegant, HD Hatachi, memory Samsung.
My work bought maybe 5 iBooks, and they ALL failed, mostly the CD drives, but also screens and hard disks.
If I had to guess why the cheap ones fail more than the pricey ones, it's probably the small size, overheating etc. My old MacBook (which had an array of issues) ran far too hot to use on my lap.
Macs are no more likely to fail than PCs (anecdotally at least, they fail less). However, internally Macs are just the same as PCs nowadays, so your only hope for greater reliability is better parts, or better build. The build of less expensive Apple notebooks at least has historically been very bad, the build of the expensive ones is historically very good.
The quality of parts, well Apple can be the victim of what they buy every bit as much as any other PC OEM.
My Thinkpad X30 died suddenly around three month ago after my son had dropped it a couple of times from a table ... I had bought it in October 2003 and it was still sufficient to scan film (IEEE1394 port) and some simple postprocessing in PS (Elements).
tedwhite
09-18-2011, 07:28
The OP's photograph of his computer - is that an Osborne I, circa 1981? I remember another metal-cased computer, had a name something like K-Pro? With the Osborne (British, I believe) it weighed 24 pounds, had a 5" built in display, 64K memory, 2 5 1/4 disk drives, and came with Wordstar 101.
This Dell Dimension 4100 is been in use since 2001. Only upgrade is Windows XP. The memory is maxxed out & it's slowed a bit. One secert to long lasting is I never turn it off. I just let it sleep. Only goes off in a power failure. It's been proved if you want to kill the life of a computer or TV then turn it off & on.
sepiareverb
09-18-2011, 08:23
There is really only one way for a computer to slow, the hard drive is so full that it is having a problem creating temp files.
Another purge is in order.
The "static" is more disturbing. You may be eligible for a replacement computer logic board, since there is a known problem with some Nvidia video chips in the Mac Pro. The warranty was extended - but you may be outside that.
Likely outside of warranty yes. This is from early 2008. I do get occasional error messages in PS CS5 saying that there is a problem with the display drivers, the static is only when waking from sleep, and usually 5% of the screen for only a few seconds- ten at most. Jarring to say the least. I'm thinking of taking the Mac Mini route as well.
Lilserenity
09-18-2011, 09:26
Funny how I saw this thread yesterday but had a busy schedule and thought I'd check that out today...
...well my computer died today! GAH!
Thankfully my brother has left his stuff whilst he moves to London with me so I have snagged his PC for now.
Mine lasted just 3 years, which means I was expecting some more from it.
Pretty gutted really.
I have my Powerbook G4 15" still though, it's a bit slow but serviceable. It's the last ones they made with a high resolution screen (1400 x 960 or something like that) and the better graphics card.
I hope to win a Dell Vostro 400 local to me on eBay tonight, it comes with a widescreen monitor which will be a change from my CRT I guess.
Still gutted. Thank god the hard disk and for that matter the backup hard disk is OK.
Generally speaking I begrudge spending any money on computers, so I do generally expect at least 5 years out of a computer; so 3 years is pretty bad in my book.
:(
Vicky
I generally hate Macs because they represent the worst kind of technological silo I've ever seen in the IT industry. But I do have one. A Mini that I've installed to run a Linux. Only to piss off that certain type of Mac users.
I've really only bought mid to high end macs, and they've all been faultless. My experience with PCs is much more limited, but the only computer in my house that has a hardware fault is a PC laptop, more through poor treatment than anything, but the built quality is noticeably worse than any mac I've had, it cost less too of course.
Some macs in the past have had bulld issues, but I don't think any do at the moment.
Usually 4-5 years, i make all maintenance and upgrades myself.
If it was a heavy gaming pc , i would probably have to upgrade each year, :P
You are among several who note their machines have slowed. There is really only one way for a computer to slow, the hard drive is so full that it is having a problem creating temp files. The processors and ram either work or don't, they can't slow down.
My iMac's HD is pretty much full now (200+ gb out of 250) It rapidly filled when my scanner dumped all the raw files onto it. A salesgirl at Best Buy clued me to Time Machine and a 4T external HD. I guess it's time for a big purge of the internal HD.
I generally hate Macs because they represent the worst kind of technological silo I've ever seen in the IT industry. But I do have one. A Mini that I've installed to run a Linux. Only to piss off that certain type of Mac users.
I'm so mad ... I could spit!
I generally hate Macs because they represent the worst kind of technological silo I've ever seen in the IT industry. But I do have one. A Mini that I've installed to run a Linux. Only to piss off that certain type of Mac users.
What do you mean by "technological silo"? Are you saying that the whole mess, hardware and software is defective, antiquated, or poorly designed? I must admit that I have many Macs, but I do enjoy the simplicity, speed and stability of Linux..Ubuntu distro.
sepiareverb
09-18-2011, 10:56
Just about done opening up about 75GB of space on my internal drive.
Sound like the NVDiA graphics chip is on it's way out. When it finally fails take it to Apple where they can test if it's indeed this chip. MLB replacement will be covered under an extended warranty program paid by NVDiA !
I'm going into my fourth year on this MacBook Pro, and it is beginning to show its age, slowing down despite regular maintenance. My screen has been getting bouts of static as well- I'm just starting the process of finding a new machine.
Production of iBooks stopped at least 6 years ago.......
My work bought maybe 5 iBooks, and they ALL failed, mostly the CD drives, but also screens and hard disks.
If I had to guess why the cheap ones fail more than the pricey ones, it's probably the small size, overheating etc. My old MacBook (which had an array of issues) ran far too hot to use on my lap.
Macs are no more likely to fail than PCs (anecdotally at least, they fail less). However, internally Macs are just the same as PCs nowadays, so your only hope for greater reliability is better parts, or better build. The build of less expensive Apple notebooks at least has historically been very bad, the build of the expensive ones is historically very good.
The quality of parts, well Apple can be the victim of what they buy every bit as much as any other PC OEM.
I like to build a new machine every 3 - 4 years. I can't remember ever having a computer completely fail. My son and daughter have had hard drive problems and other assorted maladies on their computers, which dad has to fix. My latest computer was built to have as much airflow through the case as possible with minimal fan noise. Managing heat seems to be the secret of long life, for a computer at least. I tend not to buy the latest and greatest hardware, so most of my builds are a bit conservative. I still have my first "real" computer, a trash 80 4P. A Z80, 64k of ram, an internal 300 baud modem and no hard drive. Life was much simpler then.
Prest_400
09-18-2011, 12:46
My first computer was a 1998 PC which I got in 2001, at age 6, Dad got it free from his company. It was a PII, 4 GB hard drive, 128MB RAM with windows 98.
It got some upgrades, like a new HDD (20 GB), extra RAM and Windows ME. I hated windows ME because I couldn't play some of the games I had.
It still works fine. Although now it's in it's retirement, as storage, in one of the rooms of our old house. Sadly obselescense took it's toll. It probably couldn't even browse the net, because it wouldn't support flash or a new browser.
It's funny that nowadays a small thingly like an iPod touch has better specs than my first desktop.
My next computer was bought in September 2006. It was a PC with great specs back then and they are still decent. It works fine but sadly it takes 10 minutes to turn on. Probably needs an HDD formatting because I messed with double boot and partitions, and reverted it to one partition.
The other one is an ASUS laptop bought in Feb 2010. Very fine working. Only has some odd spontaneous BSOD crashes from time to time.
My current laptop is going on five now. I back things up on an external hard drive to be careful, but I just bought a new battery for it last year so I'm hoping to at least get another year out of it.
On the other hand, this sheet metal beauty is going on 25, and still running strong!:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5650863622_e6244f13a2_z.jpg
Cool Kaypro, right? I've got a Kaypro sitting out in the garage that I used in the mid-1980s, back when IBM XT innards and a 10MB hard drive were cutting edge.
I keep my computers for about 5 years. I've never had one fail on me. They just get slow, and the hard drives fill up. I just replaced the one I'd used for the previous 5 years or so for that reason.
My daily driver is a PC w/ dual Pentium 933MHz, Serverworks HE chipset, 66/64 PCI, five SCSI buses, expandable to 8GB RAM. This 24/7 machine was cutting edge in 2001, and been fixed over the decade: new PS, new SCSI HD (killed when I hot-plugged it), new CDRW drive. I'm currently running it with dead CPU fans. :) At home, the Pentium Pro 200 box gets some use. Laptops are Panasonic Toughbooks - made in Japan - with one CF-73 at six years old. Not recently powered up are two Amiga 3000UX (Amiga UNIX editions), and this collectible:
http://patternassociates.com/rico/web/misc/s032.pnghttp://patternassociates.com/rico/photo/misc/bebox2c.jpg
my only "fail" was when ~4 yo. MacBook was stolen.
been lucky HD wise, never lost one (in ~15 years). I suspect this is because havent used heavy duty virus checkers, that usually bring any computer to stone age by constantly scanning the disk.
@Rogier: Indeed, and my more recent MacBook suffered similar issues, cracks in the case, flickering screen etc. It's CD drive last OK though.
@Rico, BeBox, awesome!
Benjamin Marks
09-19-2011, 11:16
Thank you all for your input. Hmm, it does seem like the Mac users are happier as a group than the Windows users. Or maybe the Windows users rave less. This was not the point of the poll, but it does seem to be borne out anecdotally.
Any thoughts about the difficulty of porting one's expensive software life over to another platform (CS5, Lightroom, Topaz, Silver EFX plug ins, etc.?).
In any event, my current plan will be to do a clean install of Windows 7 on the current box with mirrored enterprise drives. Hopefully this will reduce the chance of my being in the same position again if the primary drive fails. I have tried the on-24x7 approach and also the turn-on-when-needed approach. Neither seemed to result in more computer longevity, particularly with rural power dips as we have them. The ability to use more RAM is what tipped me over into the W7 camp. Also that upgrade path is an order of magnitude less expensive, when you consider software expense, than going with a Mac at this point.
For all of you who posted pix of beloved dinosaurs, I did have an IBM luggable (8088) with dual disk drives from 1985, which I toted around the world with me. Very robust machine. It is fair to say that they don't make them like that anymore. Since Windows 2000, I have had less luck with keeping machines up and running. If this machine craps out in the next 24 months, maybe it will be time to consider switching camps. All things considered it does seem to make more sense to spend $1500 every five years than $800 every 3, particularly when you factor in the amount of time it takes to move programs and files from one computer to another.
Ben Marks
I have never worn one out, they just finally get too slow to run the software I want to use.
Same here, I have Mac's in my basement from 1984.....
wgerrard
11-07-2011, 13:28
I've owned Macs since they were squat little boxes with 9-inch b&w screens. I have had *one* fail on me, an iMac drive went south.
I replace hardware when the old machine can't run the software I want satisfactorily.
Apart from moving parts -- hard drives -- if the other parts don't fail early on and you use an UPS that also conditions the current (keeps it from spiking up or down) and you have a good surge protector, you should be good for a long time.
Linux: Spent 10 years with it. Got tired of buying hardware that wouldn't work. Got tired of trying to find out what hardware works before I buy. If I wanted to, I could have the freedom of curing pork in my kitchen. I'd rather just buy some ham.
Steve M.
11-08-2011, 02:19
I only buy used PC's, and I've never had any failures of any sort. The WD hard drive that I back things up on is 8 or 9 years old now (I also back it up w/ a newer hard drive just in case). The only problems we've ever experienced were viruses, but none to speak of in maybe 3 or 4 years, and none that I couldn't remove. CD drives often become crap, but I don't consider those computer problems per se. I hate CD and DVD technology. It's a terrible system that often fails,
Steve M.
11-08-2011, 02:20
I only buy used PC's, and I've never had any failures of any sort. The WD hard drive that I back things up on is 8 or 9 years old now (I also back it up w/ a newer hard drive just in case). The only problems we've ever experienced were viruses, but none to speak of in maybe 3 or 4 years, and none that I couldn't remove. CD drives often become crap, but I don't consider those computer problems per se. I hate CD and DVD technology. It's a terrible system that often fails.
RFluhver
11-08-2011, 03:55
Hello guys. Question to you who build your own rig. It's not too hard is it? I don't imagine so, since I expect components these days to be plug n' play. Would that be right? Do I need to be mindful of power compatibility or anything like that? I realise it's a big and complex question, maybe even stupid, but just high level.
I've still got a bit of the 8-bit Atari stuff around - their later stuff as well, but we won't count that as it doesn't see any use these days. Does still work as of a year or two ago. Not a computer, but I've just about got everything working on an original Space Invaders machine more or less built from parts - the emptyish cabinet was too nice to NOT do it.
Typically about 5 years of primary use for me with computers, though they stick around as spares, go to friends who need, etc afterwards, generally still in good working order. The recent variety has been anything from x86 based embedded systems to Apple stuff. The linux mail and web server got replaced by a Mac Mini a couple years ago, after the first gen iMac a friend threw out in my direction hung on for about 10 years with no real issues. g4 iBook made it over 5 years, and a friend got decent use out of it afterwards - thing made a year without a restart once, just on a dare. Macbook that replaced it a just over a year ago has had no issues.
I suppose everything breaks - either I've been lucky, or they're all afraid of getting 'fixed' by me (it's more or less what I do in real life, systems and networks).
The real trick is convincing myself to KEEP them that long - there's always neat new stuff out there - GAS applies in many aspects of life.
Dell precision 690 is modular so just swap out parts as and when, same for my thinkpad.
Ron (Netherlands)
11-08-2011, 08:43
My PC which I have for about eight or nine years, is running now on its third motherboard;
further I have a Macbook Pro now for about two years.
Ron (Netherlands)
11-08-2011, 08:44
My daily driver is a PC w/ dual Pentium 933MHz, Serverworks HE chipset, 66/64 PCI, five SCSI buses, expandable to 8GB RAM. This 24/7 machine was cutting edge in 2001, and been fixed over the decade: new PS, new SCSI HD (killed when I hot-plugged it), new CDRW drive. I'm currently running it with dead CPU fans. :) At home, the Pentium Pro 200 box gets some use. Laptops are Panasonic Toughbooks - made in Japan - with one CF-73 at six years old. Not recently powered up are two Amiga 3000UX (Amiga UNIX editions), and this collectible:
http://patternassociates.com/rico/web/misc/s032.pnghttp://patternassociates.com/rico/photo/misc/bebox2c.jpg
Really like this type or product shot!
Seems many (most) of us use Macs. I've started a new poll in the "Off topic" forum: Mac or PC?
I am sticking to Windows machines as I like the flexibility it gives me in terms of compatible software. Of course there is a price you pay for this - "compatible" does not always mean compatible and if new software does interact badly with other applications or the OS, then it can be a devil of a job to work out what is causing the issue. And of course there are viruses etc to contend with and so on.
Never the less Windows gives me choices I just would not have with Macs.
I find that most of my PCs have lasted 2-4 years. When I have had laptops they have often needed replaacing fairly soon as new software made new hardware demands that the laptop was not up to - and could not be upgraded. When I have used desktops they will often need upgrading. My last desktop had a motherboard failure at around 2 years so I had to make this upgrade and to do that had to replace the box itself. It also had a graphics card failure before then and now seems to have intermittent power problems. The fun of computers!
barnwulf
11-08-2011, 15:28
I had a 6 year old computer crash on me about a month ago. Not good news because I lost some of my images. I had some things backed up but I was just too careless about backing up files often enough. A local computer company got some of my old info off the old one and they built a new one for me a loaded everything on the new Windows 7 computer. Then I had to update a lot of other programs and printer drivers. I now have a 2tb external hard drive to put things on. I have a all of my original scans on DVDs so all of my original images are still available. Lost some final print files. Back up your files. I have heard that one a thousand times. Jim
I am sticking to Windows machines as I like the flexibility it gives me in terms of compatible software. Of course there is a price you pay for this - "compatible" does not always mean compatible and if new software does interact badly with other applications or the OS, then it can be a devil of a job to work out what is causing the issue. And of course there are viruses etc to contend with and so on.
Never the less Windows gives me choices I just would not have with Macs.
I find that most of my PCs have lasted 2-4 years. When I have had laptops they have often needed replaacing fairly soon as new software made new hardware demands that the laptop was not up to - and could not be upgraded. When I have used desktops they will often need upgrading. My last desktop had a motherboard failure at around 2 years so I had to make this upgrade and to do that had to replace the box itself. It also had a graphics card failure before then and now seems to have intermittent power problems. The fun of computers!
I use both Windows and Mac, both have their advantages/disadvantages. However the Mac wins on compatibility, simply because you can run Windows too. My Mac at home dual-boots Windows 7 and Mac, so I can choose which to run. Macs have their issues, but compatibility is not one of them.
The results of this poll indicate that RFF members are mostly amateurs as it pertains to computercusage.
Amateurs keep their computers longer? I'm keeping stuff longer because the actual utility of new models is progressing slower now than the 1980's. And I'm not a pro. I'm about ready to dump my 2003 PowerMac dual-G5 tower, as it's stuck two generations back on the OS... Well, it's only 8 years old. And this powerhouse now seems SLOW! I got a new Mac laptop last summer, which is noticeably peppier.
Doug,
I am just guessing here. I could be very wrong.
5 years and counting. Been through 5 rough years of college being used long hours everyday. It's a Mac book. I would never go back
To windows.
Doug,
I am just guessing here. I could be very wrong.
Raid, I am a computing pro (as in scientific computing) and I have been stunned by the high level of expertise among RFFers.
That may simply reflect that there is a strong presence of people with science and engineering backgrounds in the group.
Randy
ornate_wrasse
12-20-2011, 20:24
I am currently typing these words on a loaner computer. I bought a MacBook Pro four years ago (on 9/2/2007) and fortunately bought a 5 year warranty. A few weeks ago, the display started having problems, most of the computer screen was gray. Frye's Electronics (where I bought the computer) now has my computer and have loaned me a brand new one to use while my computer is being fixed.
I am not sure how much longer the computer will last after I get it back from repair. I am sure glad, though, that I bought the warranty :-)
Ellen
Timmyjoe
12-20-2011, 22:30
Still got my original first generation Tangerine iBook from 1999. Put in a larger hard drive so I could upgrade it to OSX. Had to replace the battery but other than that it runs like a champ. Don't use it as much anymore because I can only get up to OSX 10.3.9 on it.
Still got my 12" Aluminum Mac Book from 2003. Had to replace the hard drive and the battery, but it's humming along running OSX 10.5.8 and I gave it to my 7 and 9 year olds for there computer to use for school projects, and playing around.
And typing this on my January 2004 Power Mac G4, a computer I have been using about 12 hours a day, every day, since I got it eight years ago, and it's never missed a beat.
I like Macs.
Best,
-Tim
ChrisPlatt
12-21-2011, 16:34
The results of this poll indicate that RFF members are mostly amateurs as it pertains to computer usage.
I have been a computer professional since 1986.
At home I still use a ten year old PC.
Chris
Vincent.G
12-22-2011, 02:12
My PC is >6 years old and stiill working fine. Running on Windows XP Professional and is compatible with Nikon Scan 4 software for my Coolscans.
I usually buy the PC parts and assemble them myself. Cheaper and can customize it to my preference.
A few months ago, I bought a MBP 13inch for work and to try out Mac systems.
It's the one-year anniversary (or thereabouts) for my Mac Pro.
This was purchased after running a dual G4 tower for 7 years. I did make some minor upgrades to the G4 over the years but nothing too expensive. It was getting too slow, a little glitchy, and I was way behind with software as I couldn't upgrade anything.
SimonSawSunlight
12-22-2011, 05:46
I just built myself a new one two months ago. i5 2500k quadcore and 16gb ddr3 ram, should do for a little while!
oh and the old one I built (q6600, 8gb ddr2) must be about 4 years old, still up and running as a fancy backup.
seakayaker1
12-22-2011, 12:13
I had three dell computer mother boards go belly up in there fifth year of ownership. One of them had a hard drive that crashed as well.
Converted to using Mac and have not reached 5 years on my MacBook Pro 15" laptop 4.5 years old, or my iMac Desktop, 3 years old. Both are still running . . . . .
I have also enjoyed getting away from the Microsoft OS. Personal preference I guess.
wlewisiii
12-22-2011, 12:21
I have a Mac SE/30 that I run Word 5.1 and play things like Might & Magic and Wizardry on. It did have the electrolytic capacitors replaced a couple of years ago, so it should be chugging it's 32mb & 4 gb disk along at 16mhz for the foreseeable future.
I also have a 4.5 year old Macbook that is dying from the abuse wreaked upon it over the years by my soon to be 10 year old son (knocked off of tables, spilled a coke on it, etc). I have to run it off of an external firewire drive as the last time he dumped it from the coffee table, the internal SATA connector was broken along with killing the HD itself. The onboard keyboard has completely failed as well. I can't even use the power button anymore ;) OTOH, the screen is as nice as ever and with a couple of USB hubs, I can hang everything I need off the no longer mobile laptop.
Next time, it'll be a Macbook Air.
I have a Mac SE/30 that I run Word 5.1 and play things like Might & Magic and Wizardry on. It did have the electrolytic capacitors replaced a couple of years ago, so it should be chugging it's 32mb & 4 gb disk along at 16mhz for the foreseeable future....
Cool! The SE/30 was a "pocket rocket" in its day. I still have one that hasn't been used for a long time. It has a 3rd-party graphics card add-on that I suspect went bad... and perhaps if I removed that card the internal monitor would work again. That would be nice.
Creagerj
12-29-2011, 12:55
I have had my white macbook since 2007. It doesn't show any signs of letting up.
cabbiinc
12-29-2011, 14:16
I retired my 6 year old eMachines desktop to the kid's room because 2gb of RAM is the max that the motherboard would take and I wanted more. I had Folding@Home running on it 24/7 and it's still running fine. I did upgrade it from Vista to Windows 7 before giving it to the kid.
My Windows 98 machine is out in the garage, I'm going to resurrect it for the Kindergartener's machine as I'm getting tired of the youngest jumping on my main computer any time I step away from it.
Typing to you on a computer from 2005. IBM T60. The T series Thinkpads are beasts unlike any other laptop ever made. All I do is put Ubuntu/Linux Mint on them and they do everything. The only update you need is more ram, cheap.
I have one from 2004 and the only reason I don't use it instead is because of my own error of exposing the screen to extreme cold, which ruined it. I still turn it on to find old files but screen is pink and goes black after a bit.
Do I want a new computer? Uh not so much... They don't offer anything more except a bigger hard drive (I got an external for photos etc anyways, now). I am spyware and virus free.
People look at it and go "oh its so old" which I don't really think so... Old to me would be something not compatible with modern software. The new ones look the same anyway.
Compared to my friends with Mac's... Theirs run slower of the same vintage, and are always missing keys or the screens get beat up too easily. They were still a bargain for the life they got out of them & got a lot of life, compared to other things. A few of them have better video cards than my laptop; but inconsequential to me that they run games better.
Typing to you on a computer from 2005. IBM T60. The T series Thinkpads are beasts unlike any other laptop ever made. All I do is put Ubuntu/Linux Mint on them and they do everything. The only update you need is more ram, cheap.
Thinkpads are built like a tank, but this doesn´t mean they are eternal (the opposite seems true to me). I had two T-series Thinkpads - the first (T40) demised due to a problem with graphics chip (typical for this model) and the others (T60) display just started working (replacement cost is similar to the cost of another notebook of the same type).
But both did good service before they left.
Al Patterson
05-04-2013, 13:38
My 2006 vintage laptop and 2005 desktop are running fine. The 2009 desktop bought to replace the older one lasted about 18 months...
Bill Clark
05-04-2013, 14:37
I'm different than many, especially younger folks. Always been that way.
This leads me to suggest to use the stuff forever, if you try hard you can. Have a computer that has Windows 95 installed. It has Quickbooks, used for my business and Microsoft Office.
Still works just fine.
Thing of it is when I need to fire it up I can switch it on and have enough time to go make a pot of coffee!
The only time I receive money from MSFT is when they payqtrly dividends and/or stock gains when selling!
Have a few iMacs and Mackbooks from 2006. Still work just fine on the internet.
My wife and I upgraded from flip phones to iPhone. Did this conversion last fall. At the time the iPhone 4 was free. Moneys better in my pocket.
DougFord
05-04-2013, 15:17
Bought an iPad 4 awhile back for web surfing and emails. My main rig is a 10 year old dell 4600, with an upgraded graphics card, running xp. I run elements 10 for screwing around with photos. Yep, it loads web pages faster than the iPad.
mike rosenlof
05-04-2013, 15:18
It's hard to say. If you keep updating software, it keeps growing to consume all available memory and cpu power. (I have 30+ years as a software engineer!) Effectively it becomes obsolete. Do you really need the upgrade?
The weak points of any computer are things that move, now that's fans and disk drives. The second weak point tends to be power supplies mostly because they deal with more current than most other devices in the box. When fans fail, the device they're supposed to cool may also be in danger of failure.
I have a desktop machine that is I think seven or eight years old. It works fine, but is starting to feel resource-limited (memory and cpu cycles again). I do upgrades. :-)
The only real thing you can do to extend the life of a computer is open up the case occasionally and vacuum out the dust. If fans start to make more noise than usual, clean out the dust first, and if still noise, replace the fans. Back up your disk drives.
My abacus is still working. I don't know how old it is.
tedwhite
05-04-2013, 17:24
I have a Dell Hybrid, about the size of the average woman's smallish purse. It has Windows Vista. It sits on my desk and is attached to a 19" Acer monitor. Friends throw up their hands in horror: "Windows Vista? Dell Hybrid? How could you?"
But it works just fine. Must be 5 years old. I rarely turn it off, just put it in sleep mode.
I don't know anything about computers. Probably just as well.
ZeissFan
05-04-2013, 18:21
I try to get as much life as possible from all of my computers. Generally, that means at least eight or nine years.
Laptops have shorter lives. I'm on my third laptop since 2003. And I don't hammer my belongings.
My desktop finally needed to be replaced after the motherboard (or some other component) finally up and died. It was cheaper to build a new one than spend time diagnosing why it wouldn't power up. I like to build my own desktops because I like knowing exactly what is inside. It also prevents it from being loaded with a bunch of trial versions of software that I'll never use.
shadowfox
05-05-2013, 18:03
Here is a relevant tip:
Instead of buying consumer-grade new laptops, buy used top-of-the-line corporate (or gamer) -grade laptops that are 2-4 years old which cost about a fraction of their original prices.
You'd get acceptable performance, larger memory capacity, and usually a wide array of spare-part options because these units are designed to be parts-swappable, unlike consumer grade laptops that has "planned obsolescence."
Benjamin Marks
05-05-2013, 18:29
Here is a relevant tip:
Instead of buying consumer-grade new laptops, buy used top-of-the-line corporate (or gamer) -grade laptops that are 2-4 years old which cost about a fraction of their original prices.
You'd get acceptable performance, larger memory capacity, and usually a wide array of spare-part options because these units are designed to be parts-swappable, unlike consumer grade laptops that has "planned obsolescence."
This is an excellent suggestion. My last consumer-grade computer had a hard drive stutter step to death. It was two years old. A restore to a new hard drive salvaged the OS and the original OEM programs. Ugh. I would say I average about 18-30 months per consumer-grade box.
ChrisPlatt
05-06-2013, 04:07
5-10 years or more for me, depending on how long Microsoft supports the OS.
XP security updates end next year so I have been faced with retiring my old machines.
Last year I purchased an entry level Acer i3 Windows 7 desktop and upgraded the memory.
It will replace my ten year old Compaq EVO P4 running Windows XP.
I like my little Dell D430 laptop; it's great for travel.
I read conflicting reports about upgrading this model to Windows 7.
I plan to try Linux Mint first.
Chris
ruby.monkey
05-06-2013, 04:37
I have been the Death of Laptops - going through three office-issue machines in as many months - but I cobbled together my current desktop machine about eight years ago and am only now feeling the need to upgrade.
Bill Clark
05-06-2013, 04:48
I'm thinking that when I replace my MacBook laptop going to an iPad. I have an Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Use the iPad only for internet stuff. I like the portability of an iPad and the last time I went through security at the airport I had someone elses iPad and it was fine to keep it in the case with my other stuff. I see Target has the iPad with Retina display on the cover of their current ad at $499 with a $40 gift card. When I was doing my undergrad education I worked at T-2, Targets second store! They had 5 stores back then.
My MacBook still works just fine for other operations.
robert blu
05-06-2013, 08:29
My i.mac 24 (matt screen) is 6 1/2 years old. Planning to change in a few months, when my ideas about what to buy will be more clear!
robert
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