How long did your laptop last?

Hal Emmerich

Yea, just curious as to how long you got out of your last laptop?

Has there average lifespan increased at all in the last few years?

It is or was around 3 years which is pretty bad.

Leeg17

2 years, but it was a piece of sh*t.

Current laptop is nearing 3 years next month, no problems thus far besides the very off blue screen and overheating (got it sorted last week, fans were absolutely clogged with dust).

Overheal

Current and First laptop just had it's 4th birthday. It had a terrible accident in the first year for which I probably would have enjoyed a protection plan on, considering the plan was cheaper than the cost of the parts I had to put back into it. There was also the whole Nvidia dealio, so the Motherboard got a total replacement right after I fixed my accident. Fortunately HP doesn't keep good records so Rep 2 didn't know I had asked Rep 1 about an accident I just had ... but that shoddy recordkeeping made for some very repetitive conversations with them. Replaced Vista with 7 when it went retail, and before that I did Factory resets of Vista every 3-5 months. Vista was awful, but I got really good at reinstalls!

Other than that it's gotten replacement RAM and been taken apart for a good dusting at the 3.5 year mark. Still functional even though the power cable to the screen is wearing down from wear and tear inside the hinge. And a few screws go missing every time I take it apart. Still, functional.

I would not be surprised if a laptop survived no longer than 3 years if you didn't do any maintenance on it. People don't treat them right in the same way some people don't treat their cars right. I just heard last month my sister got her oil changed for the first time in about 12,000 miles or something else ridiculous.

ninty9er

My last laptop is a 2005 vintage that became the home computer about 18 months ago and continues to service the parents requirements.

That said, it cost me €1,838 in 2005, so I expected it to last. I don't know many others who got through college on just one computer, so it appears my investment paid off.:D

Overheal

ninty9er wrote: »

That said, it cost me €1,838 in 2005, so I expected it to last.

$1200 here! o/

papu

Got one of these 3 years or so ago for about RRP1300€ I think ? Has Stood up well , and Been Upgraded with Windows 7 there a month or so ago .
Had the Factory install of Vista untill then and with Tuneup Utilities installed it ran very well up till the upgrade , lately ( Due to Drunken DJ Abuse ) the webcam has become a bit dodgey , Think the cable has come lose as its a common occurance but I've been to lazy to fix it!

Battery Life is about 3 Hours on powersaver but can blaze through a full charge in an hour and a half easily.

The only thing thats annoying about it is the Heat it puts out , Having a 8600m Gfx it still Games Grand but it does get mighty warm!

Overheal

I've retired my laptop as a gaming machine. The heat you mention isn't as bad after the motherboard replacement (they did the right fix on the 8400) but all the same that extra heat tears life from the logic board's capacitors until one day they just simply fail.

meoklmrk91

The one I'm currently using just had its fourth birthday, its a vista machine, but I must say it is still fairly nippy. That said I am starting college in September so I'll probably splash out on a Win7 machine. Oh and it was €850 the first day I got it, only problem is overheating must get that seen to.

Havermeyer

I've a Dell Inspiron 6000 that's still going strong after six and a half years, apart from a couple of small issues.

It wasn't cheap, but I reckon I've got my money's worth at this stage.

Alanstrainor

My current laptop is 3 years old, a latitude D430. I didn't actually buy it, I got it from work for free. It still runs great and has 5/6 hour battery life. Can't fault it really.

My last laptop lasted 5 years, and didn't really break, i just took it apart really. It was a Dell 6400 that i spent 700 quid on. That's good value for money if you ask me. It did everything i needed it to do. It was my main machine for 3 and a half of those years and after that i used it in my living room as a spare, but it still got regular use. The battery was completely shot on it but other than that it was fine.

Hal Emmerich

5 and 6 years, that's alright isin't it? That's up there with Desktop reliability. I'm torn between getting one or the other.....don't think I'll ever move whatever I get so it'll be plugged in and that's where it'll stay which kind of negates the benefit of a Laptop.

Pain it the arse deciding when you don't really have a preference....

TimMac

Actually thinking of upgrading at the moment. Have a dell inspiron 9300 for six years, still going just about through a combination of plumbers tape and ah some more plumbers tape!!! ;-)

1. battery doesnt hold a charge

2. a corner missing from front

3. one of the hinges is off

4. clasps are broken

5. slow as a wet week

It has served me well though in fairness


Thinking of getting one of the following as its replacement, in order of preference what do ye think?

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Dell_Inspiron_17R_1105132.html

http://www.dabs.ie/products/lenovo-g570-core-i5-2410m-4gb-500gb--dvd-rw-15-6--windows-7-home-premium-7FR4.html?refs=54590000-50600

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_X52F-EX801V_1083883.html

Hal Emmerich

^^^of them, the second one. All integrated graphics though.

These maybe

Acer good graphics, usb 3
Lenovo
Asus

Handy 2 sites.

Wait a minute, get off my thread.:P

vicwatson

This is my second, and last Dell, the first started acting up after about 3 years and my current one is starting to do the same after around 4 years.

I'm convinced there is no more than a 3/4 year life span on Dell.

Never again Dell, never again.

Alanstrainor

vicwatson wrote: »

This is my second, and last Dell, the first started acting up after about 3 years and my current one is starting to do the same after around 4 years.

I'm convinced there is no more than a 3/4 year life span on Dell.

Never again Dell, never again.

To be fair though, 4 years is pretty alright for most laptops. It all depends on the type of life they've had.

And what do you mean by acting up? A reinstall of the OS, or replacement of some parts could have it back to almost new.

Overheal

ASUS. Get ASUS. Good brand.

ressem

vicwatson wrote: »

This is my second, and last Dell, the first started acting up after about 3 years and my current one is starting to do the same after around 4 years.

I'm convinced there is no more than a 3/4 year life span on Dell.

Never again Dell, never again.

My Dell Inspiron 8000 (from 2001) is still working, battery is shot of course, but because of the swappable 2nd ide hard drive/ floppy / DVD bay and real PS2 port, it still gets use.

The 4 year old Dell Latitude D620 needed two visits from the service engineer because of the NVidia foulup. Apart from that it's ok.

Both travel/ed in backpacks a lot.

On the other hand the Latitude C's (capacitor fails) and XPSs (hard drive failure due to overheat / bad shock protection) I found to be dreadfully fault prone.

Isn't the hardware design done by Compal and Quanta for about 60% of laptops? Dell, HP etc just slap brand decorations on them and get Foxconn to assemble a few dozen parts in a tax efficient location.
So it's a matter of waiting till the series is a year old and checking the support forums for most of the common makes.

vicwatson

And what do you mean by acting up? A reinstall of the OS, or replacement of some parts could have it back to almost new.

Really? Tell me more please.

Acting up as in, freezing, crashing, not booting up

TheDriver

I have an inspiron 1501, 4 years old, 9 cell battery still gives me 4-5 hours on full charge (don't you hate people who plug in their laptop all the time and then give out about the battery being crap and useless, stupid dell etc!!)
When it gets slow, I reinstall and all is good again. Have had xp, vista, and now 7.
Great machine altogether.