Lappy Lifetime

I'm gettin my 1st laptop (its in the sig) and I'm praying to god for it to last about 3-4 years, anyone know if it would be likely to do that? Think for it to be running about 5-6 hours a day, my dad is trying to tell me it won't last if I run it that much, I'm trying to tell him he's ignorant

 

Mine lasted about a little over two years... (its almost busted up and dying on its last legs). The laptop is a Gateway though so you might have more reliability with a DELL (esp with Accidental Coverage).

 

I mean it will last as long as it's physically in good shape, and you don't do anything stupid.

 

I had an IBM T23 now for five years! I've dropped it, spilt stuff on it..... anything you could think of! Im starting university in the fall so i shelled out for a new 1520 and im hoping it will last for 4 years anyway....

 

My current Packard Hell laptop (Low end at the time, 1.4Ghz Intel Celeron, 512mb ram [came with 256 just for info]) is on around 8-12 hours a day.

I had a few teething problems with it, mainly issues with the screen and oh, the screen again but for all I badmouth it, it has lasted me over two years now.

I am replacing my laptop as I need something portable for College, but you know what? Mine's still working fine. It may be low spec, and it does again have screen problems (i guarantee you wont have this with a better brand like Dell - Packard Bell are not mainstream), and yes, it could do with a fresh Windows installation but I could run this thing fine for a long while I reckon.

5-6 hours is not heavy usage anymore imo, and with a desktop replacement laptop such as you have purchased with pretty decent spec you will be fine for a good 3 years and more. You might have the odd hickup (I had a filesystem failure a few months ago), but that comes as a result of buying a poor laptop to begin with on my part.

I don't know how to convince your father, you may not be able to - but I would put good money on it seeing your out for a few years.

Matt

 

Damn it.... I'm prone to doing stupid things and I'm cheap so i skipped on the warranty, this will be a very interesting next three years

 

treat it like a child and you'll be fine

 

K thanks guys, you've been a big help, I thought it would last awhile as long as it was taken care of, but i kept getting negative feedback from within the family

 

You can extend the warranty (I think you have to do this before it expires).... although i don't think it has accidental care.

 

if you have proven yourself with other technical instruments (cell phone, i pod, etc) i dont see how a computer will be much different....... tell your parents to get over it and then tell them to look at in 4 years and THEN see what they think.......

just my two cents

 

As people have said, if you don't drop it, throw it, beat it (aka physical damage) then there's really no reason why it shouldn't last that long, especially with an extended warranty.

Heck, I still have a p2 366MHz thinkpad from god knows when, maybe 98-99 and still works. Take a look on ebay and see how many 7+ year old laptops are for sale.

 

p2 366 mHz??????????? I think I have a 300 Mhz HP somewhere in this house... retired that baby 6 years ago.

 

Don't show it to them if it looks like a breadboard though

 

I don't think the family was nagging him about user faults. It seems they were more concerned that 4-6 hour periods a day is bad for the machine itself. I don't think they are right though. Are any of them tech-savvy?

 

My dad is pretty savvy with desktops but a laptop would be a whole new monster for him, I know alot more about laptops than him and my stepmom combined, just from this site, but i still feel like a total lappy noob

 

I still have a Dell Inspiron 8000 that I puchased in 1998 or 1999 that still runs great. Its a 800mhz. Ran constantly doing 3D Max rendering 24-7 when I first got it. The first 3 years it averaged 8-14 hours a day.

Still works perfectly to this day, but its only used as a 15" portable DVD player now. Autocad and photoshop are still used on it occassionally.

A couple of years ago I was in a cafe with my gf and the ceiling fan broke off the ceiling and came smashing down on the lcd and almost landed on my gf. Dell repaired it for $650 at the time and upgraded the software.

Ordered my XPS 1330 today to finally replace it, even though I dont really need a laptop anymore.

 

Dell laptops aren't exactly known for lasting a long time w/o any problems....I think you can still extend the warranty, and if you want,add completecare, its worth it if you're as reckless as you say. If you want real durability get a thinkpad - have one thats more than 4 years and still goin strong.

 

I am in the same boat as this guy. However, my desktops usually last very well. Except on my last dell. The motherboard fried somehow I really do not know. But I have computers from 6 years ago that still works fine, just really slow. I have the first gen iPod nano from when it first came out and the SPH-A900 from when it frist came out. They're all still in great condidtion, so I hope I can make the 1720 that I ordered last, even if I game alot on it.

 

My experiences:

Sony PCG-505V (300MHz, 128 MB RAM) circa 1998. Bought second hand without a battery in Japan.
Still going strong (though haven't used it that much until recently) but rather arthritic with Windows XP on it.
Only problem was BIOS batteries (6 NiMH cells in a strip) lost their capacity to hold charge resulting in loss of BIOS settings if machine was left unplugged for a while - and also appeared dead (not possible to boot) until left on charge a while. Problem resolved by 'flashing' each NiMH cell with 12V to burn off the internal whiskers.

Dell Latitude C600. Used heavily for about 5 years. Dropped it at least once. Hard disk failed at one time. Some screws lost from underneath. Finally motherboard started playing up (I think maybe damaged by Targus PSU which had an internal short in the cable). By that time the machine was obsolete anyway.

Dell Latitude D610. In use over 1 year now and very heavily used.
Early on a rubber foot went AWOL (perhaps dislodged dragging on PVC tablecloth which had terrific friction)
Two screws gone AWOL from base.
Lettering on a number of keys worn off.
Otherwise doing well.

Home built Athlon 1.2 GHz PC (OK it is not a laptop)
Died after about 6 years of heavy use and 2 hard disk failures.
Main cause may have been the capacitors on the motherboard which were found to be badly bulged and extruding their contents - the famous bad electrolyte problem that plagued machines built around that time.
PSU also blew once (perhaps as result of capacitors) and currently I have been unable to resurrect the machine (having replaced caps).
[Ordered the XPS M1330 as a holding operation until I get time to rebuild this one]

 

Hmm...

Dell Latitude CpT C. Saw heavy use between 1999 and 2004. Hard drive failed in the third year. Keyboard started rubbing off in the fourth year. One hinge failed in the 7th year. All those parts where replaced and the machine still works fine, though the battery can't hold a charge at all.

Dell Inspiron 500m. Seeing heavy use since 2003. Has been dropped (though at a very low height) several times. Hard drive also failed in third year. Fried the motherboard through spilt Coke the same year. Both parts were replaced and this machine still works fine. The keyboard and palmrest are both starting to wear down.

 

My current Toshiba Satellite A45-S121 was on 24/7 for the past 3 years. It is a Celeron Northwood 2.8GHz and runs SO DAMN HOT ALL THE TIME. 55c idle !!! I had it repaired several times and have tried reseating and AS5'n it...no difference. A desktop processor in a laptop is not the right thing to do.

I'm sure it will be fine

 

Dell Latitude - 7+ years

24/7 Operation - trackball goes nuts sometimes so i just disabled it but it seems to be a common problem leading my to believe its a manufacturing/design flaw. Other than that no problems.

 

IBM ThinkPad 760 XL - 10 years, bought in 2000 (so 6.5 years for me). Saw heavy field use before I got it, moderate use thereafter gradually decreasing with time. One of the 4 memory sticks appears to have quit working after about 8 years, but otherwise doing great. One dead pixel, 2 more that are either stuck or dead (I'm not sure of the exact difference).

HP Omnibook 5000c - 11 years, bought in 1999 (so 7.5 years for me). Saw heavy field use before I got it, moderate thereafter falling off after 2000 but rising slightly lately. Plastic around hinges cracked about half a year ago, so all screen support lost, battery doesn't work, and trackball is inconsistent (agree with Encore 2097 it's probably a design flaw). Otherwise perfect. No dead pixels.

Granted, these are both business-class laptops I have, but I don't think the Inspiron will fail before you leave college. I wouldn't have ordered one if I didn't think it did.

 

if it is going to be a desktop replacement (less carrying around) then it will last a long time. Heat is the main problem with notebooks, if you only do light computing most of the time (like internet, office work etc. ) then it shouldn’t be a problem.

I have my notebook ON more than 6hrs a day on average. And sometimes overnight.

 

I guess "dead" means stuck off and "stuck" means stuck on.

 

the usual life time of a laptop as of being up to date in terms of performance an ability to run almost all current programs without much delay would be 4-5 years after which im sure youll find it quite difficult to even run basic computing tasks though it is not impossible it would slow
as of the build business line laptops are more ruggedly built as seen in the post above
whereas consumer line laptops would last you an easy 5-6 years with moderate to heavy usage and good care

 

Latitude C640, went in about 15 countries in my backpack, was dropped 2 times, works into a harsh environment (hydro power plant) and still works like a charm. I've upgraded the RAM to 1 gig and have a new battery, still rocking after 5 years.

 

i for one have never had luck with extending a warranty outside of my 21 day return time. thats just with dell.
i know apple lets you do it until day 365 of initial year.


i dont know if its been the reps ive spoke with at dell or what. I remember with my i6000 getting a bunch of extend your warranty mailers within the first month.

more interested here... ???

 

I usually leave my laptop on 24/7. I had a Gateway from yr 2000, and it work fine but MB died in the first year, replaced under warranty. and has run fine since. I retired it 2 years ago with a Dell 9300 and it's been 2 years solid. The big difference is that newer chips run hotter, and all laptops now come with a fan or more inside, so I do need to clean out the fans once every few months (I got lazy it's been over 6 months now). Soon to be replaced with a Dell 9400!