Notebook lifespan....

Greetings everyone!

I am enjoying my 1420 more every day. Lot of you have more experience than I do... any idea how long notebook / laptops last? As long as there not abused, coffee spills, dropped that kind of thing!

Thanks!

Bob

1420 - 2.4 Duo Core2 - 4 gigs ram, Nvida 128 vid card, 1280 x 800 -
340 gig hard drive - Vista home prem -

 

Laptop #1: Old clunky 15" Sony Vaio purchased in the summer of 2002. Still functioning (slow as heck). Battery life is non-existent. (Which is fine because we use it as a desktop unit)

Laptop #2: Dell Inspiron 600m. Purchased in the spring of 2003. Still functioning. (pretty brisk although admittedly it's because we keep nothing on the HDD). Battery life is decent for a 5 year old machine...certainly enough to last one hour before croaking. Again, we keep it plugged in all the time.

The 600m actually went to college with me so to survive that is a testament to its durability.

All in all, my experience with laptops is that they last longer than they're useful for anyway (always something shinier, newer, and faster on the horizon )

provided they don't encounter any drops or spills

 

My four year old hp dv5020 is still functioning and still has 2 hours of battery life (I never used the battery). It has Vista on it and it actually runs great.

 

Most laptops (with few exceptions, but they are there) will outlast their usefulness. By the time most of them die, they won't be missed.

 

Your computer's lifespan depends on many things:
-Heat. The hotter the computer gets, the shorter its lifespan. For this reason it's good practice to keep vents cleared with compressed air and use a cooling pad if your computer gets real hot.
-How it's handled. If you're beating it up (and sounds like your not), it'll last for a much shorter period of time.
-Wear and tear. Eventually the keyboard will wear, plastic will chip, paint will wear off, buttons will break. This depends on the quality of the computer. Obviously, all things equal, a Thinkpad will last longer than an Inspiron, which will last longer than an Averatec.
-Requirements. This is one of the big ones. What kind of software do you run, and how slow is too slow. Most people have certain suites of software they need to run and once a newer version comes out, they want a faster computer to run the application.
-Prestige. An old computer simply isn't as cool as a new one. A lot of people like to have a shiny car in the driveway and a crisp laptop on the desk. Others would rather go on vacation than buy the latest and greatest. Battery life will also decrease over time.

In all, I think the best thing to do is just maintain your computer as best as possible and plan for a future replacement at some point.

 

compaq v6210us laptop (craptop bargen from staples) from last year still works but its dirty and has 20gb's left

compaq armada something from 1998 still works with windows 95 (yea it came with it in 1998) - still uses the internet and msn

compaq presario desktop from 1996? around there - still works for word processing hard to use internet

hp vectra ls/12 laptop from 1988 - would probably work + some internet but it needs new bios battery aand it can't detect the hard drive

 

I say every 3-4 years you need to replace your laptop. Technology just evolves at such a lightning fast rate. In four years your laptop may function well but it'll just be slower than ideal.

 

well my $700 laptop needed to be replaced in a year....

If you want a laptop that will actually make you happy here is a little table from me

Average user 4 years cost: $2000+
Gamer 4 years cost: $4000+

Average user 2 years: $1200+
Gamer 2 years cost: $2500 plus

These are based on archive.org's dell/hp/alienware configs from 2-4 years ago compared to today from me

 

I still have a fully functioning (except the battery) laptop with a Pentium II 300MHz processor. I have another with a Pentium 90MHz with a broken LCD backlight, but other than that it still works fine. As long as you take care of it, it will last long after it's useful.

 

I have a 7 year old Dell Inspiron 8200 that is still running fine and is now in my daughters hands.

 

This depends all on the user.. and maybe the parts.

1) Overclocking can kill your pc faster
2) not using a cooler for gaming can be risky for the laptop's life
3) running programs that exceed the system specs
4) not cleaning up after yourself ( spills, vacuuming vents , clean screen)
5) dropping it/ damaging
6) leaving it on 24/7
7) torrenting with a laptop can kill the network card
8) etc etc

So it is all about how U take care of it.

 

^Not really sure I agree with much of that...

Yes and no. If overclocked to a similar level to the processors designed speed spectrum, and using a similar voltage, then it'll likely last as long as a non-overclocked machine. My desktop has an XP1700+(1466mhz), which was running at a real 2ghz from late 2002 right through to last summer. The only reason I turned it down was because I wanted a near-silent machine, and switched over to almost-passive cooling.

This, I don't understand. About all I can think of is that it'll be hitting the hard-drive more frequently, and as you try to do more, it'll be hitting the hard drive harder and harder. So yes, there is a chance that it will increase wear and tear on the hard drive, but is that effect likely to be measurable in any real way?

Again, as-per point 1, this is something which isn't set in stone. More use can equal more wear and tear, but there are many machines out there than are live 24/7 for several years before being powered down for replacement.

There is a good rule of thumb - heat cycles cause more stress on components than leaving them running constantly. My PC, the ex-overclocked XP1700+, has been on 24/7 for some 6 years now. The only components with any noticeable wear, other than the keyboard and mouse , are the monitor(which has always powered down after being idle for 15 minutes, but now has weak caps and doesn't always power on), and the CD writer, which now has a weak laser.

I also have a Sansui amplifier, made in 1984, which remained powered-on from 1993 to 2005, when I replaced it. Still works flawlessly...

If a network card can be 'killed' from - shock horror - using it to transfer large amounts network data, then that card was substandard or not designed well-enough to do the job for which it was built.

Anyway, to the OP's question - it's only out of date if it can't do the jobs you require it to do. All machines go out of date - "top of the line" machines are "bargain basement" 24 months down the line.

Just because it has been surpassed in terms of speed, it doesn't mean it is no longer capable of doing what you need. Browsing, email, listening to music, instand messaging - it'll do all those jobs just as well as it did the day you bought it.

Playing games? Then it'll cope less and less well with the demands of more modern products. At which point, yes - it does become out of date.

 

excuse me but we are talking about a laptop...not a desktop..sure i leave my desktop on 24/7 ( haven't turned it off in a year) . But a laptop will definitely lose a lot of life span if u leave it on so long or overclock it.

 

I bought an inspiron in 2000, used it as my primary computer throughout college. It ran great on Win2K until the MoBo finally gave out in 2005.

 

I find it hard to believe that leaving a laptop on for extended periods of time will shorten it's life. As long as it's being kept cool and allowed proper air flow, the life shouldn't be reduced. Sure there will be normal wear and tear from it running, but nothing to dramatically reduce life. Same goes for overclocking, if it's not increasing the heat generated, than simply running at a higher speed isn't going to kill it.

 

Don't use the word definitely. Unless you have conclusive proof of what you are saying, you just can't use terms like that.

Laptops are electronics, just like a desktop - so my comments about heat cycles also apply to them. They are often designed to tolerate wider working temperatures, which should result in an even longer potential life if kept powered-up and in a stable environment.

You can't just come out with comments like "it'll definitely die sooner", "overclocking will kill it faster", or "using the network card will make it fail". Unless you can provide evidence, or sound theory behind your comments, then they just don't hold water and can be classed as scaremongering at best, or repeated nonsense from someone without his own thoughts at best.

The single worst thing(barring dropping, spilling liquid, etc), that an average user can do is cycle their product from ambient temperature to a very hot working temperature, and back again. But even with such use, modern machines should be designed to tolerate it - now machines are well-cooled using intelligence, they'd struggle to become so hot. A Pentium laptop from 1996 on the other hand...

 

I have a Dell Inspiron from 2001.

The LCD is broken. The entire piece of plastic above the media keys is popped up. And the right hinge is broken. And the buttons for the trackpoint aren't attached. And, then there's the fan which sounds like a jet taking off.

Hooked up to a monitor it works just fine. Surfs the internet no problem. And that's with 128MB RAM. Go figure.

 

Oh, btw, that's not my main computer. But you probably guessed that.

 

Up until the XPS1530, I was using a Gateway 400SD4 from 2003.

 

Ok, so you're saying a notebook can handle just as much heat as a desktop now?, heck then no one would need a notebook cooler for gaming...eh?

 

What I'm saying is that heat cycles put more of a strain on components than the actual use. Laptops, under heavy use, put more components through a larger heat cycle than a desktop would.

A laptop cooler is there to make the machine more comfortable for the user. The hard drive would probably benefit from running in a cooler environment - such as with a cooler - but many drives work for many years in varying conditions. I have no data available as to what effect on long-term life the cooler would actually make.

The actual heat output would have been factored-in during the design and testing of the machine. The chosen components will have been selected for their ability to handle the heat generated by the machine, whilst still performing within specification.

 

Wait, you're saying that your laptop will die after a while? Or is it just the battery? This might make me change my mind about buying something for the long term.

 

Any electronic equipment will stop working after a while. Defining how long that 'while' is anyone's guess.

Batteries will have their capacity decrease due to accumulated charge cycles. Only way around this to remove the battery.

Define long term? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? In 5 years your laptop or desktop will be beyond obsolete yet it may very well do all you need it to do.

At work we still have older Thinkpad X22 that are working just fine except they are now extremely slow compared to newer laptops.

 

Well, not saying it will die, but it will be slower because the parts probably will wear out overtime, but also it might not be able to run the latest software in 5-6 years

this is why desktops have such an advantage over laptops, they are user upgradeable and you don't have to worry about all that grainy screen or keyboard flex crap =)

 

I have a Inspiron 8200 I've just loved - coming up on the 6 year mark. It had one failure while still under warranty early on, and just before the (full service) warranty ran out I made sure to get everything that was mildly broke (phantom keys on screen, etc) fixed. Lasted through undergrad, cross country travel to law school, and beyond.

Then I dropped it about two months ago, breaking the wireless card right off the bat (that was 4 or 5 years old itself). I was on my third battery and it failed a week or two after that (went back to an old one I had laying around). Then a week ago one of the RAM chips died. Yesterday, after opening up just the memory bay (to remove the bad chip) the system ceased to function long enough to get all the way into windows (seizing up). I figure just prying the cover open jarred lose something that broke in the fall. So now, after having the best laptop ever for 6 years I'm back in the market. Now checking the prices I'm wondering if I can pull another year or two out of it with about $300 in repairs (new MoBo @ $150, RAM chip, battery, wireless card at $50 each) - since I don't really have the $2k I'd need to get a mid-level Latitude at the same comparative quality level the inspiron was 6 years ago (which, coincidentally enough, was what I paid for it then, worth every penny).

On the other hand... I was just starting to get tired of some of the limitations of the 8200. I started using Office 2007, Access in particular, and was getting frustrated with the speed. I long ago learned to live without video shaders (top line compatible video card didn't support them) but that wouldn't be an option if I wanted any newer games. And the USB 1.0 was putting a cramp into read speeds on external hard drives.

Still... 6 years, versus 13 months for my sister's Inspiron 1100(?) in 2005.