Expected lifetime of a high-performance laptop?

Hello!

My last notebook was an Asus G2S with the infamous Nvidia 8600gt card.. It took 3.5 years before it died. This got me worried about buying another expensive high-end laptop. Does all notebooks have an "expiration date" where it just stops working?

I mean, due to the massive heat-differences and stuff like that. How long does a laptop last before it just won't start anymore?


The reason I'm asking is that I'm about to buy a Np8150/P150 with 485 Gtx and the whole shaboom. And I don't want to make a bad buy..

/ F



Edit: I hope I posted in the right place..

 

Hey,

That is kind of a hard question to answer all in all

However, a normal high-end laptop should last as long as any high-end desktop, which there is no specific timespan that it will live before it just dies, however, you can look forward to 3-5 years of service out of it before it will probably be classified as "slow".

The 8000 series nVIDIA GPU's had a specific heat issue that has been extensively covered across the internet. So I wouldn't look to that as an acceptable way that laptops are being constructed as that will most likely be a one-time thing.

Also to note is the laptops you are looking at have their graphics chipset on a separate card that can be replaced or upgraded if anything was to go wrong without having to replace the motherboard of the laptop, so if that same manufacturing defect was to crop up then there is a good chance that swapping out the videocard for a new one would solve your issue.

I think that you will find any of the sager/clevo line will provide excellent performance for many years to come.

 

The question can only be answered statistically. For example, three and a half years is pretty good for the 8600M GT -- mine only lasted two years and 8 months before it started having problems (well, it still works now with VGA drivers, but I can't play 3D games or even use Aero). There are some people for whom it died in a year or even less.

So no, there is no set expiration date. My sister had a Dell that worked OK for 7 years (she replaced because it became simply too slow for modern programs). However, a laptop is a complicated electrical and mechanical system with many different parts so chances are sooner or later something will break. No matter how well you take care of it, the underlying electronics is only built with a certain level of quality and will eventually break down. It's just a matter of probability.

I always buy laptops with the expectation that they will be replaced in roughly 3 years -- given the rate of hardware advancement, this is the point beyond which repairing the laptop is no longer preferable to simply buying a new one. For example, 3 years ago the best card out there (the equivalent of today's 485M) was the 8800M GTX, but today it's only about as good as the lower end of the mid-range (e.g. the 6570M) despite having twice the TDP. The same goes for the CPUs except that their TDPs stayed the same, but the old machines are not even in the mid-range anymore.

 

At least if you believe notebookcheck the 8800m gtx is 28th and the 6570 is 59th. Not sure to what extent they can be compared but that is how they are rated on that site.

 

As far as useability is concerned, these machines are designed to be upgraded to some extent. Just make an informed purchase as far as your upgrade options are concerned. These machines come with MXM 3.0b slots, which aren't ready to be replaced yet, so chances are hopeful we'll get one more generation of GPU's out of it that will exceed the GTX 485m performance. If you're fine with the GTX 460m, then you know you will at a minimum have the GTX 485m to install later.

For CPU's, since these are first run Sandy Bridge, you can be certain there will be at least one more iteration and further speed improvements. Heck it may even be compatible with the next gen Intel Ivy Bridge chips.

For gaming, the GTX 485m should suffice on its own for a solid 18-24 months IMHO. Where you're going to want more power is if/when the game consoles release their next version and console ports will require a beefy PC to play them, if history is any indication.

 

The more powerful...the less time it will last..I think. my 17" laptop has x300 gfx card and the laptop still works.

 

That would be because notebookcheck currently has absolutely no benchmarks whatsoever for the 6570 and thus they don't know what they're talking about. I looked at it in more detail and it looks like with the current drivers, the 8800GTX may still be somewhat better, so I'd revise my statement: the 8800GTX should be comparable to something within 6600M. But the point stands: 3 years later the single most powerful card has the performance of mid-range cards.

 

It's electronics, could be 3 months could be 10 years. Never know.

 

Exactly why I bought a Sager ! My last notebook was an HP dv9000 series with a 7600go gpu................guess what............gpu took a dump and even though there was a class action suit, HP wanted close to $500.00 to fix it............needless to say I told them to shove it !

Next notebook for me was going to have an independent GPU, i.e. not soldered to the MB !

Even though my 9800GTS is still going strong after 2 years , I just recently purchased a Quadro FX 3700m !................$185.00...............a lot less that $500 bucks !

 

On the opposite side (just being a realist) is that the Sager mobo will probably still cost $500 to replace without a GPU. My NP8662 to be 100% functional (mainly USB problems atm) would need a $400 motherboard replacement. But it is nice to have the option to replace or update your GPU if needed. In that case even update your CPU. Some laptops make that impossible as well. Not to mention ease of accessing your components in the machine.

 

Agreed, especially when you take into consideration heat, amount of use, and environment.

I would think a high end computer would be something that would be useful(as far as technology) for at least 2-4 years. Past that point, software becomes too demanding. And who knows where it's all going to be at that time!

 

My Dell Inspiron 5000e, former top 15" laptop in Sept 2000 lasted me 10+ years, was still good when using Linux and XP.

Very expensive since it had a 1600x1200 LCD resolution, but the GPU was only 16MB vRAM.