How Often Do You Buy a New Computer and Why?

jowu15 on 21/07/2018 - 10:12
Last edited 21/07/2018 - 11:10

Hi I brought a Mac Air earlier 2014 and I like it, its light and easy to carry around and its very reliable, so if I buy I think I would buy Macbook again, I am thinking if I should get a new Macbook at the moment, but I do not like screen getting bigger and bigger because I carry it around nearly on daily basis. The problem I have with the current MacAir is the battery about half as long as its new, its getting slower and slower and its dies more often.

I am not sure if its worthwhile to replace battery and get it checked for performance slower down. If I take to Apple I wonder if they would charge me for performance slower down checks for free or if they would charge me. I remember the recent post of the guy who got full refund for his TV after 4.5 years of usage, but I dont really want to pick up a fight.

I use computer main for internet surfing and sometime Microsoft Office.

I wonder how often you change your computer

Poll Options

  • 10
    one year or less
  • 18
    between one and two years
  • 52
    between three and two years
  • 39
    between four and three years
  • 86
    between five and four years
  • 409
    longer than five years
Computing Computer Battery Computer Slower Computer Upgrade

Comments

  • Vieira4 on 22/07/2018 - 11:32
    -1

    Where did you "bruy" it from?

  • rogerm22 on 22/07/2018 - 12:04

    I replace my laptop every year or two. But, I only buy cheap (well under $200) used laptops from eBay (sometimes from the USA). I only ever buy business laptops and they can last for many years of use. I only replace them to upgrade to a faster laptop.

    I have not bought a new laptop for about 12 years, as despite working in IT, an older model used laptop, is all that I need. After having used business laptops for many years, I would never buy a regular consumer model laptop again.

    • jowu15 on 23/07/2018 - 17:21

      Can you please tell me which laptops are business laptops and why you seems to think it was better than regular consumer model laptops. Thanks

      • rogerm22 on 24/07/2018 - 10:38

        Examples of business laptops are HP ProBook/EliteBook, Dell Latitude and Lenovo ThinkPad. Business laptops, for the most part are quite expensive and have a much better build quality than most consumer laptops. As an example, the keyboards are much better to type on and the hinges don't break after opening and closing the laptop many times. Some models of business laptops offer better build quality than others. For example, HP's EliteBooks are better than ProBooks and the T, W and X ThinkPads offer better quality than other ThinkPads.

        While they are expensive to buy new, if you buy a used older model they can be very cheap and offer much better quality than buying a new budget laptop. After having used business laptops for a number of years, regular consumer laptops feel cheap and nasty in comparison.

        • jowu15 on 25/07/2018 - 12:09

          @rogerm22 Thanks for your explanation. Does Apple has business laptops?

        • Praeto on 25/07/2018 - 14:51

          @jowu15:

          Apples Macbook Pro line are what you'd be after. I've still got Macbook Pros that are 10+ years old run without any problems, same with the Thinkpads, they just don't seem to die if looked after.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/07/2018 - 02:46

        Dell's Latitude/Precision series. Lenovo's T/X/W Thinkpads. HP Elitebook. That's the big 3. Business laptop tends to have significantly better build quality and QA/testing done on it than consumer laptop, especially the sub $1500 consumer rubbish. They're also easier to upgrade, has easily available replacement parts (i.e. battery/panels), and there's a significant community behind it for the reasons listed so there's a lot of aftermarket support. The Thinkpad T420 for example is a fan favorite. Replace the shit stock panel with a good 1080p screen, slap coreboot on it so you can upgrade the Sandy Bridge CPU to Ivy Bridge, and swap out the DVD bay for a second slice battery and you have a laptop that's built like a tank, can last as long as an ultrabook while having significantly better performance due to the non ULV CPU, for about 1/3rd of the cost. You can even use an eGPU and game on it, an Ivy Bridge Quad Core can handle a 750Ti/1050Ti without bottlenecking it.

        Oh, and better keyboards.

  • Ghost47 on 22/07/2018 - 12:08

    Desktop: Built in 2010, still using. Upgraded a few components.
    Samsung Laptop: Bought in 2012, still using. Getting slow.

    Both of my computers still perform adequately, the laptop is showing its age so I need to install an SSD or more RAM at some point as well as a new battery.

    I don't game much anymore so no need to upgrade my computer really. Before this one I'd upgrade every 4-5 years.

  • Levathian on 22/07/2018 - 12:11

    Ideally every 5 years.

    I bought a Dell shitbox in 2007 which only lasted 3 years before it became unusuably slow, so I bought an Asus next. It was super unreliable, motherboards, batteries etc. died. It didn't even make it to 2.5 years before I had to shop for a new one.

    Next was the mac air bought mid 2013. It's lasted 5 years and the only thing I've done is replace the battery last month. Great machine.

    • jowu15 on 23/07/2018 - 17:24

      yes I agree with you that Asus is super unreliable, I had a Asus and send to repairs twice in the first 12 month.

  • Talonparty on 22/07/2018 - 13:27

    I'm still using a first gen i7-950 3 Ghz processor and an x58 motherboard. I remember it was massively expensive at the time, about 1000+ with the triple ddr3 ram and I think I got new PSU.

    Anyway, it was money well spent. I have upgraded my gpu a few times since then (on a 1060 6GB now), bumped up my ram as well as added an SSD. This computer is still fantastic, the CPU has never been a bottleneck and I think until I try to push for 4k or something I'm probably fine.

    The lesson I learned is that the next CPU I buy is going to be top of the range because this one will have lasted me 10 years plus. I still play new games in full detail often with 3d vision enabled and I am very happy with the performance.

    Similarly I'm in posession of a laptop from the same time. I've replaced the keyboard and cleaned out dust having to take it apart with the service manual. I added a USB3 cardbus card and an SSD, aside from the dead battery the laptop makes a fantastic simple browsing machine all these years later.

  • Tnetennba on 22/07/2018 - 13:35
    +1

    Just replaced my 2011 desktop with a new one. I generally will build it with good parts (e.g. my last build was an i7-2600K) and that didn't seem to bottleneck even now. That means in 2-4 years I can replace things such as the graphics card*, or add more RAM if necessary, meanwhile the CPU/Mobo should be fine for a good 5-7 years.

    *since I use it primarily for gaming

    Another thing I often see people do, particularly with laptops, is buy an average laptop, reasonable specs, and only get 2 years out of it, and then buy another very similar laptop. So, so often this is because they don't have an SSD. A <$100 SSD can make a PC instantly quicker, both booting and generally running applications etc. Did this for my girlfriend's laptop when we met and it has probably extended its life by 2 years at least.

  • dufflover on 22/07/2018 - 13:46

    I used to be that techy sort of guy buying a decent laptop every 2-3 years but I haven't been gaming anymore so been using my old Alienware R4 for a lot longer now. The tell tale point for me was about a year ago the BIOS chip (or something related to it) kicked the bucket and after shopping around I couldn't really find anything that felt like a real big upgrade from the i7 3720 (I think that's it) for the thousands I'd spend. And the current laptop was "fast enough" for photo editing and had all my configs the way I liked it.

    So instead of forking out for a new laptop in the end paid a few hundred for a replacement mobo and it's up and kicking again - next time it fails it'll be a new laptop though.

  • belongsinforums on 22/07/2018 - 15:06

    Mac air are pretty cheap compared to similar options. Considered a new ipad? They have stylus support

    • jowu15 on 23/07/2018 - 17:27

      I like Mac air better, its easier to type and doing other minor office work. I never use stylus

  • AlienC on 22/07/2018 - 16:17

    My first desktop was a Radeon 4850 and some low end mid range cpu at the time I think 4gb ram.. Less than 100gb storage iirc. That pc didn't last long before it "died". disclosure I knew nothing about pcs back then like I would put my hand on the gpu while playing cod mw1 to cool it down. That time period had very hot summers in my area.

    Fast forward nearly 10 years and have my new pc now.

    In between then I had I think two laptops. One barely ran windows and the other barely ran Dota 2 but somehow ran planetside 2..go figure.

    That one ran into battery issues I think or over heating issues. Again summer in some parts of Sydney is very very bad especially for computers.

    I think it will works but barely or needs fixing. Really want to get somebody more experienced to fix it for like $30 then sell it for $300-500. Has a gtx 740m and 3570u cpu? 8gb of ram 200gb ssd or something like that. 1366 x 768 15.6". nice sleek Asus still in good condition even replaced the power pack and I think battery. Definitely useful to someone for another 5 years maybe before it becomes really dated but honestly it will be a good browsing and email machine for a long time. Windows 8.1.

    Yeah i want to get rid of it and maybe get a lightweight 1060 6gb or above laptop.. I would enjoy and utilize the premium.

    Similar story with my mobile devices went from 10 year old dinosaurs to very recent devices.

    Hopefully within the next 5 years I'll have all the cutting edge stuff easy on all platforms and devices.

    Sorry for the messy comment message gotta go zoom to the toilet now.

    • freddofrog42 on 22/07/2018 - 16:47

      "somebody more experienced to fix it for like $30"

      Good luck with that….

      • AlienC on 22/07/2018 - 16:49

        No need for luck already have had free offers to check it. The $30 is just for small parts or extra tinkering I was quoted if any problems. Bigger problems mean bigger price of course but yeah have been quoted between $25-50 for a simple call out.

        • Seedy seed on 23/07/2018 - 09:16

          Lol that $25 will be hi my names frank, where is the pc? $25 please.

          No1 would drive to you to fix a pc that cheap, 15 years ago my father was charging $60 a hour to do that, because as any pc tech knows back at the shop you can be fixing 6-7 at once where on the road only one.

        • AlienC on 23/07/2018 - 09:22

          @Seedy seed: you would be surprised at some of the people you can find today, some people are not in it just for the money and just wanna make friends and help a brother out or educate them.

          It's not all cents and dollars and bottom lines although I know that is still maybe the majority.

          Pay it forward community I would say is much more bigger now than it was maybe 15 years ago.

  • stingyashell on 22/07/2018 - 16:18

    CPU tech havent change much im running on sandybridge from 2011 and it still works mobo starting to die tho. probably upgrade next year

  • M1ndFu7 on 22/07/2018 - 16:36
    -1

    like any apple product, you can bring it back to the store for diagnosis. They have pretty impressive software to detect battery wear etc. I suppose a battery swap at the store will be expensive, and i will recommend doing it yourself if it is outside of warranty already.

    laptop slow down is usually due to software, may it be updated software which is more cpu itensive or if you have just alot of things running. Format the drive and see if this will help make things quicker for you.

    All the best!

  • Kranbone on 22/07/2018 - 17:55
    +2

    Wow, I feel pretty ancient. I'm on a desktop which is nearing 10 or so years. Pentium Dual Core something. I did upgrade the RAM though. Still seems fine.

  • Gelato on 22/07/2018 - 18:10
    +1

    my MBP is 8 years old, and battery is still runnning 4 hours in one charge.
    i've to say im still pretty impressed. Though it gets slow, like 8.5 mins to restart ….
    otherwise function fine

    but looking for deal on 2017 MBP (i dont need touch bar) for work purposes
    i actually prefer the old keyboard a lot more :(

    • jowu15 on 23/07/2018 - 17:36

      I looked new models as well and I am not sure if I would like the keyboard

  • Ryk on 22/07/2018 - 18:14
    +1

    Replaced a 2010 MBP in March with a new one (the 2015 design is still the pick of the bunch).

    • Gdsamp on 22/07/2018 - 22:26

      Yep, I definitely feel that the MBP line peaked with the 2015 model. I got the Early '15 13-inch at the start of 2016 and have been completely satisfied with it so far. Magsafe 2, good selection of ports, decent keyboard & screen, great trackpad and still has decent battery life (6-7 hours after 500 charge cycles). A USB-C/thunderbolt 3 port wouldn't have hurt but overall I'm really dreading the day I have to replace this laptop.

  • imcold on 22/07/2018 - 20:13

    Well given that most people use their computers for 5 years I'm surprised there was ever a GPU shortage, or memory shortages.

    I'm hitting the 4-5 year range on my current build. (Both PC and Laptop), and will continue to use then till they break, or maybe there is a huge discounted offer on oz-bargain.

    I have no intention any interim upgrades. Only upgrade I did on my pc is shoving in some old HDDs for more storage.

    • airal3rt on 23/07/2018 - 19:35

      Well given that most people use their computers for 5 years I'm surprised there was ever a GPU shortage, or memory shortages.

      GPU shortage was due to cryptocurrency mining. RAM shortage was due to demand for phones and tablets.

      Wasn't anything to do with the average desktop PC user.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2018 - 21:39
    +1

    I have a 2013 MacBook Air (5.5 years old), just swapped the battery out 3 months ago, laptop feels like new again & I don't feel like I am really missing out on anything on new mac laptops that all involve one compromise or another.

    I would buy in a second another MacBook Air in the same body with a retina 13 or 14" screen(love the tapered design, also value the ports & magsafe) with updated processors and a little extra RAM but it doesn't exist.

    • Randolph Duke on 24/07/2018 - 09:44

      MacBook is as close as you’re gonna get to a Air replacement.

  • Toothfairy0412 on 22/07/2018 - 23:01

    i bought the macbook air in 2012 and god was it a fine machine back then. Replaced the battery in 2017. Still runs like a beast. Somehow geekbench 4 scores are abnormally high for this machine i get 6600 multicore. However i made my parents pick up the huawei matebook x pro when it launched for 8400rmb or 1600 aud and god is it a fine machine. Made the air feel outdated.

  • Peace Horse on 23/07/2018 - 00:43
    +2

    Apple don't make their laptops like they used to. 2012 MacBook Pro's still hold their value because of this - this is the last model before they started going downhill.

  • filfa on 23/07/2018 - 08:59
    -3

    I work in the IT industry, so I regularly upgrade components as I see fit, as for a Laptop the more you spend the longer it will last; spend $800 on a laptop and you'll get 1-2 years, spend $2,500+ and you'll get 5

  • Skramit on 23/07/2018 - 09:49
    +2

    Bought my current 2600k desktop in 2011. Still going strong with an upgraded GPU and additional SSDs.

  • kaleidoscope on 23/07/2018 - 11:58

    How often: 2011 mac mini still running good. Macbook air 11” 2012-2015 (sold), macbook pro13” (2017- present)

    Why?: when it becomes obsolete for current features i use refularly. e.g. sold mba because airdrop did not work with later iphones due to hardware limitations. Macmini still running and wont need airdrop on that anyway.

  • DarthAntz on 23/07/2018 - 12:08

    i use my computer everyday, so i see it as a daily resource for information, communication and leisure. i see it reasonable to spend $500 a year on such a resource.
    Currently my PC is just over 3 years, and the technology hasnt quite doubled in speed and performance yet. i definitely got good value out of the build.
    Next year when it hits the 4 year mark, i'll look to selling it as a whole or in parts, and build a new one. getting better value than $500 per year is also a goal.
    I used to upgrade every 2 years, but now that i see that marketing hype doesnt result in a satisfied customer, just another consumer, im more cautious and wise to getting value from my dollar spent.

  • IPYF on 23/07/2018 - 12:54
    -1

    Used to be a time that I'd replace my gaming rig every 4 years for $800-1000 with one GPU update of $300 which put me on a $1100-1300 4 year cycle for PC and that PC could run anything on Ultra throughout. Coin mining has ruined the ability to make a decent gaming rig for less than <$1000, as you now have to spend at least $600 to get a GPU that will play AAA games Ultra at 1080p for more than 1 year without starting to scale down graphics. So, for gaming I've moved to Console which will be $500 for a 5-6 year cycle of gaming. Console peasant or not, it's the financially sensible option now that the regular person can't afford a top-end GPU anymore.

    Because I've always had a gaming computer, I'd also have a budget laptop for life admin/video. But now, I just use my PS4 and old ipad, or my phone to do anything that doesn't require a keyboard input.

    If your laptop is your main deal and you invest hard in it (ie. North of 2k), if that were me I'd want barest minimum of 5 years, but that's simply not how the technology of something like a macbook actually works.

    • idonotknowwhy on 23/07/2018 - 15:33
      +1

      . Coin mining has ruined the ability to make a decent gaming rig for less than <$1000, as you now have to spend at least $600 to get a GPU that will play AAA games Ultra at 1080p for more than 1 year without starting to scale down graphics.

      Nah, an RX580 for < $400 can still do 1080p ultra in AAA games.
      The expensive part now is DDR4, which you can blame on smartphones, not coin miners (we're happy with 4GB per rig and a lot of us use old DDR3).

      But now, I just use my PS4

      Which would be equivalent to either 'low' or 'medium', no where near ultra, and limited to 30fps in some games, and often runs at < 1080p upscaled.

      If you only want medium / low at 30-60fps, a 3GB GTX 1060 will probably do fine for years :)

  • snynx on 23/07/2018 - 13:39
    +3

    updated my 2010 computer just a few months ago

    I regret not doing it sooner - i spend a LOT of time on my computer, and the enjoyment I lost from not updating it sooner is probably 20 times the cost of the upgrade itself

    in the future i'll probably update every 2-3 years or so

  • Freitag on 23/07/2018 - 14:02

    I bought my last MacBook second hand, I had a 2010 year old one, sold that for $200 and bought a 2013 old one for $300.

    • Ghost47 on 23/07/2018 - 15:50

      How does the 2013 one run considering its age? Been contemplating buying a Macbook lately but unsure how the older ones run. Mainly want to get it to develop iOS apps.

  • T1OOO on 23/07/2018 - 14:11

    Core 2 duo in like 2008
    Now using a i5 3350

    Thing is those gens were so good they could run basically everything and apps and games stopped being cpu dependant.

    I do like the look of the ryz 2700 though I must admit. But still in no rush for that and a m2 ssd. Mine works perfect and will for another 2-3 years atleast.

  • rave75 on 23/07/2018 - 14:46

    My alienware laptop is on its 6th year (I clean the dust inside, re-applied thermal paste once a year).

    My desktop PC is from intel 4th gen.

    Both are running perfectly fine.

  • arnieb on 23/07/2018 - 19:13

    longest I've gone is 3 years before buying a new computer…

    • jowu15 on 23/07/2018 - 19:58

      I do not know if you really need a new job every couple of years, but for me I have to admit its a bit hard to resist the latest new shining gadget.

  • hawktalk on 23/07/2018 - 19:37

    With pc's I was always behind the 8 ball. Had a 486 while most people had a pentium (or pentium II). Had a PII when most were on a p4. Got a p4 in the mid 2000s, then an i7 930 in 2010 and an i5 in 2012 (lesson learned the 2010 pc was pre built with good parts excluding the el cheapo power supply and it blew up!).

    Still using the i5 today - the system requirements of most games is finally starting to pass it :-/. I've upgraded the videocard, hdds etc… I could boost the ram but I haven't yet. The enjoyable thing about lagging behind with my older pcs was playing the cool games (kind of like a backlog similar to having too many steam or console games to play). Even with my p2 and p4 machines I was fine as I could still play the yearly fifas.

    In terms of laptops I replaced the Toshiba I had from 2013, with a Dell earlier this year. I hope it lasts just as long.

    • airal3rt on 23/07/2018 - 20:03

      Still using the i5 today - the system requirements of most games is finally starting to pass it :-/.

      What model processor? If it's an unlocked SKU just OC the balls off it and Sandy/Ivy Bridge will crush current games.

      • nomoneynoproblems on 23/07/2018 - 22:10

        They're starting to get long in the tooth. I upgraded my 2500k start of this year for 8700k and it's been night and day. It was bottlenecking my 980gtx by a significant amount. Even stepping up to ddr4 was a huge increase.

        • airal3rt on 23/07/2018 - 22:37

          What OC were you running your 2500k at? Unless you got a complete dud of leaky silicon a properly overclocked 2500k would very rarely bottleneck a GTX 980, only in very CPU dependent titles. An i5 to i7 comparison is apples to oranges in the occasional titles that use it, and the majority of games don't take advantage of more than 4 cores anyway. There's a ton of benchmarks out there showing DDR3-DDR4 is a negligible difference from a performance standpoint.

        • nomoneynoproblems on 23/07/2018 - 22:54

          @airal3rt: I ran mine at 4ghz. I probably had a dud but I was content with it. I'm telling you as someone that ran mine for 6 years +, the difference is huge.
          Eurogamer wrote a good article 2 years ago on this. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-is-it…

          I run 1080p so gpu has less of an impact, but my minimum frames went up the roof and stutters went away for a lot of the titles. You won't know until you upgrade. Srs.

        • airal3rt on 23/07/2018 - 23:04

          @nomoneynoproblems:

          Yeah 4ghz is not enough mate, when you're talking about hardware from 2011 you're not worried about life expectancy so you just crank the voltage, 4.8ghz frequently doable and 5.0ghz for some. I've got a rendering station with an 8700k and a secondary gaming rig with a 2500k, the difference at 1440p is minimal with a GTX 1070. I haven't ran the 2500k that slow since I pulled it out the box 7 years ago, your experience at 4.0ghz and 1080p might have been different but Sandy Bridge was the last of the soldered Intel chips and OCs like an absolute boss to this very day, if you're mainly gaming a properly OC'd 2500k makes a platform shift look wasteful.

        • nomoneynoproblems on 24/07/2018 - 12:31

          @airal3rt: no doubt it oc like a champ, but at 1080p it was pretty limiting. I don't game at 144p so it's not gpu bound, but the upgrade has been well worth it for me. I could have gone a 2600k side grade but wanted ddr4 and other things.

  • Otto-Mann on 23/07/2018 - 20:03

    Still running on a late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro. Connected to a few displays and keyboard/mouse. Doesn't see a great deal of 'laptop' use these days and still holding up just fine.

  • ladybug1 on 23/07/2018 - 22:06

    A question for those who have been able to keep a laptop longer than 5 years-do you have an Apple computer? I used to have an Acer (died within the warranty period, replaced for another that lasted about the same time, each 2.5 yrs). I've had an HP for about a year and I can see the build quality is better.

    • jowu15 on 24/07/2018 - 09:19

      I had an Asus and a HP, neither of them last more than two years

  • lostn on 23/07/2018 - 23:37

    4 years. A gaming PC stays current for about that long, due to PC games now being bottlenecked if you will by consoles.

    It used to be PC got PC games, and consoles got their own games. Now everything is made for consoles and ported to PC, or the PC version is made concurrently but with the console specs as a target. So your games aren't that much better looking than the console version. As long as your rig can handle what the console can do, you can get around one console generation of use out of it.

  • DBBROS on 24/07/2018 - 04:31

    I have a 2013 lenovo ideapad which I mostly use for streaming netflix and YouTube from the laptop to the television. Recently upgraded the Ram as I noticed that it was running slow at times. Wasn't ready to give up on it yet and still hasn't let me down

  • xaykogeki on 24/07/2018 - 09:22

    Back when I was into gaming and building PCs, almost every year. I upgrade CPUs every second gen and graphics card almost every release.
    Now that my hobby has changed, I sold everything and just using a Surface Book 1.

  • altman on 24/07/2018 - 09:25
    +2

    Pre-marriage: Every 2-3 years
    Post-marriage: Indeterminate amount of time

    • jowu15 on 24/07/2018 - 12:37

      Pre-child
      Post-child

      Pre-mortgage
      Post-mortgage

  • Geminist on 24/07/2018 - 10:05

    Considering your usage, it's worth replacing the battery as you can squeeze one more year at least out of it.

    A DIY kit on ebay is around $80 and most would come with the screwdrivers you need. Replacing it is very easy and you can find the instruction on iFixit, or youtube.

    I change mine around 5 years, or until it can do what I need it do.

  • thord on 24/07/2018 - 11:16

    I build my PC when I need one, and my current PC has a i5-2500k, so that should give you a good idea of how long I wait.

    I think it's been 7 or 8 years now, still absolutely fine and without issue.

  • bond303 on 24/07/2018 - 13:59

    Bought a Lenovo G450 in 2009, still runs. After I installed windows10 , it has slowed down, however still good for basic browsing and MS office. I later found it that this model was not recommended for windows 10 upgrade, and it was too late to revert . I bought a new one 6 months ago and don't plan to replace it anytime soon, unless something happens accidentally.

  • Cheapascents on 24/07/2018 - 14:36

    im using my built gaming computer from 2010, only thing that has changed since then is that i upgraded the hdd to a sdd, and i dont play video games anymore

    edit, and windows 10 upgrade

  • [Deactivated] on 24/07/2018 - 17:23

    Was supposed to be every few years, then became every 2 years… now it's every year…

  • zan5hin on 24/07/2018 - 19:37

    I buy a new PC when my old one doesn't suit my needs. I have gone a weird route:

    2013 - Bought a Macbook Air 2011 used with 4GB / 128GB to learn about MacOS and see what the fuss was about. Used it for a long time but finally got frustrated with the speed as it couldn't handle chrome tabs. Tried to sell it but ended up trying to give it to my mum, now it just sits at the parents house and sometimes gets used when I am over there and bored, or she needs to book tickets to something and print it out.

    May 2014 - Bought a gaming laptop, Clevo W230SS with core i7 / 768GB SSD drives and 860m which was a decent GPU for a while, not AAA titles but it did ok for casual gaming. I ended up not doing much gaming however I did use it connected as a desktop replacement for most of it's life, both in Australia and when I lived overseas, I just bought a monitor and keyboard/mouse over there.

    July 2017 - Bought a Samsung TabPro S which is a weird device, it's a tablet with a keyboard but I never use it as a tablet, it is slower then the Clevo but it has relegated the Clevo to just being the machine I download torrents with and connected to external drives…. the reason for this is that it has an amazing 12" OLED touchscreen and I can't afford an OLED TV and I watch videos alone so this is an amazing device, both for watching content with deep blacks, and also just for reading stuff on the web, it's crisp…. it's a device with plenty of flaws, i'm typing here in the dark without a backlit keyboard, if I move my legs the wrong way it will fall over, but after a year I'm used to it and it can handle lots of stuff.

    July 2018 - I was thinking of selling the Clevo for $500 and building a gaming PC, I worked out it would cost me about $1500 including a new monitor so that was a bit more than I can afford right now, so I did a weird thing I never thought I would do, and I bought a console! Yes, I finally submitted to my console overlords and have tried to start learning how to aim with a controller. It was $265 delivered for a PS4 Slim from Gumtree, which came with about 4 decent games (No Man's Sky, some racing games, I already played through Ratchet and Clank which was cool). I bought it mainly to finally play Last of Us (remastered) which is a PS4 exclusive title, and also bought Horizon Zero Dawn and Just got Uncharted Collection, the Wolfenstein deal on here as well, so I paid about $90 for games which will keep me busy for a long time.

    They don't make OLED screens in tablet/laptop devices anymore so I'm waiting for the 4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC HDR, Quantum-dot monitors to drop in price, and the next gen cards coming out soon from Nvidia to also drop and probably build a new, small desktop PC in late 2019.

  • windbox on 24/07/2018 - 20:27

    first laptop, brought on 2003, Dell Latitude D600, Intel Pentium M 1.4 GHz, 256M Ram (upgraded to 512M 3 years later), still functioning ~
    second laptop, brought on 2007, HP DV4-1212TX, sold when I got next laptop,
    third one, brought on 2010, HP DV6-3030TX, sold when I got next laptop,
    fourth laptop, brought on 2012, Lenovo Y570, i7-2670QM, 8G Ram, sold when I got next laptop,
    fifth laptop, brought on 2014, Lenovo E430c, i7-3612QM, 8G Ram, 480G SSD, kept for backup
    current laptop, brought on 2017, MSI GS43VR, i7-6700HQ, 16G Ram, 512G NvMe SSD, 2TB HDD
    So on average, every 2-3 years, purchase a new laptop for better performance (CPU/RAM/Screen/Video/Storage/Portability/..) and get rid of the old one.

    • cwongtech on 25/07/2018 - 16:00

      You really brought a lot of laptops don't you

  • JelIyfish on 24/07/2018 - 21:35
    +1

    Just get a MacBook Pro and be done with it.
    In 5 years time you can click the ‘longer than 5 years option’

  • Thaal Sinestro on 24/07/2018 - 23:20

    In the old days there much much more incentive to frequently upgrade since CPU power and system RAM was doubling every 18 months. My policy nowdays is only upgarde if essential components die, or when upgrading gives you a 50%+ performance boost (graphics cards are about the only component that fulfill the latter criteria).

  • jerjergege on 25/07/2018 - 08:06

    Haven't bought an entirely new computer in a long time, however I continuously upgrade parts.
    Just recently my 2nd EVGA 1080 TI FTW3

  • ExtraSalt on 25/07/2018 - 10:14

    I used to buy a new one every 2 years, then moved over to a MAC and still using my Late 2011 MBP….i HAVE replaced the fan & Battery twice, upgraded the RAM and replaced HDD with an SSD the Optical drive with the old HDD though.

    It is on it's last legs, but she's still pumping.

    • smpantsonfire on 25/07/2018 - 10:58

      Same mbp, I have only replaced the hdd with an ssd. It's still pumping along fine. They are actual beasts.

      • jowu15 on 25/07/2018 - 12:21

        @smpantsonfire I read that a few people replaced the hdd wtih an ssd. Is it easy to replace or did you send to store to do it? Whats the benefit to do it? thanks

        • smpantsonfire on 25/07/2018 - 22:18

          Is super simple, undo all the screws on the bottom panel, and you can see the hdd, and the caddy, unplug and replace. 10 minute job.

          It does not void your warranty as it is a user serviceable part.

  • TigerWoops on 25/07/2018 - 10:23
    +1

    It depends on the price I paid for it. I bought a cheap laptop(I guess 300-400 dollars, cannot remember) and last only two years due to slowing down and finally not waking up one day. Then I paid more than a grant for a late model. Still I use it for more than 6 years without problems(except replacing the hdd to sdd) and have no plan to buy another one.

  • haru on 25/07/2018 - 13:53

    I bought a Floureon battery on ebay for $60 to replace the one on my wife's 2011 MBA. It works like new again.

  • niknah on 25/07/2018 - 14:32

    I'm still buying new laptops every 3 years. Some times it's because I lose or break them.

    But recently I upgraded my old laptop to…
    SSD(about $120)
    1080p screen(about $80)

    Might keep this one for a bit longer.

    • smpantsonfire on 28/07/2018 - 16:20

      You should probably be more careful

  • Jumbolkna on 25/07/2018 - 14:58

    I obtained a supposedly broken 2009 macbook. The HDD SATA input failed so I bought a superdrive to SATA caddy, got rid of the superdrive and installed an SSD. It is now my wife's main laptop for her design business. 👍

  • Leedian on 28/07/2018 - 00:56

    My PC is about 8 years old and still running fine and fast enough for my need.
    I only have to change out my SSD couple of months ago as the data was starting to corrupt, but other than that everything else are fine
    I don't play games or any photo/video editing, only web browsing, and watching videos (can't do 4K tho)
    AMD Phenom II X4 955, Radeon HD 6870 & 8GB Ram

  • Froot Loops on 23/09/2018 - 21:39

    Desktop work: currently 22 years old (Win 95). I will die before they replace it
    Laptop work university: Every 12 months
    Desktop work university: Around 3-5 years
    Laptop Home: Every 18 months
    Tablet: 6-18 months
    Phone: 12 months

  • N1NJ4W4RR10R on 24/09/2018 - 16:28

    Probably going to be 2 - 3 years.

    However… litterally just bought my first, so can't say, lol.

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