How long do you keep your laptop before you upgrade and why?

polkatese
polkatese Posts: 6,767
edited February 2008 in The Clubhouse
Curious, what is the average time do you keep your personal laptop before you feel the need to upgrade and why?

I have mine for almost 4 years to the date now, it is a Compaq X1000. So far, I upgraded the wireless card (to do 54g), RAM to 1G, and HDD to 160gb. My mistake was to upgrade the OS to Vista when it came out in 2006 which I feel add no real improvement, but it is humming fine nevertheless.

The kids use it to play online games and surf the net. I use it for work on and off (I have a work laptop also that is 2 years old).

My next one would be a Macbook Pro, just hasn't find a true compelling reason to make the jump, since it works fine for my purpose.

Thanks.
I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
Post edited by polkatese on
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Comments

  • wizzy
    wizzy Posts: 867
    edited February 2008
    I buy a laptop with a one year warranty using a credit card extending the warranty to two years, then sell it right around month 24 as soon as I find another good deal on a new laptop.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited February 2008
    I think there are two criteria, and when either one are met I upgrade :
    1. When there's a noticeable performance difference between modern hardware and what I have. And I mean noticeable for what I use it for, not just theoretically, because everything technological that you buy is going to be obsolete pretty much instantly.
    2. When it starts "acting broken". Not a part dies and you replace it ,but just random crashes or things that are mysterious and not easily fixable. Laptops are HUGE culprits of this type of thing in my experience.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited February 2008
    Use it till it dies.
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited February 2008
    Well, I'm not upgrading for a while 'cause all these laptops with the widescreens out now...yeah, I need a bigger lap before I can upgrade!
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2008
    Till it dies! I am still running a P3 700 with 192megs, and 20 gigs. I don't need anymore. It runs everything fine. I have a main machine that is a quad core, 2gigs, 5 hard drives, and BA video card. Now if I needed it on the road all the time I would still run it till it dies!
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • Gaara
    Gaara Posts: 2,415
    edited February 2008
    Till work gives me a new one
    The Basement HT
    PC Rig
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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited February 2008
    I never keep them longer then a year...not because I dont like them...only because I like the newest of the new. I kid Doro for being the audio pimp he his , but truth be told I am the same way with laptops.

    A week or 2 ago I got the newest Dell XPS 17" twin hard drive blu-ray monster...I sure hope slot loading blu-ray drives come to laptops soon ( Pioneer makes the DVDRW ones I use...very cool and work great ) because even though this new one is blu-ray...trays suck.



    I never throw them in the flea market here on the forum though because they go like hotcakes here locally....I have one with maybe 6 hours use on it tops( Bought it for the old lady and she used it once...said it didnt have her work files on it :confused: ) ... 12" Dell XPS loaded with 2GB ram...core 2 duo cpu...dvdrw ( Tray because the pio slt loaders only blend well with the 17's chassis )...wireless..bluetooth...Nvidia GPU...built in camera...extended larger capacity battery...etc I only bought it because of a certain deal I worked with the dell rep when they screwed the pooch on a different order. I got it cheap so if someone wants it PM me. ( They ship extremely well because I have original dell shipping container ...and I have all accessories...XPS's come with cool stuff. It has Vista on it ( Home PREMIUM ) but I can throw any dell legal ( Updateable :) ) version of XP on there ...I know a lot dont like Vista ;)

    This isnt really an offer for sale ...dont need to advertise these..they sell themselves locally...but I figured a forum member might want a killer deal since we were discussing laptops is all :D
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited February 2008
    Ive had mine for 3 years and I don't see replacing it anytime soon. Its a 14.1, which i like because its light and easily portable. And about the only thing I do on it is surf the internet and microsoft office for school. No gaming, I leave that to the desktop.

    I dont have to have the newest and best stuff for that and its still plenty fast for what I'll use it for, so i plan on keeping it until it dies...or 10 years, whatever comes first.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited February 2008
    Adding some extra memory, getting a new faster 7200 rpm drive and a fresh install of xp will do wonders for you laptop
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • SKsolutions
    SKsolutions Posts: 1,820
    edited February 2008
    Current 10 month old 14.1 HP gets about 3 hours on a charge with max settings and wi-fi on. I can deal with a bit of 'character' with a laptop, but if it's glitchy from the get go, it's gone quickly. This one is holding up well, but will be liquidated when I find a Santa Rosa chipset or 45nm Intel that will give me 4 hours or better for less than 1300. I'm addicted to shiny new stuff, no other reason.
    -Ignorance is strength -
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  • janmike
    janmike Posts: 6,146
    edited February 2008
    Home - every 3 years
    Work - every 2 years

    Corporate likes to keep things current.
    The Intel / Microsoft battle makes you change sooner than you probably want to. I hate slow computers.
    Michael ;)
    In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
    NORTH of 60°
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