How Long Is The Average Lifespan Of A Laptop?

I ask this because I've heard that after about three years, the hardware on a laptop starts to die out. I've had my Dell laptop since August 2000 and outside of a drive formatting and HD replacement, it's been quite good to me. Should I continue to stick with my good ol' Dell, or should I get a completely new one (and avoid any possible mishaps)? Any help would be appreciated.

I bought a Toshiba Sattelite Laptop in 1997, and despite it running on Windows 98 and the fact I can no longer find new batteries for that model, it's still usable. So It's almost 10 years old now. Just treat em' right and buy extra batteries up front and you should be fine.

i've had one that i bought in 1998 and still working right now. the technology side is of course, outdated...

<small>[ March 31, 2003, 08:21 AM: Message edited by: ray_7 ]</small>

I bought a 1700 compaq back in 2000. I've dropped it and cracked it open where the hard drive sit's next to the openning It's also been through intense heat and cold. Surprisingly it's still kicking. Only thing wrong with it is one of the batteries can't hold a charge anymore. buttrock buttrock

<small>[ March 30, 2003, 10:39 PM: Message edited by: Deyer ]</small>

Mine was from 2000... It ran fine for the most part until one day I did a "Hulk Smash" on it in a fit of rage...

It can last as long as you have cash, especially if you're in the VIP/champagne room.

Wait, we're talkin' bout lapdances, right?

At work while I was cleaning stuff up in my pig pen, I found a Dell laptop from '94 I think (it was 2002 at the time). Just for shits and giggles, I plugged it in and turned it on. DOS 6.22 booted and then so did Windows 3.11. After 8 years it still worked. Of course, nobody wanted a 80386 with 4MB RAM and a whopping 250MB HDD, so I took the hammer to it. I like breaking things.

So there you have it, laptops can last up to 8 years or more.

Hell, back a few years ago I was playing with an old Zenith Data System Lap top. The thing was huge but still running.

The average that I've found is about 5 years. Like Slerch, I've found a number of laptops that are 10 years old and still work fine, but every so often I have one that craps out after about 3 or 4 years. The BIGGEST point to make is that if you don't abuse your laptop it can last a long time, as most of the ones I've had that crapped out were physically abused in some way, shape or form (not by me).

I've had a few Gateway laptops die on me for no reason, but considering Gateway couldn't make a decent PC if their lives depended on it I'm not surprised.

Oh, and BTW Loopz: "There's NO SEX in the Champagne room. NONE."

insaneben:
I ask this because I've heard that after about three years, the hardware on a laptop starts to die out. I've had my Dell laptop since August 2000 and outside of a drive formatting and HD replacement, it's been quite good to me. Should I continue to stick with my good ol' Dell, or should I get a completely new one (and avoid any possible mishaps)? Any help would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

And it hasn't burst into flames yet? Surprising.

They're designed usually for about 5 years of stationary use... 3 of rugged (road warrior) use.

Toshiba's were REALLY good business laptops until their new 6xxx line came out. I've bought 3 of them for users in my company and EVERY ONE of them has had a major system board/power supply problem. Stay away.

Things to consider with your Hardware dying is what are you running on it? Are you playing MP3's 12 hours a day? Are you turning it on and off frequently? Are you leaving it charging and not discharging the battery every month? Are you traveling with it and knocking it around a lot? All of these things take a LOT of life off your laptop.

I have an OLD luggable from the mid-late 80's as a nostalgia piece... it still runs and boots to this day. The battery alone weighs more than 3 normal form factor laptops these days. It looks BRAND new.

The just made 'em better back then.

I got mine the summer of '99 and it's still going... well, strong isn't the right word, but...

Ever since I upgraded my hard drive, though, I find that my battery lasts, oh, 15 minutes. Not sure if the battery or the hard drive (which will likely start my place on fire it gets so hot with intensive use) is the culprit...

As much as I'd like a new computer, I can always find much better places to drop 1-2 grand, it seems.

I'm using a toshiba laptop that just turned 5 years old today, LOL.

It's a toshiba satellite 2505CDS...it's been a workhorse, and I can still sit in the living room with it and use teh wireless internet..

It's only 233mhz, but I can run PSP off it, and I upgraded the RAm to 64mb...

Still not a replacement for the desktop though lol wink .

However, I would reccomend a toshiba laptop to anybody..they rock.

[/rant]

I've got a Compaq presario that I got back in 2000. I had it in it's case, and dropped it about 3 feet on cement. It exploded open, and the LCD screen is now blury. Still works though, as evidence by this post.

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

The main reason why I asked this is because my warranty expires before my next year of college starts, and I'd hate to have to replace it in the middle of a difficult course. Perhaps a little more background information is needed in order to determine whether I should keep or replace my current laptop. Here's what all I know:

-I've had my Dell laptop since August 2000.
-It's traveled with me to and from Boca Raton, FL and Alexandria, VA a few times (only during college breaks).
-In college, it spends all of it's time in one place (same deal at home).
-It's usually on for about 12 hours a day six days a week, 8.5 out of 12 months of the year (it spends the remaining 3.5 months in cold storage).
-I had to format the original hard drive once (in December 2000), then replace the hard drive in August 2002 after the HD was damaged (possibly during my flight home).
-Aside from all that, it's been very good to me, and I hope that if I keep it, it'll last another year (or at least long enough for me to get through college).

So, should I keep my current laptop alive (and possibly buy a spare battery or drive for backup), or cast it aside in favor of a new one?