How long does a laptop generally last you?

[Shicky]

Hi all,

obviously a bit of a subjective question but curious how long people actively use theirs for and obviously usage will be a factor.

What prompts this question is a change of job, though I get a macbook, it's heavily locked down meaning I might need to get my own. I bought and old gaming msi laptop in 2011 which literally is falling apart...not quite sure what quality tests the chasis passed but whatever.

My main uses are online browsing and programming so I don't need much. I'm tempted to fix my old laptop which needs an SSD and now the battery isn't charging. I figure I might be better just making a new purchase?

So in essence, how long have your last two laptops lasted you?

 

[DJ85]

I had a Sony vaio which lasted me for 2.5 years till I Started getting into gaming and with only onboard graphics I was very limited to what I could play so I bought a gaming laptop which had a 960m 2gb card in it which also lasted me just over 2 years until I recently bought one with a 1070 8gb in it.
I could have kept it because it was still in perfect condition, I sold it on more to keep with the times if anything (meaning play the latest AAA games) I reckon this new laptop will keep me going for a good few years as well. I use my laptop about 3-4 hours a night maybe for half the month when I’m away with work, at home it stays in the bag mostly.

Just make sure you buy a laptop that’s easily (ram,ssd) upgradable which most are and it should last a fair while I’d say! If you do end up buying a new one that is

 

[Iron-man]

Guess it depends what it is used for, I have 1 which I had about 7 years but it was used for word documents etc but if you were gaming then I would suggest not long

 

[sideways14a]

Depends on the spec but here i refresh desktops and laptops in year 4 to 5, nothing older than 5 years should be on site.
A decent quad core with decent ram and an ssd should last a lot longer than a cheep n nasty dual core with puny memory and a slowass 5400 drive.

 

[Vince]

I tend to chew through a new machine every 18 months or so, just moved from a Clevo p950re (6700hq, 32gb, gtx970m, nvme) to a spectre x360 (kabylake-G, Vega, 32gb, nvme) Not worth the move in terms of performance alone but the old one was starting to look a bit rough around the edges.

Mine travels to London with me every day and during the week gets probably 10 hours a day usage. Basically I beat the hell out of them

 

[willhub]

I've ditched desktops alltogether and now made the decision that upgrade time = desktop level laptop, my current GTX1070 laptop (in sig) I expect to last 2 years then I shall upgrade to something else that can run the latest games if need be, I use 4K TV now and again but happy at 1080p on the laptop and the TV scales well so I don't think I'll have many issues for a couple of years. As I've said, I see no point in desktops now, whilst the cost is significantly higher in laptops, the portability and performance means that they're desktop performing which makes a real desktop useless, unless you want silents and bang for buck.

 

[TheCybermonkey]

My MacBook has lasted me 10 yrs. Only just bought a Razer Blade 15 this last week more as a treat to myself than anything. The MacBook did everything except games, but ive been a console convert for a while. Hoping this will last me just as long. Having TB3 means I can at least add a eGPU in a few years if needs be to extend its life.

 

[MiSJAH]

For gaming I upgrade with GPU generations.

 

[SarGara]

I generally get 2.5yrs out of a gaming laptop, sometimes i stretch it to 3yrs. The laptops have all still functioned at the end of that time but wanting to play the current releases at an acceptable level forces my hand. I'm about to jump from a 6th gen Intel 960m to a 8th gen Intel 1060 for example.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

MacBook Air 2011 13" model, lasted me all this time. Still in same condition as it was in 2011.

 

[andy_mk3]

I've had 4 laptops in 16 years I think, started out with a Packard Bell with a basic celeron that lasted me 5 years then I got an Acer Aspire in the Vista era, that only lasted about 2 years until a motherboard failure. I replaced that with a Dell Studio 1749 that was around the time that Windows 7 came out. That was my daily driver until I replaced it with an MSI Ge62 2QD, which I've had about 2 or 3 years.

However the Dell laptop is still on all day every day with upgraded ram and an ssd, and is my work laptop. 7 or 8 years old it's still a solid machine, and the old i5 is still very capable of running what I need at work, Chrome, excel, a few technical data programs and a Windows Xp vm constantly running.

 

[Phemo]

I'm still using a Retina MacBook Pro 13" that I bought in January 2014. It's been hammered, used most days for work and personal stuff, taken all over the world with me and it's never given me any grief. Battery is showing 805 charge cycles but I'll still happily get around 6 hours of basic use out of it which isn't bad going at all for 4 and a half years of heavy use.

It's put me in a tricky situation with what to get next. I don't think I can justify the expense of getting a MacBook Pro these days - when I got mine back in 2014 the price and spec was actually pretty reasonable even compared to PC laptops. These days it's a joke, so hopefully I'll get a while longer out of this. It's still quick enough for what I use it for especially since I usually remote desktop to servers at work or home which run the more CPU intensive stuff I need to do.

 

[Domo]

I'm still using a Retina MacBook Pro 13" that I bought in January 2014. It's been hammered, used most days for work and personal stuff, taken all over the world with me and it's never given me any grief. Battery is showing 805 charge cycles but I'll still happily get around 6 hours of basic use out of it which isn't bad going at all for 4 and a half years of heavy use.

It's put me in a tricky situation with what to get next. I don't think I can justify the expense of getting a MacBook Pro these days - when I got mine back in 2014 the price and spec was actually pretty reasonable even compared to PC laptops. These days it's a joke, so hopefully I'll get a while longer out of this. It's still quick enough for what I use it for especially since I usually remote desktop to servers at work or home which run the more CPU intensive stuff I need to do.

Similar situation to you. 2012 MacBook Pro Retina. On day and night pretty much (work and personal) and also travels around with me between various continents. Gets hot now and battery is really bad. Can't complain too much though. It's been bullet proof and never let me down.

Deciding between sticking with Apple or going for something like Dell XPS or Surface Pro.

 

[Phemo]

I've actually got a Dell XPS 15 as one of my work laptops. It's nice, a good spec and battery isn't bad, but I just don't use it. Mainly because I prefer using a 13" laptop while I'm out and about rather than a 15".

Another thing I dislike about it is battery life in standby. The Dell does pretty well for battery life overall but it will lose anything between 5 and 10% of battery if I just close the lid and leave it in sleep mode overnight. In comparison the Mac loses next to nothing. Not sure if it's a Windows vs MacOS thing or what. Minor, but an irritation all the same.

 

[Domo]

That's good to know re the Dell - thanks. I agree with you on laptop size. Definitely downsizing to 13" this time. My current Mac is a 15" and lugging it around has grown tiresome to say the least.

 

[willhub]

For gaming I upgrade with GPU generations.

That's going to be pricey upgrading every year or two a whole laptop?

 

[MiSJAH]

That's going to be pricey upgrading every year or two a whole laptop?

Resale value of a single GPU generation old laptop is quite a healthy contribution to the cost of the latest gen.

 

[JimboJet]

You're probably due an upgrade then Misjah, you've had that unit for a while now. Getting itchy feet?

I've recently purchased the Gigabyte Aero 15x v8, and its excellent. I don't see me upgrading it for 3-4 yrs so long as it holds up to the abuse of travelling. (2 long haul flights a week on average!)

 

[Rroff]

Had my current one like 5 years or something - the only thing that isn't great these days is the GPU but it still manages a lot of games.

These days doesn't get used as much as it used to as some Windows tablets are capable of many of the basic tasks I'd have used it for in the past and much more convenient for taking around.

 

[willhub]

Resale value of a single GPU generation old laptop is quite a healthy contribution to the cost of the latest gen.

Wonder how much I'd get for my laptop in a years time.