How often do you buy a new computer/laptop?

andrewkar said:
it's not necessarily you got what you paid for.

It could be the same shit as with cars (at least in Europe).

30 years ago or so, Mercedes was made to last 1500000 KMs on one diesel engine. Today, right after guarantee is gone, you have to pray to gods... and it ain't work. It will get fucked up soon anyway. And they will charge for service like for a gold.

Lately I have figured out, that the same shit is going on in PC department (laptops also, why not?).

I have a HP desktop PC, it's giving me some Achtung! Achtung! screams that hard drive is going to die soon. It's doing that for a few months now already. I have bucked up all my files, got rid of that stupid alert and started a small investigation.

It looks like a lot more people have this kind of alerts, but somehow their PCs are still in perfect shape. How easy it is to code some shit alert into firmware or Bios? Must be very easy I guess.

These days cars in EU, are certainly a shadows of what cars used to be. They are meant to work good during guarantee, but once it's gone the are made to squeeze $ from owners.

That's nothing new anyway, but I think this kind of marketing is going on in more niches as well.

BTW, I have my HP PC since 2009.
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Thank you, finally a response that makes sense.

A lot of people on this forum programmed to say "It's your fault for buying cheap shit" even though I don't remember saying that I bought a cheap laptop. In fact I said quite the opposite... I bought one of the top 10 laptops of the year, recommended by the likes of Tom's Hardware and PC Mag.
 


emp said:
Desktop - every 2-3 years ... from the very beginning.

Seriously? You had a computer 10 years? Riiiiight..

So a pentium one, you'd have kept until 2003? (The year of pemtium 4 machines?)

Ya ... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihgt.

::emp::
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Ok I give it to you, 10 years is pushing it. It's definitely possible, but pushing it...
 
Laptop 2-3 years.

Desktop, whenever I feel like upgrading it. It's more of a yearly deal. I don't usurally do a full turn over just parts here and there. Processor every few years. Video card every year or 2 (PC master race). Hard drives as needed. Everything else whenever.
 
Laptop (Macbook Air at moment) every 2-3 years or if I feel like changing screen size, etc. I went with air to be portable, and because there's no sharp edges near my wrist/arms like the macbook pro has (had 2 of those).

Desktop - Whenever I feel like it. Last time was almost 3 years, and I only upgraded because I wanted to start playing a game and run virtual machine for OSX. That system is a beast and will last a long long time. I`ll probably end up selling it in the near future to downgrade to a smaller, less power consuming system.

I've been building my custom desktop systems since the very early 90s, and the custom built high-end parts last soo much longer than parts used in Dell and HP systems. I try to get parts with 5yr warranty (hard drives), and other expensive items like video cards get a square trade 30% off warranty. Resell value = huge.
I do the same for all laptops (warranty) for 3 or 4 years depending on value and perceived life.
 
Laptops
Had my 17 macbook Pro since 2009. Still works fine even though Ive dropped it and dinged up the alum case in about 20 spots now.​

Windows laptops, about every 2-3rd OS upgrade.​


Desktops

I've had this one desktop since 2008, but I recently replaced the internals. Before this one the other one I had lasted about 7 years​
 
Don't have a desktop. Laptops 3-5 years, but I don't buy consumer laptops. My Lenovo Thinkpad T500 C2D still works ok, but I'm going to get new Thinkpad T540p i7 with IPS 3k display in coming weeks. If you buy Acer or whatnot you will have to change it way more often.
 
avatar33 said:
Thank you, finally a response that makes sense.

A lot of people on this forum programmed to say "It's your fault for buying cheap shit" even though I don't remember saying that I bought a cheap laptop. In fact I said quite the opposite... I bought one of the top 10 laptops of the year, recommended by the likes of Tom's Hardware and PC Mag.
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No probs.
I remember having my old Western Digital HD 15G that sounded like a AK-47 and it was working for at least 7 years. I still have this hard drive (probably working and with all the data from that times..)

Without going paranoid. I would say, the more expensive and popular company is, the more service plays a part in overall income.

Apple is quite a mystery to me... I have only used their iPod Classic, and it's just unbreakable. He was with me while I was running below -20 c, and then when I was running above +40 c, in a rain so strong that cars had to slow down to 20km/h, always on my arm... Never let me down.

Anyway, I know Apple hardware and soft is much more stable than other PC's. ... Unless someone knows how to keep control over Win machines....
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Generally about every 18 - 24 months, same as you. Actually just picked up a new laptop about 6 weeks ago or so. Ended up with a Dell Inspiron again, I think about $1200, and works like a charm.

All my work is done directly on the network, meaning I don't really ever have anything on my computer worth saving, so every 18 - 24 months is fine by me. Doesn't take anything for me to switch out to a new computer. Buying a computer here pisses me off though. I'll look online, and get all excited about the prices for specs Americans are getting, then I'll go downtown and it's nowhere near as good. All I have is 8GB of RAM. According to deals at places like Newegg, for $1200, I should have at least 16GB.
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What exactly are you doing that requires you to buy a new computer every 18 to 24 months?

I do gaming in addition to work, and I am still using the same desktop PC I built since 2008. The motherboard, case, etc is actually from 2006. My PC still actually has a parallel port. I upgraded the graphics card, CPU, and ram in 2008. It's rock solid stable. I did have to replace the hard drive in 2011, but that wasn't a big deal.

It runs all the latest games at max details (Bioshock Infinite, Sleeping Dogs, Max Payne 3, etc) plus handles all my work. It seems kind of dumb to buy a new computer every 2 years unless you're doing some seriously CPU and GPU intensive work on it. Honestly, it doesn't sound like you are, especially since you're buying laptops.

I am however building a brand new rig when the Oculus Rift is released. My current rig is too underpowered for stereoscopic gaming.
 
I'm considering not going to buy any PCs anymore. All I will use is terminals.

Sure, I will have my own connection and data storage, but that's all.
Unless... I can afford my "small" data center..
 
bluechinagroup said:
What exactly are you doing that requires you to buy a new computer every 18 to 24 months?
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I don't know. My computer stays on 24x7, and almost never gets shut off. Almost every day I pack it out to a cafe / pub to get a change of scenery. I travel a decent amount, so it's always being packed around on taxis, buses, planes, etc.

But yeah, 18 - 24 months seems to be the norm, and I'm fine with that. Laptops are cheap these days anyway, and like I said, all my work and communication resides on my network, so switching out to a new computer takes me all of 3 hours, and I'm back up and running exactly where I left off.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
I don't know. My computer stays on 24x7, and almost never gets shut off. Almost every day I pack it out to a cafe / pub to get a change of scenery. I travel a decent amount, so it's always being packed around on taxis, buses, planes, etc.

But yeah, 18 - 24 months seems to be the norm, and I'm fine with that. Laptops are cheap these days anyway, and like I said, all my work and communication resides on my network, so switching out to a new computer takes me all of 3 hours, and I'm back up and running exactly where I left off.
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Alright. I still think it's kinda wasteful. It's your money though, so you can spend it how you like. I keep my PC on 24/7 too, but it is a desktop so I don't bang it around everywhere. Laptops with SSDs shouldn't have too many issues with being banged around though.

What exactly are your laptop problems after 18 to 24 months?
 
Whenever I spill beer on it and it won't turn on. About 2x a year.. I buy 2 at a time so I can just swap the HD.
 
avatar33 said:
Thank you, finally a response that makes sense.

A lot of people on this forum programmed to say "It's your fault for buying cheap shit" even though I don't remember saying that I bought a cheap laptop. In fact I said quite the opposite... I bought one of the top 10 laptops of the year, recommended by the likes of Tom's Hardware and PC Mag.
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Picking a response that suits your desired answer doesn't automatically make it correct. People think you bought a cheap laptop... cause you stated you bought a cheap laptop - that's how we all interpreted the original post.
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avatar33 said:
even though I don't remember saying that I bought a cheap laptop.
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Unfortunately, the original post makes it seem like you did...​

avatar33 said:
I remember the days where you would buy a computer for $3k-5k and it would last for 10+ years.

Today computers are dirt cheap, but it seems they are not as robust as they used to be. I realized that I'm buying a new computer every 2 years on average.
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Maybe you can see how people are coming to the conclusion that you bought a cheap laptop. A quick Google search also shows the general price range of the 'Toshiba Satellite' laptop that you are alluding to.​

Screen_Shot_2014_01_30_at_6_03_45_PM.png


Maybe there is a higher end model of the 'Toshiba Satellite'? OR We don't have the definition of 'cheap' even though you alluded that a price range of '$3k-5k' would be considered quality?
​
 
Laptop every few years. Desktop whenever I felt it was compromising efficiency.
 
Laptop is every 2-3 years/when it starts to break. Desktop I built so it's kind of on a rolling release/as needed basis. Right now, I'm holding out upgrading due to VR/4k/144hz stuff coming right around the corner. Waiting for the (nvidia) 900 series to be around ~$250 and I'm going to jump on that. I don't really use my laptop unless I'm traveling.
 
I drop €2-3k on decent components to build a new desktop about every 5 years and will upgrade the video card(s) every 2 or 3 years. I've only ever owned 2 laptops. Currently it's a pretty sweet little 8gb 13" Asus, for when I need to go meet a client or travel. I rarely leave the house so it hardly gets used.

Next upgrade is new monitors and probably new video cards to drive them.
 
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