Life expectancy of a Laptop?

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ukknifer

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Jan 30, 2010
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I have a laptop that is 4 years old and counting. How long will it live?

I read that 4 to 5 years is the average. Can I do something to squeeze more life of my Toshiba?
 
It depends on the brand and who you ask I guess but also you can do some research and discover a lot by looking at what sells used and reconditioned and how old the places selling them will go back to and still offer them. If you ask the guys that repair and work on all manner of lap top computers and deal in factory refurbished ones they will almost invariably tell you that IBM is the best. This has been my experience also and I've owned a Toshiba, Compaq, Sony, and two IBMs so far. So far the IBM computers have outlived all the others combined.

I've had several guys tell me from places that sell and deal in reconditioned notebook computers such as USAnotebook.com that no other notebook lasts 12 years other than the IBM and its because IBM uses the top notch components unlike some other brands. So, if you want to find out what is the best in the way of note book computers ask the guys that sell them reconditioned which they have the least trouble with. They'll tell you IBM and if you ask them what they don't sell (well, actually you don't have to ask, just look at their web sites) you can see they don't offer Sony, and also you can immediately see by the operating systems offered that very few of the older brands, IE, Dell, Gateway, HP, or anything else are offered that don't use XP and yet they have IBMs for sale still using windows 98 SE in some cases. Although these are just now starting to fizzle out and 2000 are still being seen. It doesn't take a lot of thought to figure why you can still buy a used reconditioned IBM Thinkpad with Windows 2000 or XP home or pro. IMO

My wife bought a brand new $3200+ dollar Sony Vaio and it died completely in 14 months. Sony wanted over $800 to fix it and then offered a 30 day warranty. The IBM I'm typing on right now is a unit made in 03/ 2007 that I bought used with a six month warranty from usanotebook and for $200 and I've had it since mid 2008. Go figure.

STR
 
.... avoid using the battery? make sure it stays super cool... more rammz?

i rarely have a main use laptop last me over 2 years. but i have to work on one.

the thing i found most useful is making sure dust doesnt accumulate while inside where the cooling fins and fan are....
 
Dialysis and transfusions.... LOL
I have a tablet pc that I use in the field with me. I have to upgrade software via flash software and I have dropped it in the mud, bent the case on one drop and it keeps on ticking. I cannot use the + sign on it, but I can copy and paste it if I really need it. LOL. This one is about 5 yrs. old, I have abused it for 3.5
 
yeah, like somber said, keep it clean, grab a new battery if you can find one cheap, won't help the longevity but it will feel newer. avoid resting it on blankets and soft surfaces that block the cooling vents, or that put pressure on the AC connector. most of the dead laptops I've seen have been due to "laptop" failures, screen hinges, case cracks, that short of thing that doesn't happen to desk tops.
 
if the laptop is mostly desk-bound and plugged in, definitely take out the battery...otherwise what will decide if the laptop needs replacement is if a internal component like the drive goes kaput; but then you can get easily replace and reformat it...if some pixels start to die, that's an easy reason for replacement...

if it looks "shopworn", that's cosmetic and you can decide if that's a good enough reason to replace...

if its slow in performance due to what's newer out there, that is relative to what kind of work you're doing on it...primarily word processing; you don't need blazing speed for spellchecking...using excel or access with large dataset; yeah, you always want the fastest processor you can afford...same with graphics professionals...

but many times, it's just something cracks or breaks on it; like the lcd bezel or the hinges; that is reason enough to upgrade and replace, especially if it's a professional use laptop...
 
Seems to me that the ones we use at work die because the internal cooling fan(s) die w/o us knowing and it ends up overheatign and frying parts.

You may want to see if the fans can be purchased from the manufacturer and do a replacement.
 
I'm posting this on a Dell Inspiron that was bought in April 2004. 6 months after I bought it, the LCD went bad, which Dell fixed under warranty. Since then it has been powered on 24/7 and used daily with never another repair. I figure I've gotten my money's worth. If it craps out, in the garbage it will go.
 
ukknifer said:
I have a laptop that is 4 years old and counting. How long will it live?

I read that 4 to 5 years is the average. Can I do something to squeeze more life of my Toshiba?
Click to expand...

My old Gateway is quite outdated but it still works.

What do you mean squeeze more life ? you can upgrade your ram and so forth but in the end you are probably going to pay over half of what a new laptop would cost you.

If I were you I would back up all my important files , pics music , etc then reinstall Windows xp ( assuming you use xp ) , put back all your programs and file , you will be amazed at how much faster youtr pc will run. Do not put Vista if your pc is too old , the added features are not worth slowing down your pc , laptops are not like desktops in that they have limited resources to go around , much harder and costlier to upgrade as opposed to just buying a new one , all pcs have gone down drastically in price except Apple.:rolleyes:

:)

Tostig
 
I have a Dell Lattitude that was originally shipped with Windows 95, runs 98 fairly well but nothing newer in Microsoft's world will perform. I guess it has to do that I am maxed out with 32mb of ram.
 
ive usually gotten 3-4 years but my buddies macbook pro is 7 yrs old and still working amazing
 
I had an HP last for ten years, but it never left my desk. Still, I think it was some kind of record.

Jeff
 
The laptop should last for years to come. I'm hesitant to say indefinitely, but it'll seem like it.

Only thing that will cause any trouble in the future wil lbe your hard drive. Over time all hard drives will die. Movable parts and all that, they are ticking time bombs.

Expect to replace the HDD at some point, otherwise you should be fine.

Don't forget to blow out the dust occasionally. Open it up and dust it out if you can.
 
I just replaced my 8 year old Gateway (many folks will tell you to avoid Gateway like the plague) which I used 5 days a week all day long, basically every week. The battery was dead/useless after about 3.5 years.

I don't think there is much you can do to significantly extend a laptop's life. Unless you get a lemon, the battery will probably go well before your laptop just dies. If it is a cheap laptop (or you figure out that really only need a basic laptop for your next), you toss it and buy another.
 
My other 2 lasted 3 years. My Dell will be a year old soon, hopefully it will last at least another 2 years.
 
All the posts above have pretty much covered everything.

I'm using a Toshiba I bought in 2000 and and HP I bought in 2005. Neither of them have batteries in them anymore, but they are still more convenient to move around the house and take to work.

Heat is the biggest killer of electronics. So keep them cool and make sure the fans are not blocked by clothes, blankets, etc...
 
They don't make them like they used to. Have a Toshiba Tecra 8000 with: 256MB RAM (max), Pentium II 366MHz processor, and it came with Windows 98 (first edition) installed. I replaced the hard drive once.....went from teh original Toshiba 20 Gig drive up to an 80 Gig drive...Moved up to Win 2K...and then to XP Pro. It would run Photoshop 7, Dreamweaver MX 2004...but it had its limitations and if you were used to a newer/faster machine, it could be aggravating at times. After many updates with XP SP2, it seemed to slow down a bit....and SP3 just was too much for it. Wiped the drive and it now runs Win 2K again....mostly use it for programming phone systems and some Bose and Ashly audio processors. Only on its second battery...and that's six years old now....and still runs for 2 hours! Don't think I'll ever find one that reliable again.

John
 
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