how long is the service life of a laptop/macbook

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kenny1999

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hi. i am thinking about buying a laptop for my work, I have not decided what to buy yet. I have to do some research first. I only had one laptop many years ago but it was stolen, since then I don't have a laptop

I'd like to know, under normal circumstances and usage, assume no external accidents like dropping to the ground or spilling water, electricity failure something... how long can a laptop/macbook usually last?? Does it depend on brands or models and could different brands or models vary greatly in terms of service life?

Do you have any recommendation on a brand or particular models of laptop/macbook that is worth buying for me? I don't play games at all. I only work with documents but I will want to use it for my entertainment as well, like browsing the web, listening to music, watching the youtube video etc.
 
You cant really put a life estimate on anything regardless of make or model..things can just fail anyday.

But to somewhat help with your question,My old laptop (Asus) I've had for about 6 years now and its still going strong...Its been upgraded in that time,Better Cpu,More ram..SSD drive etc.
 
I'd say a good estimate is 6-7 years for a MacBook that is well taken care of. If you keep upgrading the OS though, it's going to get slower and slower with each release.
 
My aunt is a teacher and she has been using Macbooks for class work, and she gets about 5 or 6 years out of her Macbooks before it needs new battery/memory/entirely replaced.
 
If taken care of, there's no reason why any laptop wouldn't last many years. I personally have never had a laptop fail on me but after about 7 years or so I would replace it simply because I wanted a newer one with faster cpu, more RAM, etc...

I've never owned a Macbook (doubt I will ever), all of my laptops over the past 20 years have been Windows laptops. Brands like Fujitsu, Dell, Acer, Compaq, Toshiba and IBM Thinkpad.
 
If its something like Dell, loaded with crapware, maybe 4-5 years

Something from a better company or a MacBook would last at least 6-7 years if you take care of it, then its time for an upgrade.

My old HP is still working after 9 years, but the specs are pretty bad
 
ninjabubbles3 said:
If its something like Dell, loaded with crapware, maybe 4-5 years

Something from a better company or a MacBook would last at least 6-7 years if you take care of it, then its time for an upgrade.
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This this this. You're going to get much more time out of your device if you just format and reinstall bare windows when you get the machine.
 
Geoff said:
I'd say a good estimate is 6-7 years for a MacBook that is well taken care of. If you keep upgrading the OS though, it's going to get slower and slower with each release.
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I can vouch for this. My macbook has slowed down considerably since I installed the latest OS. It seems they are good for 2 or 3 updates, but after that you need an SSD or something to keep them going.
 
zeppelin04 said:
I can vouch for this. My macbook has slowed down considerably since I installed the latest OS. It seems they are good for 2 or 3 updates, but after that you need an SSD or something to keep them going.
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Yup, since 10.9 the performance is horrible on mechanical HDs.
 
Geoff said:
I'd say a good estimate is 6-7 years for a MacBook that is well taken care of. If you keep upgrading the OS though, it's going to get slower and slower with each release.
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Still rockin windows xp on my 1999 sony vaio and it still works :)
 
My Macbook is around 8 years old now. Needs a new battery, and its pretty slow, but it works. I've had a refurbished Dell Latitude that was around 8 years old also. However, I've had a cheap Compaq and low mid range Samsung that lasted only around two years, though they weren't treated very well tbh.

It all depends, but in general, Macs, as well as high end and businesses laptops last a good long while. Usually, these are really slow and outdated by the time they break. Mid range laptops can last this long if they're taken care of well, but you should never expect a real long time out of a really low end laptop (sub $400).
 
hi, my question might be stupid, but i 'd also wish to know

what's the advantage of getting Macbook instead of a windows-based laptop except being cool to have it?? I am old and I don't have to be cool

Does Mac system usually run faster? Does Mac support windows files like *.mp4, *mpg *avi etc

I have got an iPad and iPhone, they have plenty of limitations, I don't know if a Macbook would be like that. In fact, I tend to buy an Apple product.
 

In fact, I don't really play any games or do any graphic / video work, the most I would use with my laptop is as a typewriter, browsing webpages, checking email and watching videos. This has typically included 98% of the things I will do with a laptop...

After all, is it a bad idea looking for a low-end cheap laptop ?? I guess it could be a waste to even the cheapest Macbook for what I will do with my laptop isnt it
 
In general, I just recommend the Dell Latitude series to people. Most Dells are good laptops, and Latitudes are great. However, while it's easy to find them used, it's not easy, unless you're a business, to find them new. Really though, if your on a budget, used is the way to go. A Dell Latitude E6420 would be a great choice. It's easy to find them under $300, used.

And to answer your question, IMHO there's no reason to own a Mac other then that they're cool. Many people will disagree, saying OS X is a better OS, but if you're used to Windows, there is no reason to change. This is coming from a guy who's typing this on a Macbook, btw. Their build quality is good, but I can basically guarantee you, ANY Latitude will have the same build quality. Might not be as pretty, but it will be just as durable, if not more.
 
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PCunicorn said:
However, while it's easy to find them used, it's not easy, unless you're a business, to find them new.
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You can buy them new as an individual. They're just really expensive. I spent $1500 on my E6500 when I bought that new.

When I upgraded to an E6420 I found it on eBay in pristine condition for about $500 (i7, 8GB RAM, Win 7 Ultimate, 256GB SSD, high resolution display, nVidia NVS card). Good steal.

You can also get some decent deals on the Dell Factory Outlet. (For Latitude's you look under Business and Enterprise).

http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/22/campaigns/outlet
 
ninjabubbles3 said:
If its something like Dell, loaded with crapware, maybe 4-5 years

Something from a better company or a MacBook would last at least 6-7 years if you take care of it, then its time for an upgrade.

My old HP is still working after 9 years, but the specs are pretty bad
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There is no reason for a crapware laden Dell to last any less than a MacBook, as long as it's given reasonable care.
 
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^ Agree.

The life of the machine is entirely dependent on the user. If you damage your machine and abuse it, then it doesn't matter what brand it is (not that that mattered anyway) or whether it's a Mac or a PC, it won't last long at all.

Look after it and no longer what the machine is it will serve you well. :good:

But of course there comes a point where you pretty much have to upgrade because newer software stops working well with older hardware. Generally I'd say that is usually around every 5-7 years. But with that being said, the i5 2500K in my desktop is a 4 year old CPU now and it still works fantastically and I don't feel the need to upgrade at all. I'm finding that these days newer software is working much better on older/weaker hardware (take Windows 8.1 for example - it works far better on old hardware than Vista and 7 did and Microsoft actually reduced the hardware requirements to run the OS between 8 and 8.1) so maybe you can continue to use the same machine for longer these days.

Or it might just be that perhaps hardware is not improving as fast as it was with each new generation a decade or even 5 years ago.
 
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spirit said:
Or it might just be that perhaps hardware is not improving as fast as it was with each new generation a decade or even 5 years ago.
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I feel like this is true... Maybe because of the economic recession? It's definitely picking back up though, the X99 (well, DDR4) format will be one to watch.

I'm also realizing that I should have gone with the AM3+ socket because FM2+ is between min and recommended specs for some games..

Nonetheless, if you continually make sure to keep your case clean, hard drive cleared of junk, and you don't let it get hot all the time, you're good for years...
 
C4C said:
I feel like this is true... Maybe because of the economic recession? It's definitely picking back up though, the X99 (well, DDR4) format will be one to watch.
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It's probably to do with reaching a point where it's hard to improve a product without increasing the price to an extent that people won't pay. I know the 4690K is faster than my 2500K in benchmarks, but for those who don't spend all night looking at numbers until their eyes bleed there is no noticeable difference - definitely not worth £160 upgrade + more for a new motherboard!

I think GPUs are improving much faster than CPUs though. I don't do a lot of gaming so I'm probably not the one to judge real-world usage (but I do look at the benchmarks - not until my eyes bleed though!) and there are noticeable differences between the mid-range and high-end GPUs of 2010 and the mid-range and high-end GPUs of today, no questioning.

SSDs are improving too, I guess - you're getting much faster and bigger drives at a much lower price than you were two years ago. I paid about £130 for my 128GB Vertex 4 in February 2013. It does 460MB/s read and about 360MB/s write. £90 250GB Samsung 840 EVO I bought in July last year smashes it to pieces with its 500 read and 500 write (and they are sometimes faster than that!)

So I guess it's the CPU that is the longest-lasting component of a modern computer, but in a way I guess that has nearly always been the case.
 
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