how long is the service life of a laptop/macbook

[strollin]

I've never said crapware was OK, just that it's mere presence won't adversely effect the life of the machine it's installed on.

 

[ScottALot]

I've never said crapware was OK, just that it's mere presence won't adversely effect the life of the machine it's installed on.

I'd like to know how you come to that conclusion.

On the most generic terms, you're saying that running a program that utilizes 5% of total system resources (this represents all the crapware one machine comes with, though I've seen freak cases ~15%) does not affect the lifetime of the machine more than 1 month.

We can consider end of lifetime to be qualitative (machine too slow for average user to cope with) or quantitative (catastrophic hardware failure, intermittent errors due to hardware).

If a computer quantitatively lasts, say, 8 years, I'm certain you'd see death around 3 months earlier with a 5% load added to daily use.
Qualitatively (hardware degraded, heat slowing performance a tad, 5% load, new/updated software), I'm sure you'd agree, it'd be much earlier.

 

[Geoff]

I'd like to know how you come to that conclusion.

Are we still on this? Bloatware is not going to make any difference as far as longevity is concerned with consumer PCs. A processor can last for 5 years, 10 years, or more easily. Do you really think people are concerned about it lasting 9 years instead of 10?

 

[ScottALot]

Are we still on this? Bloatware is not going to make any difference as far as longevity is concerned with consumer PCs.

You say this, then you mention gaining a year of usability/functionality... that definitely seems like a difference.

A processor can last for 5 years, 10 years, or more easily.

Neat...?

Do you really think people are concerned about it lasting 9 years instead of 10?

I would think so. If you can get another year out of your laptop (whether it's a year more that it works or a year more that you can cope with its performance) and improve your experience by taking an hour to reformat and reinstall Windows, I think it's very much worth mentioning... especially to someone who's created a thread about how long a device can last.

 

[Geoff]

You say this, then you mention gaining a year of usability/functionality... that definitely seems like a difference.
Neat...?
I would think so. If you can get another year out of your laptop (whether it's a year more that it works or a year more that you can cope with its performance) and improve your experience by taking an hour to reformat and reinstall Windows, I think it's very much worth mentioning... especially to someone who's created a thread about how long a device can last.

No, because in 10 years everything about that computer will be obsolete. I also just pulled out a random number, there are plenty of computer that last 15+ years. Hard drives will die well before then as they are mechanical, fans will need replacing, and overall the components will be so obsolete and unusable before they quit working.

 

[ScottALot]

No, because in 10 years everything about that computer will be obsolete. I also just pulled out a random number, there are plenty of computer that last 15+ years. Hard drives will die well before then as they are mechanical, fans will need replacing, and overall the components will be so obsolete and unusable before they quit working.

Hence why I brought up qualitative failure, which would be accelerated significantly if you actually have extra programs running in addition to hardware degredation.

EDIT: And I don't think OP was talking about "When does my computer become obsolete?"

 

[Geoff]

Hence why I brought up qualitative failure, which would be accelerated significantly if you actually have extra programs running in addition to hardware degredation.

EDIT: And I don't think OP was talking about "When does my computer become obsolete?"

The OP was asking how long they should expect a laptop to last.

The battery, display, hard drive, fans, etc. would die long before the CPU due to a very slight temperature increase due to bloatware.

 

[ScottALot]

The OP was asking how long they should expect a laptop to last.

The battery, display, hard drive, fans, etc. would die long before the CPU due to a very slight temperature increase due to bloatware.

I'd expect running extra programs to have a slightly adverse effect on HDD and battery life as well... but I thought we were assuming the user's willing to replace readily replacable parts like those.