How often do you buy a new computer?

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mfratt · #1 Post by **mfratt** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:16 pm

I see everyone around me keeping their laptops for 3, 4, and even 5 years. Here I am, rarely keeping the same laptop for more than four *months.* Am I alone? How often do you switch laptops?

To be fair, I am pretty rough on my computers, and the non-Thinkpads I've had usually dont fair too well. But even the Thinkpads, I just get the urge to upgrade.

All that being said, I am hoping to get at least a year, maybe more, out of my X60s, having spent almost two grand on it. We'll see what happens.

#2 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:39 pm

With desktops, my typical trend is either when my current one totally craps out or one year after the release of a new OS; whichever happens first. My current desktop was originally built in 2002 and the one I had before that was built in 1999.

As for laptops, whenever I spot a really good deal, I'll buy a new one but for the most part, as long as the computer does it's job, it stays.

lucas · #3 Post by **lucas** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:09 am

when i was in high school, i'd get new stuff all the time. i'd build desktops, servers; buy sun workstations, laptops, etc.

now that i'm in college and have real expenses to deal with, i don't play much (if at all). i'm still on the laptop i bought during my junior year of high school (almost 4 years ago).

mattbiernat · #4 Post by **mattbiernat** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:13 am

lets see i bought Toshiba for $2,000 5 years ago, it broake after 1 year and a half. I bought an apple ibook almost a year ago and the keyboard broek after 3 months, soon im gonna be buying a thinkpad - if that thing brakes im giving up on notebooks for good.

Torque · #5 Post by **Torque** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:53 am

My current desktop is around two years old, except the graphics card which I upgraded a year ago.

My laptop is three months old, the one before it was 1½ years.

christopher_wolf · #6 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:13 am

I tend to have a different behavioural pattern as opposed to the majority of the laptop consumer market. I tend to hold onto laptops, almost always Thinkpads, for 3+ years easily and usually 5 years. Desktops for me on the other hand, usually have a shorter life unless they are high-end workstations, in which case they get heavily upgraded and last for up to a decade. There have been very few that could beat how long I have held onto my 701c though

. Had I held onto the IBM portable server I had, it would have been even longer.

It is suprising how long you can keep a laptop and/or desktop and still have them stay pretty useful.

I am convinced that the urge to buy a new laptop in 2 or 1 year cycles come from either knee-jerk impulses, the very rare legitimate need for a bleeding edge within a product line, or just artificially shortened and controlled product cycles (Apple and Sony).

#7 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 6:32 am

My current computers are fast enough, and XP Pro is more than good enough, that I don't feel any urge to replace them. They both being three years old, though, the next ones will likely be Vista machines, but that is by no means certain at this point.
... JD Hurst

Dead1nside · #8 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 7:01 am

I've had my:

Athlon XP 3000+
1GB DDRR400 (Running at 333Mhz)
Asus A78NX-2.0 Deluxe
120gb Maxtor 2MB Cache
19'' CRT

For about three years now, I've never reinstalled windows. The only two things I could do with upgrading are more hard drive space and possibly a reinstall.

However, I want to gut it and put in a Socket 939 MoBo and a low grade processor or a nice Opteron, to switch to a dual core later. I need a >= 7600GT for my Enemy Territory playing.

dsigma6 · #9 Post by **dsigma6** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 10:16 am

I had three desktops in the past 10 years, starting with a mac. I then moved on to an NEC (sucked but worked), and now I still have an eMachines I bought in 2002 for $200.

Until I got hooked on Thinkpads, I didn't really care about my computer. Now I seem to buy a Thinkpad (never new!!) about once a month, or more if I'm feeling reckless.

I put a new video card in the PC and upped the memory. My needs aren't very high, and if the T23 can't do it, I'll eventually move up to something with at least 64MB of VRAM.

Turbo Audi · #10 Post by **Turbo Audi** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 7:13 pm

I have had this desktop since 2001:

Gateway P4 @ 1.6
Originally 20GB (uprade 80GB)
768 mis-matched RAM (company and speed)
Audigy 2ZS
ATI 1600XT
2 optical drives
MSFT Natural kbd

Old, but quite reliable. I am on my 2nd laptop in 2 years. I plan on buliding a new desktop ASAP.

Dead1nside · #11 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 7:23 pm

Turbo Audi wrote:I have had this desktop since 2001:

Gateway P4 @ 1.6

ATI 1600XT

You must get held bck a lot with that processor.

dsigma6 · #12 Post by **dsigma6** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:10 am

Dead1nside wrote:
Turbo Audi wrote:I have had this desktop since 2001:

Gateway P4 @ 1.6

ATI 1600XT
You must get held bck a lot with that processor.

That's a friendly comment. My desktop is a 1.2ghz celeron, so imagine having a p4 1.6 wouldn't be so bad. I'm sure it sucks compared to whatever you have though..

Dead1nside · #13 Post by **Dead1nside** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:32 am

I didn't mean to offend. I'm just saying a 1600XT is a pretty nice card there, and the CPU won't be able to give the GPU enough room to maximise performance.

I don't have a nice graphics card, but my system's about equal all round. Although I'd love a nive graphics card... and a processor... and a motherboard... hmm and a case.

Celeron and Semprons are good if you want a stop-gap cheap plugin solution to get your system off the ground. Also, I've read that some can be massivley overclocked to outperform many other desktop CPUs.

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