How long should a TP keep working?

[JPOESQ]

It should last 5 years, at least.

Now, my T41p died after 2 years. The system board had to be replaced, and the replacement system board died 3 weeks later. I've been waiting 2 days for onsite repair. Maybe the 3rd day will be the charm. Everytime I call to ask when the tech is coming, I am given stories about the case being closed, the tech supposed to be coming but no show...

[egibbs]

I've been waiting 2 days for onsite repair. Maybe the 3rd day will be the charm. Everytime I call to ask when the tech is coming, I am given stories about the case being closed, the tech supposed to be coming but no show...

You're an attorney and you're sitting still for that crap? Wow - patent lawyers must be a pretty laid back bunch. Maybe it comes from dealing with the Patent Office - slow seems normal.

Are you billing them for the time?

Ed Gibbs

[JPOESQ]

I've been waiting 2 days for onsite repair. Maybe the 3rd day will be the charm. Everytime I call to ask when the tech is coming, I am given stories about the case being closed, the tech supposed to be coming but no show...

You're an attorney and you're sitting still for that crap? Wow - patent lawyers must be a pretty laid back bunch. Maybe it comes from dealing with the Patent Office - slow seems normal.

Are you billing them for the time?

Ed Gibbs

I should bill them for my time. But, being an attorney doesn't help at all - they can still hang up on you!

Now, I could take them to task, but I would spend more money fighting with them than a new machine would cost.

And, yes, the Patent Office is a slow bunch. We will submit a patent application and if you are lucky, it will be examined within 2 years. 5 years is not unheard of for some technologies. Job security...

[kimsn]

My ThinkPad is now 3 years+ without problem. I do not expect for forever but I think I can use it for next 5 years+.

[rhema83]

I had to pick "forever" because 3 years is miserably short for a well-built laptop like a Thinkpad. I am expecting my T42 to last through college and graduate school.

[gunston]

i am aiming for 5 years+ too

[TarzanBoy]

Having the system work, essentially, forever isn't impossible. As long as you treat any existing problems and prevent future ones with due dilligence, it should work fine.

I disagree. It can't/wont' work forever. Even if you treat all the electronic failures, there are mechanical failures that will inevitably occur and material failures (the air you breath has corrossive gases in it which eventually take their toll on small electronics) as well.

Assuming 100% 'normal' use...the two items I would expect to go first on a laptop would be either the power source (or where it comes in on the mobo) or the hard drive. These two items undergo the most 'shock' when a system powers on and off. The hard drive has the most moving parts (motors, heads, magnets), so its the leading contender for mech failure. There are bearings, lubrication, coiled wires and magnetically coded bits of data to worry about.

When computers make the move to Flash-type permanent storage (i expect it within the next 5 years) then corrosion and power surges will be the leading causes of hard drive crashes

[christopher_wolf]

Having the system work, essentially, forever isn't impossible. As long as you treat any existing problems and prevent future ones with due dilligence, it should work fine.

I disagree. It can't/wont' work forever. Even if you treat all the electronic failures, there are mechanical failures that will inevitably occur and material failures (the air you breath has corrossive gases in it which eventually take their toll on small electronics) as well.

Assuming 100% 'normal' use...the two items I would expect to go first on a laptop would be either the power source (or where it comes in on the mobo) or the hard drive. These two items undergo the most 'shock' when a system powers on and off. The hard drive has the most moving parts (motors, heads, magnets), so its the leading contender for mech failure. There are bearings, lubrication, coiled wires and magnetically coded bits of data to worry about.

When computers make the move to Flash-type permanent storage (i expect it within the next 5 years) then corrosion and power surges will be the leading causes of hard drive crashes

True, but those take quite a *long* time; by then you will either *have* to upgrade or you will be having serious hardware issues yourself.

If you take good care of the equipment, it will last far longer than the average market lifespan of such devices; so much so that it could be considered, "forever." Not in the cosmological or astronomic time scale sense, but in the sense that, given the timespan the user in their lifetime will have a computer form birth to death, it will be a very long time.

[wiresounds]

I got my T41 for 27 months and it worked for 24/7. It is off only when it is transported from work to home and the opposite, a ten minute walk.

Lately I sometimes get “fan error” during boot. I have contact the service for an inspection and a possible later fan replacement. I asked the gentleman over phone, that if I will supply them with an up rated cpu how much the will charge me. He said “none, it is only one screw” during the fan replacement. I love me Thinkpad.

I will upgrade the cpu and I hope it will last 5 or more years.

PS. The Thinkpad is been used as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

[sugo]

I would expect 3 years to 4 years on average.

[jrw]

I also think that 3 to 4 years sounds about right for normal use of a laptop (even if a laptop gets abused), although, if a laptop is well taken care of, I think that 5 years to over a decade are not unrealistic expectations if the laptop was well-designed.