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For work I make sure to get a new one when the warranty runs out, but I always buy with extended warranty, so four years.
The reason is simple, the time it takes to get a new computer and get it up and working is worth more than what the computer itself costs.
At home I get a new one when the old one goes beyond repair.
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Quote:
Do you treat your laptop like a (lease) car and get a new model every 3 years, or do you keep it until end of life?
Isn't end of life 2 years?
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EOL... I'm still using my MacBook Pro, bought in 2009. It's got a few dings & dents (mostly from air travel, I suspect), but is still plenty for most of my home needs (web, email, photo processing in Aperture, some toy projects in C++ and Rust). It's had one hardware upgrade (I added an SSD as boot drive in about 2011 - still use the spinning disk as bulk storage, though) and a replacement battery, but apart from that is still going well enough.
Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p
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Assuming you're running Windows, your PC may need cleaning instead of replacing. I'll start with mundane ideas and move to radical.
Windows gets junked up over time and you can do simple things to repair this:
- Uninstall all programs that you are not using.
- Empty all Temp folders.
- Run cleaner utilities that clean up the Registry.
- Defrag the HD!!!
A few years back my son complained he needed a new PC. I checked his temp folders -- he had 20,000+ files in his profile/temp. I cleaned out all three temp folders (profile, C, & Windows), then ran Iobit Advanced System Care to clean the junk out, then defragged the HD. The defrag on a 500 MB drive ran 4 hours the first time. [I'm not advocating ASC, but that's what I used at that time.]
When done his PC ran like it was new. I had given him instructions on keeping his PC in good shape -- he ignored me (yeah, he was a teenager). In his early 20's now, he's amazed at how much I have learned over the years. 
As I said in a previous post, I replace my HD every 2 to 3 years. Last time, I replaced my SATA with a SSD. WOW! The PC went from fast to greased lightning. I have a stack of old SATA HD I use for large backups, but for my primary I have a 500 MB SSD. Prices have come way down.
Another thing is to reinstall Windows from scratch. Yes, it's a PITA to reload all your applications, but when done you have a clean install. Windows gets junked up over time, and no cleaner can fix everything. So when I replace my HD, I do a clean install and start from scratch. Yes, it eats a day ... but I'm happier when done.
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littleGreenDude wrote: file / app migration is probably the bigger PITA.
I could not agree with this sentiment more.
The DVD drive on my laptop died and I bought an external USB DVD drive. This laptop will have to die totally and completely for me to tackle the app/license migration thing again.
At this point, I expect my computers, and pets to out live me.
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When the kids eventually beg enough that they want a new one. So I give them mine and then get a new buttkicker for myself.
My eldest is about to get a really nice surface pro 2. I am looking at the HP Spectre x360. Then in a few months(6 or so) my i5 gaming laptop (used for main coding) from ASus (3 years old or so) will go to the youngest and I will get a better one. This is an unusual year for these types of purchases.
To err is human to really mess up you need a computer
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I tend to replace when the tools/OS are just bogging down the machine. sometimes a wipe/new HD helps but sometimes it don't. I still keep the old machines running to test on. there's an 10+ year old Dell laptop I keep running for testing purposes only. I had an older Dell from around 2002 that I was still testing with but it finally gave up the ghost I a puff of smoke one night. I always figured if my stuff runs good on a 900mhz laptop, that I'm doing something right.
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Different from others that have replied, my PCs tend to look absolutely brand new when I am done with them (no broken screens, dents, dings, etc.). As such, I probably hang onto them longer. I also do not use mine for my working life: my employer supplies the desktop I use daily. Given all of that, I probably hang onto mine longer than most; however, once the new wizbang features and speeds make my machine look sad and pathetic, and when I have the available funds, I upgrade.
For reference, my work computer is Windows 10, but my home life is Mac. My 2011 MacBook Pro will not upgrade to the next macOS, so for me, the clock toward a newer model has started. I suspect it will be about two years from now that I will make such a purchase.
This posting caused me to think back about what machines I have had since 1980, and amazingly, to me at least, the cycle seems to be pretty steady at about six years! 1980-Atari, 1986-Amiga, 1993-DEC Starion (Windows), 1998-Gateway, 2004-Dell, 2010-iMac, 2014-MacBook Pro (which was more of a form factor change, desktop to laptop, rather than features).
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I only upgrade when my old machine becomes unusable, either because it's too slow or because hardware has failed.
I used to spend a lot of time thinking about my computer; how many ports did it need, what hardware peripherals might be important for the next few years. I bought desktops because they were easier to add stuff to than laptops were.
And then I had a liberating realization. I realized that I never upgraded the peripherals on my PC. I used the same graphics board. I never installed any high speed peripherals that needed access to the backplane. When a new port came along that I wanted, it was something that had appeared out of nowhere, so that I couldn't have predicted it five years previously.
Oh sure, I once bought a SCSI hard drive. I got the SCSI card to work (barely), but when the PC crapped out, I discovered that the card wasn't compatible with my PC's replacement.
I replace my mice, keyboards, and monitors more frequently than my PCs, and the manufacturers know it, so they use widely available ports. I have VGA-to-PCI and VGA-to-HDMI interface cables galore, but these only cost $15, so when I need a newer or different one, I just buy it. The old ones go into my box-o-cables.
I get hardware lust like the rest of you, and buy a new peripheral, like a WACOM tablet or a webcam. These languish in their boxes, or get tried and rejected. Every peripheral I actually want to use is included in the vendor-supplied configuration of my next PC.
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I bought a 3rd gen i5 Laptop with 4GB RAM when I started university, that was back in 2011. When I graduated in 2015 I decided to upgrade it, sadly that decision is still pending  . One of the reasons I keep telling myself is that I don't need the bigger and better system, since I don't work at home (I am one of those 9-5 devs).
However in my free time I sometimes fascinate about buying an 8th gen i7 32GB RAM 500SSD and 2TB HDD but then I fall of the bed and wake with a new determination of not buying it! 
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I have a several years old Lenovo T-520, with a dual i3 CPU, and 8GB RAM. All I need to stay happy developing on this machine is an SSD and a new battery. Right now if the power goes out I hardly have time to save my work before the battery is flat.
"'Do what thou wilt...' is to bid Stars to shine, Vines to bear grapes, Water to seek its level; man is the only being in Nature that has striven to set himself at odds with himself."
—Aleister Crowley
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The most common performance problem I've come across is waiting on disk errors. Doing a chkdsk/f often fixes it.
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I went live with a new web app that I've been working on for the last few months. It uses Microsoft authentication. We've been preaching the cloud to our customer and today, of all days, the cloud is having problems. 
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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011111100010 wrote: Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
Don't you mean "right-handed lefts"?
Personally, I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: Don't you mean "right-handed lefts"?
You mock the suffering of my people. How dare you. 
OriginalGriff wrote: I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
Give it to whom?
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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011111100010 wrote: You mock the suffering of my people. How dare you.
Preach it, brother!
Software Zen: delete this;
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It turns out I'm ambisinistrous.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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I too have two left feet...
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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God I am bored. Fancy a pointless argument?
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Munchies_Matt wrote: Fancy a pointless argument?
Sure. What's so great about circles? They're pointless.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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I mean at least one that feels like it means something!
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Is this the five minute argument, or the full half hour?
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I'm sorry; this is abuse. You want the room next door.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Then it's not pointless 
Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians.
Help end the violence EAT BACON
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