Laptop lifespan

Here is an interesting little question. I am compiling some information about the average lifespan of a laptop in an office environment - we are currently getting aroudn 684 days per laptop on average before we need to scrap them.

So, if you have a laptop, could you tell me roughly how long you've had it for, when you expect to scrap it? If you've already scrapped a laptop recently, how long did you have it for? And what manufacturer...

Thanks!

 

Hmm... are you asking about how long before it becomes obsolete, or how long before the thing dies/battery can't hold a charge/etc.?

 

Not really obsolete - we all know how computers work, you purchase it, open the box, it's obsolete

The question is. This company purchases a laptop, and on average, 2 years later we need to scrap it for various reasons - it breaks down, hardware fault, screen damage, etc. I've been asked to find out if this is normal for laptops (I suspect not), and to see if I can get an average life span for average users for average laptops.

 

Alright. My Dell Latitude lasted about 30 months before the battery refused to hold a charge, at which time the cost of replacing the battery would have outweighed the value of the laptop.

But the company that I work for issues new laptops every year, and auctions off the old ones.

 

If I didn't just get a brand new laptop myself, I'd ask you for a job

 

Hmmm, how much did you see a battery for? I bought spares when I bought my used Latitude at $30 ea., and it is still in service. If it breaks, I'll fix it, that line was designed to be easy to disassemble and reassemble. The main use for the battery in normal use around my house is that of UPS, my normal use is off the power line. I tend to use a laptop as a portable computer, but then I used lugables when they were out.

Personally I will keep the machine until I can not fix it, which is going to be a long time from what I'm seeing. I bought a docking bay (also used) to stretch the life of the display by using a monitor at home.

Personally, I LIKE old hardware. Guess the C128 shows that pretty plain.

 

Thanks to a reply in a previous thread, I now use my Toshiba Tecra A7 laptop WITHOUT the battery installed, when on AC power.

I plug the battery in when I detach from AC power, obviously, or when going to help someone out.

My old Gateway Solo would not operate without the battery installed. I would probably still be using it (circa 1999--P3/400) if I had been able to get a driver for the modem, to work, under XP Pro. It's main advantage over most laptops was that you could have 2 hard drives physically installed as well as a CD\DVD.
Battery in my Gateway lasted over 5 years.
Also spilling a cup of tea over the keyboard did not help. Bazza

 

I'm doing a study for my company and am trying to figure out the life expectancy of Dell laptops and I'm curious what laptops AdamR78 is using. Reason being is that is the most solid numbers I've seen thus far.

 

I've got a Dell Precision M70 that was manufactured in March of 2006 that I purchased used for $149. The 80GB HDD must be a replacement because it was manufactured in March of 2008. I had problems with the USB ports so, I replaced the system board ($35). I upgraded the RAM to PC-2 6400S ($8) and have purchased various and sundry items to expand the capacity of the mobile workstation.

Life expectancy depends on numerous conditions so, a "figure" really can't be given. Obviously, if you take reasonable care of the laptop, it will hold up longer. I'm going to use mine until it can't be resurrected and I'm forced to replace it.

 

The most popular laptops with the company is Dell Latitudes with E5530. with an i5. I've kind of gathered that it is on a pc by pc basis. Was just hoping to see if there was any more solid research on the topic. I've had to repair some from the box and then some that I haven't had to work on in years.

 

I routinely get notebook PCs in for service at my shop that are between 5-8 years old (running XP or Vista). "Service" almost always consists of either virus removal or replacing a failed hard drive.

Not trying to complicate things, but my opinion is that - in order to do an accurate analysis - you need to look at what happened that caused the PC to die.

Accidents and/or obvious abuse should be tossed out of the equation or figured separately. If a notebook PC is dropped and the screen shatters or someone spills water on it, it doesn't really matter what brand or model it is - it's going to break regardless. If you have PCs that fail due to severe use conditions in the same environment (example: being carried around on a job site or being used outside and possibly exposed to rain), you might want to look into military-spec PCs like the Panasonic Toughbook. They cost 3-4 times as much but might be worth it if someone is breaking a screen every few months.

The next question is what your IT department determines is an unrepairable issue. If they are tossing units for only a bad hard drive, this shouldn't be considered "unrepairable" since the cost of fixing the problem is far less than replacing a 2 or 3 year old PC.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I hope this helps.

 

AdamR78 started this thread almost 7 years ago. He hasn't been here for over 6 years. I doubt you will get a response from him.

 

You need to start teaching your employees to take better care of their stuff that the company is allowing them to use. We have computers in my office that is over 12 years old, that is still running as good as day one, and only thing that has been changed out on some, is keyboard & mice, and maybe a hard drive or two.

Some companies will fire employees that destroy equipment if they beat them up that they are only lasting a little under two years.

 

And just because it is a old thread, does not mean that what the OP that brought it back to life, cannot get the topic back to life.

Sometimes the older threads that fell through the cracks, tend to be the best ones that lead to good conversation, especially in this matter.

Now complaining because someone brought an old thread back to life, because it had good info in it, which can be added to, does not mean to act like it should go back to bed.

 

As for poster #6, it all depends on how people take care of the equipment, how it is maintained, how many hours you use it, depends on how long it will last. We have desktops at work, that are over 12 years old, have a couple of other desktops that are over six years old myself, that are still running strong. One went to my brother to be used as a server, the other is at my church, being used as a workstation.

Had one of those Compaq P4 laptops, that had the issue with the power adapter, that it would heat up to the point, that the connector on the mother board would over heat so much, that it not only caused issues on the motherboard, but would melt plugs. I have also had a old laptop that my father had for six years, and got another six years out of them, and could have gotten more, but were way too slow, and could only run 3.1 or NT4 on it.

Just gave my three going on four year old Acer Aspire One a0532h to my daughter. It has a 64gb SSD in it, 2GB RAM, Windows 7 pro, with a external drive that is a 300gb from my current Toshiba Satellite S850D-ST3nx1, with 12gb RAM, 250gb SSD in it. I expect to maybe get five years from this current unit, before I grow tired of it, swap over to a Mac, or decide to start running Linux on it, until it dies completely. Only time will tell.