I've had my laptop for about 8 years and I only use it for my presentations.

 

The only time I've been on the internet on it was when I checking my email because I emailed myself videos to put into my presentation.

 

Being that I'm not on the internet, so nothing can be downloaded onto it to mess it up and that I only use it when I present, which is only weekly or monthly (few times weekly at some points in the year), how long will it last?

 

I don't want to be at a school, especially during a busy time of the year where it would be hard to get everything onto another laptop, and have it just die, so does anyone know how long it should last?

 

Will it last forever since I don't use the internet and don't even use it that often?

8 years = you've certainly earned your money out of it

 

5 years is usually the goal for a laptop (3 in the workplace)

 

If you get more than 5, you've done well. It will eventually die and will cost more to fix it than what it's worth and you'll need to consider purchasing a new one.

"Nothing lasts forever," she said . And the next day I got a letter from her lawyer. Same with your computer. You just won't get the letter.

I'm a heavy user of my laptop. I get my work laptops replaced every 2-3 years, and my personal laptop at home every couple years as well. Some of it is to keep up with software that requires more horsepower to run (I do a lot of photo and video editing). My wife on the other hand has a laptop she uses every day and is up to year 5, with no end in sight. So the type of usage you do, it's not surprising you've gotten it to last so long. That being said, it's only a matter of time before something fails, and at 8 years old, that time is going to be sooner than later. And when it fails it will likely do so quickly, without warning, and data recovery is not cheap. If I were you, I'd probably start shopping for a new one.

If you've gotten eight years out of it, I would tell you not to be greedy. :lol2:

 

But seriously, you should be prepared for it to crap out at anytime after that long.

"Nothing lasts forever," she said . And the next day I got a letter from her lawyer. Same with your computer. You just won't get the letter.

 

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

8 years = you've certainly earned your money out of it

 

5 years is usually the goal for a laptop (3 in the workplace)

 

If you get more than 5, you've done well. It will eventually die and will cost more to fix it than what it's worth and you'll need to consider purchasing a new one.

But I don't use it recreationally or anything, and it only goes about 3 minutes at a time (seven times at the most in day, with at least twenty minute breaks in-between), so I'm just wondering if the lack of usage will allow it to keep performing at a high level with no glitches or anything?

I'm a heavy user of my laptop. I get my work laptops replaced every 2-3 years, and my personal laptop at home every couple years as well. Some of it is to keep up with software that requires more horsepower to run (I do a lot of photo and video editing). My wife on the other hand has a laptop she uses every day and is up to year 5, with no end in sight. So the type of usage you do, it's not surprising you've gotten it to last so long. That being said, it's only a matter of time before something fails, and at 8 years old, that time is going to be sooner than later. And when it fails it will likely do so quickly, without warning, and data recovery is not cheap. If I were you, I'd probably start shopping for a new one.

Thanks....... I wasn't worried too bad until I saw your post

 

:lol2:

 

:thumb:

 

I appreciate the advice and I started looking online, even if it's just for a cheap one to hold me over until I find something better to replace it.

 

The data recovery isn't cheap, but I could probably roll over to Thomas More and maybe find someone to do it (they've helped with a bunch, even after I graduated) for cheap, or someone at my old man's old office or brother's current office might be willing to do it. I don't like asking for favors, so it would be nice to avoid that situation completely.

If you've gotten eight years out of it, I would tell you not to be greedy. :lol2:

 

But seriously, you should be prepared for it to crap out at anytime after that long.

 

Like I said, it's not 8 true years because it's not like I present daily or even weekly depending on the time of year.

 

I agree, though, and I'd be in a lot of trouble without it.

 

I appreciate all the advice :thumb:

Best Windows machine - Lenovo Thinkpad. Used them at work and home - never a failure except from road-warrior wear. Never a hard drive failure. I am talking probably 10 - 15 machines for 15 years that I have had.

 

HPs - owned two. Within 3 years both had hard drive failures.

 

Toshibas - company tried to use those as alternative to thinkpad - ugh. Nowhere near the same machine.

 

 

Last two years switched to mac for work and home. Macbook pros are not cheap but solid metal machines with SSD drives (solid-state, non-moving hard drive).

 

At this point you should look at SSD for your hard drive for sure. Eliminates the high speed rotating drive that is often the death of laptops (at least HPs and Toshibas).

I made a typo and meant I only use it 30 minutes at a time (a little faster if someone reads my presentation out loud) with seven times at most in a day.

I have used a series of Toshiba Netbooks (NB 205) that still run on XP.

I've been through two of them and am on my third one since 2004. I use it primarily for broadcasting/webcasting our high school games over the internet. It is perfectly suited to do this since it has two input (input/output) jacks and a self-contained "mixer." Our sound quality is excellent and I rue the day that I will have to go to a new and different broadcast laptop.

 

Mine begin to show light blue streaks, and occasionally the matter on the screen will do the shimmy, shimmy shake, requiring an immediate restart. Eventually you will turn it on and have only a solid light blue screen signifying the end.

My laptop is probably living on borrowed time, but my MacBook is now approaching 10 years old as I bought it new in the autumn of 2007.

 

A few years into having it the battery bloated probably from me keeping it fully charged regularly, so I've only used it plugged in with no battery ever since.

 

Unsurprisingly, it's now very limited in being able to read many current and newly updated websites, but amazingly I can still use it for most of the sites that I frequent, but even some of those with only limited ability.

 

I've used it hours daily since getting it, and It still powers up in a heartbeat like always, and I still have tons of available unused space on it.

 

I very much like the smoothness of the track pad and the keyboard, and I also still like having something that allows me to burn CD's on occasion. The sound, with or without attached speakers, is better on the Mac than the Chrome Book, with or without attached speakers.

 

To handle other things that I might do I have an aging tablet, and I recently got a new Lenovo ThinkPad Chrome Book for a pretty good deal at Staples online for store pickup. I really don't like its sensitive track pad, so I bought a couple of clearance USB mouses w/ pads for $2.50 a piece at Big Lots that having been working fine.

 

I really only use the tablet for Skype, and IHeartRadio that I set on the sleep timer to shut off after I fall asleep at night.

 

I was still able to hook it up to my TV to watch the 2017 Sweet 16, but with only one bowser on it stable enough to function properly if I still manage in 2018 it will be surprising.

 

I can't have Skype on the Chrome Book, so if need be I just use HangOuts there.

 

Because of the MacBook's limitations it's not at all unusual that I sit here with both it, and the Chrome Book running to shift back and forth depending on what I'm doing, to do it where it's done more efficiently.

 

I can still mostly use my MacBook for posting on BGP's, which I prefer because of the ease of typing (and we all know I type a lot...LOL), but while I can still post videos, I have to view them on my Chrome Book as they show up as an empty black box on my Mac.

 

I have multiple browsers on my Mac, so some things work better on Safari, while other things work better on Firefox, so I just get used to where I can get things done better.

 

For example I no longer can use BGP from Safari, but I can on Firefox. I no longer can view Youtube videos on Firefox, but I still limitedly can on Safari, but can't view them in full screen.

 

I used to listen to CovCath Radio on my Mac, but thankfully got the Chrome Book in the nick of time, because with this football season I no longer can connect to it on the Mac.

 

My primary email account is still usable on Safari on my Mac, but sorta in a primitive fashion, and my Chrome Book allows me access in a more up to date way.

 

I do have the majority of things that I want to keep backed up on sticks, but truthfully haven't done any backing up for probably more than a year, so there's probably a handful of photos I might lose if I don't get busy with that.

 

I once bought an external drive that was supposed to be the right one for this Mac, yet the program that had to run on my Mac in relationship to it made my laptop come to such a crawl it wasn't worth using it. I disconnected it and deleted the program, and my Mac began running smoothly again. I still have the drive and it has stuff on it, but I'll probably never hook it up again, so perhaps when I die and if anyone is curious, they can fuss with it to see what files I saved on it.

 

I will probably cry when the day comes when the Mac won't power up, because no matter how old it is, I still very much love it. Just like my microwave oven that has surprisingly been running non-stop daily since I got it in 1986, maybe I'll luck out and this baby will take a licking, and just keep on ticking for years to come.

Hardware wise they will last a long time. At some point you will get passed up by software upgrades and the computer will become too slow or obsolete. That number is typically 10 years for non-internet users.

 

Laptops are cheap. They start around $300.

 

If you're worried it's going to crap out you basically have 2 choices:

 

- back it up on some other type of drive.

- buy a new one before this one dies.

 

Realistically, you should back up a new on too.