Lifespan of a laptop

[Alan Medic]

My OH's has just died a death. We paid over ?700 for it less than 3 years ago. My son's PC died a few weeks ago too. Bought at the same time I believe though I can't find the receipt for that. Probably cost a similar amount. Is this just that they were Dell products and they are crap or is this to be expected? Doesn't seem like good value for money.

Can anyone recommend any very light laptops and/or any laptop/pc deals(if there is such a thing) atm?

[Huguenot]

If you're an accountant you'd amortise the cost of computer equipment across 3 years - in other words they know they only last 3 years. Can't recommend deals for you I'm afraid, I'm in the wrong country ;-)

I guess whether it's good value or not boils down to what you use it for - it's essentially 70p a day.

What else would you spend that 70p on?

[StraferJack]

I'd be surprised if all of the laptops were truly dead rather than needing some tlc. Are they dead because they have been pronounced so by a professional or do they just not currently work as they should

[MrBen]

All of my PC laptops after heavy use (MS Office, Web work) slow down noticeably after 2-3 years. The only one that hasn't to the same degree is my Macbook, which I bought in Jan 2009 and is still performing well.

Back to PC's, you can defrag the hard disk (which basically gets jumbled and slows with time) and add some extra memory but often thats not enough. If by "dead" you mean it's just deathly slow then I would try backing up all your files and reinstalling Windows to squeeze another year or two out of it. There are some local peeps advertising on this forum who can do that if you're not confident enough to do it yourself. Or bite the bullet and just accept its a 3 yearly spend. They're all pretty much a commodity nowadays but go for the best CPU you can afford and decent memory rather than a cheaper processor and you'll find it lasts longer.

[Laddy Muck]

Have just asked hubby about your laptop. Could it just be the battery he asks?

Anyway, May's issue of Which Magazine contains a report on budget laptops. If you are unable to access a copy, I could (hopefully with hubby's help) PM you a copy of it if you wish.

Also, hubby had a similar problem with a laptop when it was 2 years' old a while back. PC World simply said: out of guarantee...tough...blah blah. However, I managed to (eventually) get him a replacement by quoting the Sales of Goods Act and arguing (lack of) fitness for purpose etc. Yours at over ?700 was not cheap, you could give it a go. It all depends on how long a ?700 laptop is expected to last. If Mr. H's suggestion is correct that 3 years might be deemed normal and/or reasonable, then you probably won't have much luck.

[ianr]

>I'd be surprised if all of the laptops were truly dead rather than needing some tlc. I'd be surprised if all of the laptops were truly dead rather than needing >some tlc. Are they dead because they have been pronounced so by a professional or do they just not currently work as they should

Absolutely. I don't think people throw out their car if it doesn't start one morning. In any case, I really wouldn't use 'dead' to mean anything other than totally unresponsive, and even that is just a type of symptom, and doesn't at all necessarily mean irreparable or not worth repairing. I think I'd probably save 'irreparable' too, for just occasions where a needed component can't be replaced.

[Willard]

All windows operating systems slow down over time, mainly due to the registry getting messed up, the hard drive getting too full and needing defragging, catching the odd virus etc.

I always recommend a purge every 12 - 18 months which involves backing up everything you deem essential and then doing a complete clean re-install of windows. It's a lot easier than you think and your machine will fly again afterwards. Try using a program like ccCleaner which cleans the registry for ongoing tweaks. I use it once a month.

Of course your laptop could be messed up due to a hardware failure which is something different. Can you actually boot up into windows?

[Alan Medic]

The diagnosis was from a much recommended (on here) professional. Motherboard and something else not working and not worth replacing. Money better spent on a new one.It wouldn't boot up any more. Mind you the laptop has visited quite a bit of the world and been used a lot.

I'm not an accountant.........I'm human.;-)

[Alan Medic]

Thanks for the input everyone.

[mockney piers]

From vista onwards the OS defrags in the background all the time so you shouldn't need to run a defrag.

If it's XP it might help.

Death of PC usually means hardware death of the hard drive, indeed slowing down is usually the same problem.

Buy a new hard drive and use Maxtor to make an identical image of your current one, then simply swap the, out.

Your laptops may well run like new.

It's all those knocks and bumps that a laptop suffers thatbdoes the damage.

We're not far off solid state hard drives form the likes of you and me, and they are a lot faster in terms of io, but right now they're still a tad pricey.

[tog_in_sox]

Hi Alan,

Sadly if the motherboard of a laptop goes and it's out of warranty then it's likely to be game over. You or your computer handyman could try finding the same model on Ebay (or the like) being sold for parts. Depending on how popular it is you might find it elsewhere too. Consumer grade laptops (not business ones) are rarely sold to be robust traveling items (unless you pay well north of ?1k). Because the sector is all about keeping up with the Jones and tempting you with the latest shiny they're not supported well beyond warranty expiry of their launch date so key items like the motherboard, casing, keyboard and LCD aren't stocked highly for repairs. Sure if the disk goes, the WiFi card, perhaps the screen back light they might be more readily replaced.

Motherboards in my experience usually expire from heat fatigue of a key component and because they're typically so compact most of the parts or not easily removed and replaced even by very handy support techs. Unless really poorly designed this heat fatigue is usually more to do with how it's been used so watch out for:

- repeated lengthy usage in hot/humid environments

- blocking off the vent grilles e.g. by setting on the bedding or on a cushion. Also avoids fire hazard from the likes of Macs ;)

- repeated lengthy use in dusty environments that causes the fans to clog and cease to vent the machine.

- Some batteries get quite hot whilst charging so lengthy use from the mains whilst charging can also make things worse. I remove the battery if charged and use the device from the mains. Upside is it's lighter and may actually cool better without the battery obstructing a cooling surface. The battery may well also last longer as they too suffer from "memory" effect (regardless of what the techs say) and heat fatigue. Downside you can't wander about and it may be unbalanced without the battery in.

As far as recommendations go, it's down to what you use them for. If you're going to be traveling "rough" to variable climes then definitely go for a business grade item and read the extensive reviews. Personally I've thrashed several Thinkpads in my time and each has lasted a good 5 yrs and they have good extended warranty service which I needed for one of them.

Dell business computers are generally fairly robust if a little lacklustre but the warranty service is pretty solid.

HP is another.

Apple if you're free to switch to their operating system without having to re-purchase a whole bunch of necessary software for your work.

Of course "light" isn't cheap, especially if you want robust, with all brands worth considering you'd be looking at ?900 - ?2k with a minimum 3 yr warranty and I'd hold out for an onsite, next-day service.

I couldn't afford this last time round so I went for an end-of-line HP model from Peter Jones with a 3 yr warranty for ?300 off. I'd only do this with one of the business players. If you are on a budget then look for their end-of-line products (with good reviews). All have sale and reconditioned offers on their websites which can throw up some worthwhile buys. I've been tempted by EBay several times but always baulked at forking over ?1k to a stranger.

Desktops (not the all in ones now gaining popularity) are a slightly different kettle. You can replace anything pretty easily, upgrade piecemeal when you want/need and choose the parts from mostly what suits your fancy. Getting the ball rolling it's probably worth buying a working bundle that has the aesthetics and form factor you like. If you know you want to enhance it then obviously budget for that and determine whether that's something you're prepared to do yourself or will need to pay to be done. Obviously tinkering voids warranty so again do you want to depend on others or go it alone.

What will you be using it for?

Plenty of deals if you're prepared to look.