bevo barry
500+ Posts
I am one of the few adults in the United States with a college education and a decent paying job who does not have a home computer, but that is about to change; for years I have had to spend so much time at the office, after hours and on weekends, that I saw no point in purchasing a home computer. Though officially against company rules, we were allowed to surf the Net using the office computer (of course, online gambling sites, porn sites, etc were blocked) and use e-mail for personal use. Up until recently we could listen to Internet radio.
I have now retired (though I am still doing one or two days per week as a per diem) and thus will be spending much more time at home. I will also have a lot more time now for various hobbies and things that one can do on a home computer that one cannot or should not do on a work/office computer. I have read through numerous threads here on HornFans and on OrangeBloods about PCs versus Macs, laptops versus desktops, and so forth. I am leaning toward a desktop (hardly ever do any traveling) and also toward a Mac, but I don't want this thread to turn into a PC versus Mac thread.
To help me finalize my decision in terms of how much RAM, etc to buy and how much to add in terms of bells & whistles, I'd like to ask the board members this basic question: How long can I expect a computer to last? I hear of folks buying a new laptop or desktop every three or four years; I presume that is to take advantage of new hardware or software. But let's say I am going to be using a computer primarily for Internet surfing, e-mails, managing photos, downloading music and so forth, and let's say that I take extraordinarily good care of it, not spilling anything on it, not dropping it, not letting a small fry anywhere near it, etc, would it last, say, 10 years? I would assume that a laptop might be more prone to breaking down than a desktop, but let's say I get one and never dropped it, never spill anything on it, etc, how long will it last? Obviously I know there is a wide standard deviation for things like this just like for automobiles. I bought a Ford (never again!) years ago based on some coworkers' testimonies about how they all had more than 200,000 miles on their vehicles. Well, mine crapped out about 50K. So I'm just looking for a general, ballpark answer as to the "average" life of a well-cared-for desktop or laptop.
Thanks!
I have now retired (though I am still doing one or two days per week as a per diem) and thus will be spending much more time at home. I will also have a lot more time now for various hobbies and things that one can do on a home computer that one cannot or should not do on a work/office computer. I have read through numerous threads here on HornFans and on OrangeBloods about PCs versus Macs, laptops versus desktops, and so forth. I am leaning toward a desktop (hardly ever do any traveling) and also toward a Mac, but I don't want this thread to turn into a PC versus Mac thread.
To help me finalize my decision in terms of how much RAM, etc to buy and how much to add in terms of bells & whistles, I'd like to ask the board members this basic question: How long can I expect a computer to last? I hear of folks buying a new laptop or desktop every three or four years; I presume that is to take advantage of new hardware or software. But let's say I am going to be using a computer primarily for Internet surfing, e-mails, managing photos, downloading music and so forth, and let's say that I take extraordinarily good care of it, not spilling anything on it, not dropping it, not letting a small fry anywhere near it, etc, would it last, say, 10 years? I would assume that a laptop might be more prone to breaking down than a desktop, but let's say I get one and never dropped it, never spill anything on it, etc, how long will it last? Obviously I know there is a wide standard deviation for things like this just like for automobiles. I bought a Ford (never again!) years ago based on some coworkers' testimonies about how they all had more than 200,000 miles on their vehicles. Well, mine crapped out about 50K. So I'm just looking for a general, ballpark answer as to the "average" life of a well-cared-for desktop or laptop.
Thanks!
