Computer Lifespan

[Lucapher]

ive had my gateway for over 5 years now how long do computers usually last?

[Laura]

There's an Apple Lisa in my father's attic that still runs and it was introduced in 1983. I usually switch up every three years or so, however.

 

To answer your question, it really just depends on how your computer is treated and the quality of the manufacturing. Hard drives are rated to last 1,200,000 hour mtbf (mean time before failure) or about 130+ years. Batteries are the only thing that don't last too long, but that's really only in a laptops and some servers (user-replacable anyway).

[Gandalf14141]

Every 3-5 years are usually a good amount of time. We had out desktop for literally 10 years until I got my new laptop

[Jernlov]

It depends quite a bit on how well you look after them, but I would definitely expect to get at least five years out of a computer. Most people upgrade after three years though.

[noble_aloof]

i've had this one for 4 years.. im pretty sure it overheats real bad as none of the fans really work anymore.. the cd drive broke.. dvd drive doesnt burn anymore. makes random noises.. yeah getting a new computer soon. 3 years i'd say

[RSBDavid]

It depends on the care put into creation and preserving it. I had a Dell Dimension 3000 for 8 years before I built a new computer which is 2 years old. I perform maintenance biweekly on it.

 

We had this MAC which was from early 1980's.

[Hawks]

We have a Gateway 2000 running Windows 95 which still runs (but has been replaced) that is nearing 15 years. A Micron somethingorother running Windows 2000 that is nearing 11, a smallish Dell with XP that's about 2 years old, and a new Dell something with 7 that we just got to replace a Dell Inspiron 4300 that the graphics card overheated on that was almost 4 years.

 

It depends on the quality, what you do with it, and what's in it (ie no not for laptops graphics cards in laptops)

[Mirror]

It really depends on how well you treat it. My family went through a desktop in a couple months because they don't know how to take care of it. :thumbup:

[Dracion1]

Depends what you want to do with it, if you play a lot of games you need to replace hardware every 2-3 years if you want to keep something that's top of the range. Having said that, I still have my dad's 7 year old Dell running XP/Ubuntu just fine, it's fine for web browsing and working on documents/presentations. Everything inside it still runs perfectly well.

[Will H]

I'd say 4 years is a good bet, but it depends on a few factors. A good cooling system and regularly sweeping out dust helps.

[sloter]

It depends on the care put into creation and preserving it. I had a Dell Dimension 3000 for 8 years before I built a new computer which is 2 years old. I perform maintenance biweekly on it.

 

We had this MAC which was from early 1980's.

 

I thought your system died?

[RSBDavid]

It depends on the care put into creation and preserving it. I had a Dell Dimension 3000 for 8 years before I built a new computer which is 2 years old. I perform maintenance biweekly on it.

 

We had this MAC which was from early 1980's.

 

I thought your system died?

Uncle gave me temp motherboard and cpu until my new parts get in :). Off to work...

[Sbrideau]

We had this HP computer from 2000 and had windows ME until 2007 then XP was installed on it. It still works to this day, only the owner of the computer has changed.

 

I have a 4 year old HP, but I upgraded it too much for the size of the case and it would always overheat, so I built myself a new computer while keeping some parts like the graphics card (9800GT) and hard drives. Currently using that HP as a server.

[Sinkhan]

If you talking about "last" as in "when it will break and explode", then it's generally a pretty long time. Like everyone has already testified, computer hardware itself will continue to function at relatively close to peak performance for very long, depending on how to treat it.

 

However, a generally more realistic definition of "last" would be "how long will it remain useful and keep up with new developments?". In this case, it'll probably be much shorter. If you're talking relatively high end games, 3-4 years is probably the uppermost limit you could go. For just general use like word processing and internet browsing, I'd say around double the time a gaming rig has for playing games.

 

If you never upgrade the software on the computer then you'll be fine. That said, there are just natural factors that can force your hand to get a new computer. If you want to get Microsoft Office 2007, then any computer that only has Windows 98 will be out of luck.

 

I'm not sure how relevant it is, but I think this comic is worth looking at.

[K4ylan]

I'm still using the same computer from 2000..... the fan sound like a car engine now.

[Skeptical]

Depends on how much you use it.

 

I'm looking to get 4 years out of my laptop (already had it 2). A real problem with laptops is the hinges in the screen wearing out: very difficult or expensive to have repaired.

 

My dad is lucky to get more than a year or so out of a work computer. 'Course, those were also Dells...

[Sbrideau]

hinges on my laptop are still almost like new, and I've had 2 years of almost daily usage on it.

[Solartide]

hinges on my laptop are still almost like new, and I've had 2 years of almost daily usage on it.

 

One day the hinges on my DS were almost like new.

 

The next day it cracked.

[Sbrideau]

hinges on my laptop are still almost like new, and I've had 2 years of almost daily usage on it.

 

One day the hinges on my DS were almost like new.

 

The next day it cracked.

 

What DS generation? I know one of the generation had those problems until they repaired it.

[The Runar]

My geek aura makes every computer around me last forever :P