General / Off-Topic Laptops only tend to last 3-5 years.

[aDOLPHINjoy18]

All my laptops have been HP.

2004 - My 1st HP laptop. 512MB RAM. blue screen of death.
2nd laptop. HP. AMD 3 core CPU, 1GB RAM. touch screen failed.
3rd laptop. HP. Intel Core i5 2xxx series. Windows 7. Screen failed last week. screen failed, battery failed.
4th laptop. HP. Intel Core i5 6xxx series. Windows 10. Brought mid 2015. Battery failed this month, got a new one from a 3rd party for NZ$60.

I Google searched how long a typical/average laptop is expected to last, and it's only 2-5 years. If it lasts you longer than 5 years, you're extremely lucky or extremely patient. Laptops begin to slow down after 2-3 years.

I have my 1st custom desktop PC from mid 2016 which is the one I use to game on and play Planet Coaster with.

I may need to look at getting a new laptop this year or next year. HP does hybrid drive (256GB M.2 SSD and 1TB 5400RPM, Intel Core i5/i7 quad core, 8GB RAM, GTX Mobile 2GB graphics for around NZ$1,600 on sale.

Not to mention how many laptops don't have a dedicated graphics card or boot onto a super slow 5400rpm HDD which takes 2-5 mins to boot and load all programs on desktop. My desktop PC has a SATA Samsung 1TB SSD which can boot up and load all desktop programs in only 10 seconds.

 

[HeatherG]

Mine last around 3 years since I use it so much. I use HP as well. All my previous ones died out from overheating and broken fans so I have a fan made for laptops so it's always nice and cool. For a $600.00 laptop it does very well with Planet coaster and JWE. Had to get it after my 300 dollar one REALLY couldn't handle it.

 

[breezerHOG1]

Depends on how well you take care of it i guess? The main issue I usually see is that the fans stop working and then the laptop overheats, and even though replacing a fan on a PC is super easy and cheap, it can be almost impossible in laptops

Laptops begin to slow down after 2-3 years.

If you think that regular PCs never slow down, then you should do some more research. Its all about regular maintence, defragmentation, age of ram, how much crap you have downloaded or installed, etc. My current laptop which I bought 3 years ago still is capable of running PlanCo and the funny thing is I don't even meet the minimum requirements (but I can only get a maximum of 6,000 guests)

 

[SoapyIllusion]

There are so many factors that come into play when it comes to how long something lasts. Maintenance and use are MAJOR factors. However poor build quality, and cheap parts can come into play. However those numbers are skewed simple because its nearly impossible to isolate use from factory degradation. To me it comes down to brands, and for those more detailed inclined the types of parts used. As I've gotten older I've learned to spend more time reviewing what a laptop is made of. Which pending on the brand / place you buy it -- that information can be at times lacking.

Personally I've learned to tell anyone I know to stay away from Dell laptops. Each laptop I've had hasn't lasted more than 3 years. Were talking frames falling apart. The bloatware plus my own software becoming to much for the laptop to run over time.

When recommending laptops I always say this:
1.) Body of laptop should be metal.
2.) Hinge on laptop connecting screen to unit should also be medal.
3.) Try to get a laptop with an intel processor above an M series.
4.) Try to ensure your laptop has at least 4 GB of ram if its going be running Windows.

If we say brands I always say stick with Asus.

But yeah Desktops also degrade. You can keep it kicking strong and faster longer with regular maintenance and frugal software installation. And refreshing some hardware over time such as RAM or hard drvies.