This forum may not be the right place for this question , but , If any one is going to really put a mac laptop to the test it has to be you graphic people . This why I pose this question . How old is your laptop and when did you finally retire it and for what reason ? Thanks
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When do I toss my aging laptop ?
- Thread starter DELINDA
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What about the people working with mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, film/video, photography, journalism, teaching, ....?
It's laptops not lap top's btw.
Also a more descriptive and precise thread title will help cater to the right audience and get you more responses.
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It's laptops not lap top's btw.
Also a more descriptive and precise thread title will help cater to the right audience and get you more responses.
To edit your thread title, just click on the
I've just effectively retired my 15" Alu PB 1GHz/2Gb RAM. I soldiered on with it but in the end just became too frustrating to use. Even things like web browsing were becoming very tedious.
I've now reformatted it with the original OS (10.3) and will use it for authoring articles and other lightweight tasks. The mistake I made was putting 10.5 on it, which it couldn't really handle. It was overheating badly all the time which then caused performance to plummet.
That said, it gave great service for five years, which I reckon is more than good value from a laptop.
For home use I replaced it with a late-2009 iMac which is lovely.
At work I am using a 5 y.o. Dual G5 PowerMac. This is starting to become slightly irritating to use and may have to go this year.
I've now reformatted it with the original OS (10.3) and will use it for authoring articles and other lightweight tasks. The mistake I made was putting 10.5 on it, which it couldn't really handle. It was overheating badly all the time which then caused performance to plummet.
That said, it gave great service for five years, which I reckon is more than good value from a laptop.
For home use I replaced it with a late-2009 iMac which is lovely.
At work I am using a 5 y.o. Dual G5 PowerMac. This is starting to become slightly irritating to use and may have to go this year.
To answer your Q with another Q and sharing a similar answer.
Q. When and why would you dump a toaster?
A. When it no longer toasts bread for your requirements.
A.2 When you have such an income you can by each year's new model of toaster.
There are no other answers.
Answers as silly as questions... can't help my smartiness... but seriously, shouldn't your question be more along the lines of "What kind of usable lifespan can I expect out of my 13" MacBook(pro?) with x.xxGHz and xGB of ram with xxxGB HDD doing the tasks I most often do on my laptop which are x1, x2, and x3?"
For you: 5 years, but you'll get a new one before that time after maxing your ram and wanting something newer. You'll sell it on eBay and recoup some money for your new purchase, wishing you had bought a Speck Products shell to protect the finish, thus ensuring a more profitable resell value on the cosmetic front and glad that you took extraordinary care with it concerning foods, liquids, and smoke and glad you don't have to replace the battery b/c you made sure you completely cycled the battery religiously.
nf
Q. When and why would you dump a toaster?
A. When it no longer toasts bread for your requirements.
A.2 When you have such an income you can by each year's new model of toaster.
There are no other answers.
Answers as silly as questions... can't help my smartiness... but seriously, shouldn't your question be more along the lines of "What kind of usable lifespan can I expect out of my 13" MacBook(pro?) with x.xxGHz and xGB of ram with xxxGB HDD doing the tasks I most often do on my laptop which are x1, x2, and x3?"
For you: 5 years, but you'll get a new one before that time after maxing your ram and wanting something newer. You'll sell it on eBay and recoup some money for your new purchase, wishing you had bought a Speck Products shell to protect the finish, thus ensuring a more profitable resell value on the cosmetic front and glad that you took extraordinary care with it concerning foods, liquids, and smoke and glad you don't have to replace the battery b/c you made sure you completely cycled the battery religiously.
nf
Well I haven't officially retired my 4 1/2 year old 12" Powerbook G4 yet, but I hope to do so after I get my i5 iMac in March.
After that I am rebooting Tiger on here and using it for basic things on the road, atleast until I replace it with a unibody Macbook.
After that I am rebooting Tiger on here and using it for basic things on the road, atleast until I replace it with a unibody Macbook.
Simply put, there is no definitive answer. It really depends on your personal requirements and needs.
There are people on here using G5's, even G4's and are still quite content, others have the need to replace hardware every 2-4 years due to specific industry demands or the personal preference of having the latest and greatest product.
You just need to ask yourself if you are getting along ok with it or if you are in need of an upgrade to support recent software, increase overall speed and performance etc. etc.
It's like asking someone when should you replace a car, it all depends, some people will keep a car running for 10+ years and just use it to go from point A to point B, others will want or need a newer car with GPS, road side assistance and mp3 capabilities...really comes down to your personal situation and preference.
There are people on here using G5's, even G4's and are still quite content, others have the need to replace hardware every 2-4 years due to specific industry demands or the personal preference of having the latest and greatest product.
You just need to ask yourself if you are getting along ok with it or if you are in need of an upgrade to support recent software, increase overall speed and performance etc. etc.
It's like asking someone when should you replace a car, it all depends, some people will keep a car running for 10+ years and just use it to go from point A to point B, others will want or need a newer car with GPS, road side assistance and mp3 capabilities...really comes down to your personal situation and preference.
I don't think it's as simple as that anymore. It used to be the case that you were either a 'power user' or 'non-power user'. A power user needed a high spec machine to use Adobe products, edit video, perhaps some 3D, etc. A non-power user did a bit of light word processing, email and web browsing, perhaps a bit of photo editing with a consumer package.
The development of the internet has changed that. Web apps and online multimedia content now require a fairly hefty spec in order to run acceptably. I eventually gave up on my G4 PB because web use was becoming particularly tedious and sometimes, in the case of online streaming video, nearly impossible. Photoshop, Illustrator and other 2D design apps are not really the limiting factor.
For that reason I don't quite agree with your analogy. A car will always do the humdrum, i.e. get you from A to B. I drive a 33 year old vintage Triumph and I get about just fine. Humdrum for a computer is web browsing, yet as stated this now requires a modern browser, up to date Javascript, the latest Flash player, reasonable graphics capability, and a decent processor. A five year old computer just doesn't provide that unless it was very high spec. to start with.
Yes there are still 'power users' out there, but ordinary folk now need better kit than they used to be able to get away with, if they want to enjoy the content and tools available on the internet.
You replace a laptop - or anything for that matter - when it no longer does what you bought it to do and it has no further use to you.
There are people using 8 year old computers running Windows XP happily. I know people still using OS 9. Both are outdated OS's, but they work for those people, so they haven't replaced them.
Personally, I replace my Mac about every 2 years. I buy the new unit, transfer my data, then sell the old one. I usually get about 55-60% of what I spent back. That is good enough for me, but may be different for others.
There are people using 8 year old computers running Windows XP happily. I know people still using OS 9. Both are outdated OS's, but they work for those people, so they haven't replaced them.
Personally, I replace my Mac about every 2 years. I buy the new unit, transfer my data, then sell the old one. I usually get about 55-60% of what I spent back. That is good enough for me, but may be different for others.
Oh no! Never toss it! Youd be suprised how many friends/relatives you may have that would love to have it.
When my stuff gets to old for my uses I usually give it to less fortunate family members who make great use of it.
When my stuff gets to old for my uses I usually give it to less fortunate family members who make great use of it.
I agree with bluetooth... it depends on your needs. Yes, I'm one of them many who still use a G4 desktop. It's 10yrs old (knock on wood) and works well. It's only been on the web twice, which is probably why I still have it. I figure if it works than don't change it. I just purchased a MBP Unibody, only because my PB couldn't handle it. I use my PB a lot and I'm happy it has lasted for over 6yrs.
So to answer your question, don't toss them. Assign new task for the old ones. If you can part with them, do so. I keep mine until I can't upgrade them anymore. I'm contemplating on selling my PB and maybe buy a lens for my camera with the money I receive. But my PB has some cool stuff that SNow Leopard doesn't have.
So to answer your question, don't toss them. Assign new task for the old ones. If you can part with them, do so. I keep mine until I can't upgrade them anymore. I'm contemplating on selling my PB and maybe buy a lens for my camera with the money I receive. But my PB has some cool stuff that SNow Leopard doesn't have.
3 years on a midrange laptop, 2 years on a low end laptop. You can usually extend the life of a laptop by a significant amount by just upgrading the RAM.
It depends on how good the laptop is. My Boss's white Macbook was a piece of junk and started falling apart and behaved erratically, had he gotten a Macbook Pro he would probably still be using it.
It depends on how good the laptop is. My Boss's white Macbook was a piece of junk and started falling apart and behaved erratically, had he gotten a Macbook Pro he would probably still be using it.