Are laptops disposable?
Last week I wrote about a tough decision my client faced between spending money repairing a dying laptop and buying a brand new laptop. I included a voting poll and asked you to vote on which decision you would have made.
Although only 22 people voted, I think a clear majority emerged. 64% of respondents said they would buy a new laptop. This didn't entirely surprise me because it is the same decision my client made.
So it seems that laptops have become disposable. Of course there are exceptions but it is clear that people are willing to use their laptop up until the point that something major goes wrong with it and then simply replace it with a new one.
If you didn't get a chance to read some of the comments on the original blog post I encourage you to do so. There is some great feedback out there. And it's not too late to cast your vote or add your own feedback as well.
7 comments for this blog post so far...
March 02, 2010 at 9:13 am
asudduth
I missed the previous post (with the poll) but this is an intersting topic… I have many thought and not sure they will be organized… so let me just write them down
- Its been my experience where laptops are used until they die even after their useful life. In the past desktops were no big deal to replace but people held on to laptops… a lot of times even if they did replace a laptop they would find other uses for the old one where desktops they would often donate or recycle.
- its often been my thought that “power users” would replace a machine (laptop or desktop) every 3 years and “normal” people every 4 years. but with today’s cheap (not a good thing) consumer laptops they don’t seem to last that long… They aren’t built like the business-grade machine or even consumer grade machine of a few years back. 1-2 years seems to be the life, and you’re lucky if you get 3.
- Related to my above comment and one of Patric’s comment on the other post… maybe it doesn’t matter… $300-$500 every year or so? or $1500 every 3-4 years… that truly is about the same cost - if we want to by “disposable” laptops we need to remember that they are such and not expect them to out-live their warranty period. and of course Backup, Backup, Backup.
So, I’ve kind of talked myself through this and come out on the other side of things… I planned to complain about today’s laptops and how the consumer ones are junk… and I came to see that they really cost the same… you do get what you pay for…
not sure this will totally effect my purchasing decisions, but does give me some guidance on recomendations to others.
So one last note, this one totally about the other post - without actually seeing the laptop in question I don’t know if I would have fixed it or not… If it seemed like software/OS problems (even if it seemed like a bad hard drive) I probably would have fixed it… If it looked like a more major hardware issues (that weren’t covered by some extended warranty for a known defect) then I’d replace the machine… or perpahs I’d actually replace the machine but still fix the old one… and ebay it or give it to someone.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings :)
March 02, 2010 at 9:30 am
Penemuel
I also missed the previous post with the poll. I’m really on the fence regarding this—I think that as long as a laptop functions with some little problems (I had to replace the battery on mine because it wouldn’t hold a charge, for example), people tend to hang onto them and continue using them because a) it’s a pain to transfer files and programs over, even with transfer software and b) often it has an OS you’re familiar with, and prefer to newer ones coming out. I’m betting a lot more people hung onto their old laptops with XP rather than get new Vista ones vs. those who had Vista ones and were happy to get rid of them to get one with Windows 7… (Would actually be interested in seeing the statistics on that.)
I got lucky because I bought my current laptop JUST before the switch to Vista, so it came with XP. I refused to get a new one (even with the battery problem and some other issues) while Vista was around. I’m still holding off on getting a new one yet because I don’t want to have to upgrade all my software to be compatible with Windows 7…
So in some ways, yes, because they are less expensive now, they are easier to just replace entirely, but there’s a comfort factor that may keep some users from doing that.
March 02, 2010 at 11:48 am
Adam
For me it goes back to budget. As a former graphic designer and a current Youth/Worship Minister who creates digital media I use a Macbook, but because Macs can tend to be more expensive I hold off until I absolutely have to buy a new one.
I always recommend getting an extended warranty on your laptop though. This will help in delaying the purchase of a new laptop. In 2008, the RAM in my Macbook went bad. In the course of trying to diagnose the issues, Apple kindly replaced my CD/DVD Combo drive, Hard Drive, Motherboard, and RAM (all for free), because I spent the extra money for the Apple Care Extended Warranty (3 years).
If you have a major issue after the warranty lapses, then you may want to consider investing in new hardware. Another tip to prolong the life of your laptop… avoid DELL like the plague. I have some real horror stories there.
March 02, 2010 at 1:37 pm
asudduth
@Adam Just wanted to chime in and say I have tons of Dell machines and all are solid… but they are all business class (Latitude) machines. But I’m pretty much exclusively Dell when it comes to Windows laptops… but yes, 3 year warranty on those is always a good recomendation
March 08, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Patric Welch
Great feedback everybody. Thank you!
Adam - Computer brands to me are like airlines. No matter what airline you fly, someone always has a horror story to share about that airline with you. And that person always vows never to fly them again. Same with computers. For you it is Dell. For others HP. I’m sure somewhere out there someone has an absolute horror story about their MacBook.
March 31, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Amelia Johnson
I am not a technical person at all. When my second Gateway went down from age, I bought a DELL Inspiron with a 3 year warranty. Thank goodness. I had to have the insides replaced about one year into the warranty...no questions asked. I am considering a MAC for the next laptop though.
Thank you Patric for asking.
April 05, 2010 at 8:35 am
Patric Welch
@Amelia - A Mac is always a great choice. Just be prepared to spend twice as much money for it :)
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