How long do you keep a computer?

[QuarterMillionMan]

I despise Apple. I didn't know they make their own chipset but I guess that's a good thing creating more competition. Apple has set the hook in my mouth and slowing reeling me back, lol.

[ua_guy]

I despise Apple. I didn't know they make their own chipset but I guess that's a good thing creating more competition. Apple has set the hook in my mouth and slowing reeling me back, lol.

I recently got a new(er) laptop for work, a Dell Latitude 5411. I haven't owned a Dell notebook since I was in college (Dude, you got a Dell!) -- and the new ones are really, really nice. I was impressed -- with the hardware, I still hate Windows though.

The husband says I'm not allowed to own a PC...lol. He's joking and I can buy whatever I want, but he hates PCs with a passion from a security perspective. Otherwise I might consider a new Dell on this round. But leaving the Apple ecosystem is pretty hard to do.

[QuarterMillionMan]

For anyone considering buying a new laptop or desktop, this is the main thing to look for, the processor. Mine's is 11th generation Intel Dell $350 14" 2 in 1 touch screen which is not the newest 12th generation. It says Desktop but it's a Dell laptop. Oct 20 Intel releases its 13th generation. If your's is 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th gen, you may want to get a newer one. My mom bought the cheapest AMD PC at Best Buy which was an old generation and it takes 5 minutes to boot up. I think it is an A1 processor which is archaic. I also have an Acer 15" core i5 but 8th generation, I paid $400 a few years ago. The Acer would be the first to go and replaced with a 12th gen or 13th gen Intel. Don't know about AMD, nor Apple, nor do I care, lol.


Intel’s 13th Gen processors arrive October 20th with $589 flagship Core i9-13900K (msn.com)

[ua_guy]

I just can't keep up with all the various chips and technology, model and naming/numbering conventions anymore. Intel core i-whatevers with however many actual processor cores and threads, multiple generations, boost/burst speeds, etc. What happened to the days of Pentium III, Pentium 4, etc. Gone! lol. Even budget desktops/laptops are amazingly fast these days.

[Snicks]

No matter what I buy be it Dell, HP, Toshiba, they all seem to DIE within a few short years. I had an All in One Dell with warranty. It just literally croaked. Even though I had the warranty it was a GIANT PIA to even get someone on the phone. I left a zillion messages. Told them I would never stop calling, etc. Finally did get in touch with someone and was then able to get a credit for the crap computer. Fortunately it was a CC payment so then I went and moved into a laptop. Had a Toshiba laptop that lasted a LONG time and was great, then it croaked. The screen just went weird. Got another Toshiba which was a hunk of junk which barely last 2 yrs. Did get another Dell laptop and it pooped out, and I did send it for repair and has been ok. And also bought an Acer laptop. I kind of like having one laptop upstairs and one downstairs. So far so good

[ua_guy]

Ok, well, that went poorly.

One part went well. I replaced a battery in an old 2011 MacBook air which I use in our shop building for watching Youtube while working out, and car stuff. It's working great! $60 later and it's good as new.

The second install did not go well. That would be my primary computer with all my data, the 13" mid-2017 MacBook pro. I was 90% finished but could not get the ribbon connector on the new battery to seat in the plastic widget - it's a connector which is just a few mm wide, so small I had to squint to see it. The factory ribbon goes in/out just fine and the aftermarket one was just a hair thicker, requiring more force to push it in there....and then it broke! Two rice-pieces of plastic went smoking off into the abyss to never be found again. I tried to fully seat the connector, thinking I could epoxy it into place for a short-term fix. Nope...that busted some of the pins off the connector, and the laptop is now bricked.

That's it. It's done. I wasted $89 on a new battery. I tanked the $200 the machine would have been worth on trade. And now I have to buy a new laptop.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Bummers, those ribbon connectors are difficult to work with. At this point you could probably resell the battery for maybe 1/3 of what you paid, sell the RAM, and sell the hard drive if you can wipe it clean. And maybe the a/c power cord.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I stand corrected if the ribbon connecter and pins on the battery side broke, then unable to sell the battery

[ua_guy]

Bummers, those ribbon connectors are difficult to work with. At this point you could probably resell the battery for maybe 1/3 of what you paid, sell the RAM, and sell the hard drive if you can wipe it clean. And maybe the a/c power cord.

It's an FPC/ flexible printed circuit connector about the size of 2 grains of rice, and it busted off the logic board for the computer. A buddy thinks he can solder a new one on. I'll be grateful if he can, otherwise I'll put it up for parts on Craigslist for cheap.

A battery shouldn't be that difficult to replace. -1 for Apple today.

[myrdale]

A battery shouldn't be that difficult to replace. -1 for Apple today.

Agreed. Planned obsolescence is most definitely an operational strategy used by Apple.

At least the Macbook worked out. It is always a bit of a gamble when you attempt to fix something yourself, but I still think it was worth it, even if it did end poorly in the second case.

I can't stress enough the importance of backing your data up. Once a month or so make a copy to a USB drive. Personally I keep a copy of my files on a USB drive in my house, and once or twice a year I switch it with a drive I keep off site (in the case the house ever burns down). I am not familiar with Apple's cloud services. I do keep a few files on Google Drive, but I don't know if that is better than Apple's services.

[ua_guy]

Agreed. Planned obsolescence is most definitely an operational strategy used by Apple.

At least the Macbook worked out. It is always a bit of a gamble when you attempt to fix something yourself, but I still think it was worth it, even if it did end poorly in the second case.

I can't stress enough the importance of backing your data up. Once a month or so make a copy to a USB drive. Personally I keep a copy of my files on a USB drive in my house, and once or twice a year I switch it with a drive I keep off site (in the case the house ever burns down). I am not familiar with Apple's cloud services. I do keep a few files on Google Drive, but I don't know if that is better than Apple's services.

Agreed on backups. I don't use iCloud, but it is available. Apple does have a great program (and, formerly, hardware) called Apple Time Machine, and Apple Time Capsule (device). You can plug in any data storage device to use with Time Machine, however, and it keeps both full and incremental backups of all the machine's data, and it runs automatically several times per day. We have a 2TB Time Capsule which is network connected, and all the devices in our house beam their data to it.

I also keep an SSD backup of my apple user directory (basically, my stuff, but without application backups or preferences) in a separate location which I update maybe twice a year.

In the case of my little mishap, I restored all my data from our time capsule onto a new machine, like it never happened. I have since rigged the broken laptop to run off of its power cord so I could get in there and nuke the drive. I use drive encryption too.

[QuarterMillionMan]

In the eBay seller's thread I'm selling an old Acer laptop since I bought a new Dell. My recommendation should anyone want to give your computer new life is to upgrade your RAM and/or hard drive. An easy way to check how much RAM your computer supports is to use a scan tool. I use Crucial and these are my results for my new Dell. Factory RAM is one 8 gb stick. I have two slots that can take up to 32 gb each x 2 = 64 gb total. A kit 2 x 32 gb RAM cost about $200 which would make this new Dell have wings and would practically fly.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Also on the right side of the Crucial scan shows my factory installed SSD which is 117 GB, they recommend upgrading to 512 GB but I think my Dell supports 1 terabyte or higher which I'll have to do more homework on. Doing these 2 upgrades would significantly increase my processing speeds.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Ordered this $75 Viper 32 gb RAM from Newegg, it supports 64 gb but double the price at $150 so no thanks.

[comicguy]

We replace our laptops when they are about to die (usually every 4-5 years), unfortunately it seems each of our laptops die within a couple of months of each other. I generally buy Acer (since the early 90's PC and laptops), I now have a lenovo because my previous Acer died at the start of Covid and home teaching so I had to just get what was ever available! It seems to working well so we shall see.