djk7

Similarly, my laptop is also 4 years old with an i7 CPU. It was pretty high end when I got it, and still handles the load pretty well, although I probably should look into adding RAM. It has 8GB and gets really slow when I exhaust that. I did upgrade to a 7200 rpm drive a year or so ago when my started flaking out and that seems to help a bit. Everyone in my group got laptops at the same time, and I haven't heard anything about replacing them, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't go another couple of years.

Back to the OP's situation, it sounds like that system wasn't very peppy when new, so after 3 years, replacing might not be a bad idea. Buying higher end to start with will give you a longer usable life.

pricesquire

Depends.

Had my first Mac laptop for 6 years. Had my second for 4 years. Just got a new Macbook Air...not because of any defect in my last Macbook, but because the Macbook Air is just too convenient for traveling.

Still kicking myself over selling my 1st Mac (that lasted 6 years)...but yeah, nothing beats the Air if you're a traveler.

FWIW, I think PC products have to be replaced more often. They're just more susceptible to poor performance (and viruses)....maybe that's some of my Mac bias peeking through, though.

HawaiiTrvlr

I am on laptop #3 in 8 or 9 years. Seems that the charger connection goes out long before the laptop becomes obselete. My current Gateway is 3 1/2 and the charger connection has to be just right for it to keep the power.

gobluetwo

We're on year 5 with our HP Core i5 laptop. Still runs pretty well, although the fan could maybe use a deeper cleaning than just compressed air. It's also been a while since defragging. virus/ad/malware scans are fairly regular, also. Then again, this is our home PC used mostly to stream movies, play a few games, web browsing, and bills/taxes. Nothing intensive.

My work laptop is replaced more frequently. Since 2007, I've had a Dell Latitude D410 (2 years), D430 (2 years), 2 different Lenovo T420 (2 years, 6 months), and a T440 (got a month ago).

dtsm

My white ibook last 8 yrs before cd player died, traded up for 2008 aluminum macbook, upgraded ram, new HD and still in perfect shape! Been toying with MacBook Air but haven't pulled the trigger as I use iPad when on the road.

rts123

My ThinkPad T60 will be 8 years old in November and is still my main work machine. I haven't replaced a single part on it and the only modifications have been to max out the RAM and move from XP to 7 a few years ago.

I like the 14" 16:10 display much more than the current widescreen displays, and also the compact size for travel. It'll get replaced within the next couple of months, almost certainly with a T440P, but in part only because Windows 7 won't be available on new machines after ~October. I'll enjoy the new machine with an i7 and SSD but I'm going to miss the T60 that hasn't skipped a beat in nearly 8 years.

salfcl

Thanks for the tip.

Loren Pechtel

I wouldn't think it would need upgrading unless you specced a minimal system before. I've got a laptop much older than that and the only reason I would even want to replace it is that it's not 64-bit and the 2.75gb of available RAM doesn't exactly cut it.

nkedel

Mine only last about 18 months, but my uses aren't typical. Gaming on laptops gets expensive.

That was a very slow machine even when new.

Yes, you should upgrade.

There are plenty of 3-year old machines that would not be worth upgrading today, at least from a speed perspective if you don't play video games or do particular sorts of professional work that need all the speed you can get (architecture, mechanical or structural engineering, some kinds of software development work, etc.)

A mid-range business laptop back to about 4 years ago (with say i5-520m processor, say) is going to be fast enough for just about any "general use" these days, and a mid-range business laptop from late 2006 (with say a Core 2 T7200) will be sort of the minimum tolerable speed. The latter probably came with a gig or two of memory, and really needs to be upgraded to the maximum it'll take (4gb, with 3.5gb usable) to still be worth keeping around.

Compared to either of the above, a brand new midrange or even low-end business laptop will mainly be lighter, run cooler, and have better battery life; it'll be much faster than the 2006 model, but so will the 2010 version, and the speed difference between the 2010 one and a brand new one won't be that noticeable to most people (assuming it doesn't have an ultrabook processor, which may be not much faster than the 2010 version even on paper.)

There are some very good refurbished deals on 2010 and 2011 laptops these days; the Lenovo T410/T410s/T420/T420s/X201/X220 are all great machines that can be had refurbished for the price of a new low-end piece of junk.

With 8gb of memory and the hard drive replaced with an SSD, virtually anyone will be happy with one of these for general use. I still use my X201 (with 8gb and an old Intel X25M SSD, hardly a barn burner) day to day to carry to meetings and on short trips when I don't need to do coding (or can do the coding remotely) and when I don't expect to have time for gaming.

I found the N280-based system I got (very cheaply) in mid-2009 -- which was itself a step faster than the Z530 -- too slow when it was brand new; it bogged down on Javascript-heavy websites by the much more limited standards of the time, let alone the current generation of them. It was just tolerable with Office 2003 and with Office 2007 except for whatever it was that changed in Outlook.

Viruses are readily avoidable.

XP and older Microsoft OSes tended to have corruption issues requiring re-installation eventually; Vista (for the few of us that used it) and newer mostly fix that... although eventually you'll want to reinstall. My wife's laptop just hit the 4 year mark and it's starting to show its age. The specs are still quite good (i5-540m, 8gb, 300gb Intel 320 SSD), and while I've been encouraging her to let me get her a new one (she's been complaining about the weight for ages), I suspect that a clean installation of Windows 7 would leave it feeling quite perky.

Now, physical quality of hardware varies a lot on the PC side, and a lot depends on what you value; higher-end business laptops on the PC side until very recently tended to be built like tanks... super durable (more so IMO than Macs) but heavy and bulky.

Cleaning out cooling often is a BIG help. Depending on the model, how easy it is get at the cooler can vary a lot -- as is the orientation of the fan and heat sink. Some of the worse designs end up basically with a felt of hair and dust stuck in between the fan and the heat sink and no way to remove it without major disassembly.

HMO

My current i5 NB is about 4~5 years old, and I believe I will keep it for a couple of years more.
I may change the HD for a SSD model, just to have more speed. Not really necessary, I'm just a little envious of my wife's brand new i7...

redheadtempe33

I just replaced my 2008 white iBook this year with a MacBook Pro. The iBook still worked fine, but wouldn't support Mavericks. So, I generally hold on until Apple "makes" me upgrade. I have to say the SSD is a revelation. Will never get another computer without one.

Taiwaned

When I was primarily living in China or Taiwan, I did change my laptop every two years. I didn't want to go through the pain of laptop repair in a country where I couldn't speak the language properly. Plus I was totally dependant on my laptop working. It was kept on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It got pretty cooked by the time a couple of years were up. I had the fans cleaned out every 6 months but it's not meant to be left on all the time.

Now that I am living in Japan and go back to Canada more often, I don't worry about changing the laptop as often. When it dies, I am confident I have options to purchase another.

IsleOfMan

My wife is still rocking a 2008 Aluminum Macbook (C2D, 4gb Ram, upgraded 1tb HDD) with no complaints. After college and until recently I'd been using whatever work gave me which put me on around a ~3 year upgrade cycle (Dell D630, Lenovo T410, HP EliteBook, now a Dell E7240 ultrabook). What they gave me didn't matter all that much as I would only take it off the dock when going on work trips... for casual use at home leisure travlel I'd use my iPad/Android tablet (of which I upgraded about every year).

Recently I bought myself a closeout MS Surface Pro which is ideal for travel, replacing both the work laptop and personal tablet. It's not an excellent tablet (weight and app ecosystem) but even on my other tablets my use has always been 75%+ in the browser, so using 90%+ in the browser on the Surface Pro isn't too big of a shift. As a laptop replacement it does fine as well, running full Office/Outlook and typing with the Type/Power cover (which I only use when traveling and chose one depending on the length of my flights) is leaps and bounds above touchscreen or most small bluetooth keyboards. To consolidate into one device for everything is well worth the tablet shortcomings.

UA Fan

Mine is over four years old and am wondering whether to replace it. It was around $400-500 when I bought it. When I look for laptops in this range I still seem to see only those with 3-4GB of RAM which is what I currently have. After 4 years I thought one could expect more.

nyc2socal

My work MacBook Pro is 4 years old, and my personal MacBook Pro is 7 years old.. Both are still going strong, with no need for a new machine.