[vineshpikale]

The more pertinent reason for a change of system is usually some hardware failure. The second most likely cause is a change in the ecosystem in which you operate which forces a change eg say some critical software which works only on 64 but architecture which you existing computer is missing. And the third likely reason is that it generally becomes slower/laggy, either due to the OS and all the installations over the years making it bloated or that the newer softwares in use require more computing prowess. None of these are typically age of the system driven. But yes I’m in a use till it works efficiently mode.

[landcruiser123]

Office laptops are changed every 3-4 years by big IT companies because companies have big $$$ and the novelty factor of new laptops for employees/end-customers. Also, most batteries last only 3 years under heavy use. Security requirements, better software etc are secondary reasons.

These laptops are managed by vendors who will refurbish old ones and use them at other workplaces with lesser budgets.

On a personal note, I've used 5/6 year old hand-me downs for another 2-3 years until I started my undergraduate studies. Laptops built today can last for 8-10 years if all your personal use is light browsing, banking, social media, some MS office, skype etc.

[Asif 6959]

OT:
One alternate to get some more juice from the aging laptops is Chrome Flex. Am planning to get this on my decade old laptop, simply because the specs are so damn low that no new OS will support it. And the laptop will be primarily for personal use.

Link: https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/

[vb-saan]

Unlike phones, I normally keep the personal laptops to the time it lasts. My 2015 MacBook Air is still with me but off late it is giving keyboard issues and have an almost dead battery (so it’s probably time to change).
Strangely the last two laptop purchases were not that good – wife’s Lenovo Yoga gave up after 3-4 years, and my daughter’s Dell Inspiron lasted only 2 years. The replacements are less than a year old and need to see how long those will go (Lenovo and Microsoft Surface).

IMO, modern laptops can easily go for 5 years without feeling obsolete. My work laptop they replace after 4 years (as a policy) but I feel like those devices always have the juice to go on for another couple of years.

[jalsa777]

I keep them for as long as they suffice my needs. Point to be noted is that needs can change overtime and so do hardware requirement. Basically, as long as it works and is fast enough to not hamper any productivity, keep it.

For the other members of the family for whom the laptop is a low productivity item anyways, for example my parents who are semi-retired now, i buy second hand laptops which the corporates discard after using for only 3-4 years!
These machines have good configurations mostly and have a lot of life left in them. Also, you can get metal bodied laptops for cheap this way. It's a win-win.

[silverado]

With advent of Virtualization, we dont need to rely on powerfull laptops for most of the day to day usage. Mobile phones/tablets have taken over that task now.

Its specific needs that need a laptop/desktop with good configuration, and even that has become cheap.

My laptop is 9 years old, and the easy way i plan to make it faster is by adding some more Ram. i have already given it to my kid for school use as and when its needed.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I had a new one, my third, assembled last month.

This is what was assembled for me by a person who is in the business, and whom I know for over twenty years:

i3 10th Gen Processor, Asus Mother Board, 1gb graphics, 8gb Ram, 480gb SSD, Atx cabinet. Cost Rs 27000.00

The Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse and external speakers of the outgoing Pc had been replaced within the past 18 months, so they were retained for building the new one.

The advantage of assembled Pc is it can be kept functional by just replacing specific components over the years if required. And also one can upgrade the Pc by substituting higher spec components, or including additional components, subject to them being compatible with the motherboard.

[Fan@Automotive]

I for one would like to change my personal laptop every three years.

The thing is that I do not earn from them. Hence I still retain my Alienware (read Dell) M17x bought from US in early 2008 and my Sony Vaio 15.6" bought from Germany in early 2012.

They were dead slow, spent a good amount of money on them to upgrade the RAM, HDD and change batteries. The improvement in performance was nothing to write about.

I, having to work mostly on the work station from my company, find very little time and interest to even boot my personal laptop, until and unless there is a compelling reason. Hence am finding it difficult to pick a reason to part with my kidneys and eyes (read money) on a fantasy (read below).

Now eying for the latest MacBook Pro 16.0".

As long as there is a requirement, upgrade to me is a waste of money, but the devil in my mind abstains from all logic.

[Nitish.arnold]

Originally Posted by GTO

but it's a royal pain setting up a new computer with all your programs & OS settings.

So One friend of mine bought Iphone 13 for his dad,
He didn't like it so he bought Pixel 6.

To my utter shock/Surprise, It took me flat 20 mins to transfer everything (From custom zillion settings to wallpaper, chats, & all the usual data & stuff) for him.

I desperately need the same utility in laptops,
Since I have an upgrade OCD for gadgets

[VJ05]

My personal Laptop is a 2012 Macbook Air. It used to work like a charm till a few months back and looks like needs a replacement now. The official one is a 2017 Dell Vostro which is getting slower by the day however the organization policy is to not replace till it dies, so had to wait for it's peaceful death

[Turbo_anup]

I generally tend to change my laptop every 6-7 years and have hence voted for same.

While the laptop can still function well after 7 years, but I tend to game on laptop too. Since I have made move from desktop to laptop for gaming and other personal work, 6-7 years is a good enough time frame for exhausting the residual value value of laptop, recovering your investment and above all, getting latest / new GPU and CPU combination and design for best performance. Hence from that perspective - got my first HP Omen (1st Gen) laptop with GTX 860m way back in 2014. Bought the new HP Omen laptop in 2021 and sold the old one on cashify for a good amount as the old one had a core i7 and 4GB Vram GPU.

The good part about high end laptops is also that the resale value after 6-7 years (of course including battery deprecation) is still good in second hand market. So one call easily sell the old laptop for anywhere in between 16 - 20K depending on the physical condition & specs.

While my office also has a policy of replacing laptops after 3 years, it is more out of compliance and risk given that employee cannot work on a hardware which is not covered as part of warranty (which others have also stated on the forum).

[chandu]

I voted 6 - 7 as that is what i have been doing for the past couple of laptops.
I buy fairly good machines so I dont really see any point in changing them to get a small incremental increase in performance. My previous laptop was an i5 with 8GB ram and an HDD and when it got to a point where i feared a hardware failure, I got myself a Surface Pro3 in 2014.

I have not felt the need to change it since as it works just fine for working from home which typically these days is just spreadsheet or document work.
I will change it when it starts to get to a point where I start worrying about a hardware issue leaving me high and dry. I probably would have replaced it in 2020 as I traveled frequently but since covid my travel is a big Zero .
I think I will end up buying a new machine this year as travel seems to be a possibility these days.

[drive2eternity]

Voted 8+ years

Well my employer has the policy to replace laptops every 3 years (or earlier if a significant upgrade comes along). Unfortunately, they do NOT give the old laptops to the employees (how I wish they did!).

Personally, my laptop is 15 years old. I no longer use it, it is just lying at home as e-waste. I also have my wife's Dell laptop, which is 8+ years old, still works and hence used by us. Both of us being in IT, totally abhor opening the 'home' laptop after spending long hours in front of screens everyday. Additionally, most of the banking work is done on the iPad and hence the number of things which truly require the 'home' laptop are next to none.

We have been toying with the idea to get an ultrabook/MacAir for a year now but haven't been able to convince ourselves if we really need one!

[yashg]

Voted 4-5 years. Earlier used to change every 2-3 years. Laptops these days last longer. They are now used less. There are many other devices that now compete with laptop for regular usage like web browsing, social media, content consumption. We have smartphones, tablets, even TVs are now smart. Laptop may not die after 4-5 years or it may not even slow down significantly, it just gets old and you get bored of it, so you hand it over to your kids or it becomes a spare, secondary laptop and you get a shiny new one for yourself. I have 3 laptops - 2 Windows (one personal, one from employer) and a Macbook Air (personal). I am now itching to get my hands on Apple M1. During the lockdown, the Mac became my daughter's computer for online classes. It's now 55 months old and I will get a new Macbook Air M1 soon.

[amavin]

I have a completely contrary view on the topic: Change the laptop when it no longer serves the purpose it is meant for, and/or, when the minimum software level it can run is no longer supported (think security updates, attack mitigations, etc).