Is your tech spending proportional to your needs?

My tech spending is well below my needs.

I've never had a laptop for more than two years, until now. My current MacBook Pro is 5.5 years old. It crashes at least once, if not multiple times, per day and freezes randomly all the time (even after a complete erase and reinstall). I'd say on any given day, it either turns itself off or freezes an average of four times.

I used an original iPad a lot at work, and for some personal stuff. Left it on a plane six months ago, and haven't replaced it. Miss it a lot.

I upgrade my phone about every two years. I don't get every iPhone that comes out., and I never stand in line and wait for one...I always wait until the hype has died down.

I try to get a full-life out of my gear.

Thursday, when I expect delivery on my iPad Air 2, I think I'll have hit the iSaturation point ...

• His & Hers matching 27" maxed out iMacs (less than one-year old).

• His & Hers iPad Airs.

Except for an upgrade to Apple TV, I think I'm set for the next five years.

Unless I get filthy rich.

tzhu07 said:

I bet it's overheating. Over time the thermal paste disintegrates and no longer becomes effective, resulting in hot temperatures. Open up your laptop, and replace it with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...20&cm_re=thermal_paste-_-35-186-020-_-Product

Click to expand...

Most of the time it shuts down, it's just after I've opened it from being in sleep mode overnight or my commute home. Shouldn't be hot at that point.

I do need to download one of those monitoring apps to see what's going on.

samiwas said:

My tech spending is well below my needs.

I've never had a laptop for more than two years, until now. My current MacBook Pro is 5.5 years old. It crashes at least once, if not multiple times, per day and freezes randomly all the time (even after a complete erase and reinstall). I'd say on any given day, it either turns itself off or freezes an average of four times.

Click to expand...

If it's not overheating, I can almost guarantee it'll run like a charm on Win7 in Bootcamp. Not kidding.

I finally ditched my Late 2006 MacBook this past summer after over 7 years. It ran mostly like a POS under OS X (plus lot of software stopped getting updates/support) and ran (still runs actually) perfectly in XP.

I sold a MacBook air and replaced it with a 2-year-older MacBook. There's just so much power you need for facebook, and I have better hobbies to spend my cash on.

That was the turning point for me, when I realized I didn't want tech to play such a large role in my life. I've since cut back, and replaced it with more rewarding hobbies that have a longer "shelf life".

Let's just say my tech spending is not as bad as the other spending I do.

Up front my tech spending is well beyond my needs but I think long term it breaks even.

I usually kept my PC laptops about 2 -3 years before upgrading (and continue to use the old ones for certain tasks). My desktop was almost 4 years old before my OS HDD died and I haven't bothered to replace it.

Now that I have switched to a MBA and am looking at an iMac, I know my initial spending will be much more than ever before (I built my PC desktop for around $600 and never spent more than $1000 on a PC laptop), but I am hoping to not upgrade for quite a while.

I am slowly learning to just go with my needs - at least with the computers (will hang onto this 2010 iMac until she is really most sincerely dead. Hoping that won't be until 2016 now.)

Mobile devices. I suck with this. I was good with the iPhones until this year (now I do not have one and I'm okay with that). iPads, I am like Goldilocks. If the iPad Air 2 has sufficient RAM (as in 2gb, I will pick one up), if not I may just replace my recently sold iPad rMini 2 with a 16gb and use that until Apple get their stuff together for me to buy a replacement which is better for me across the board. Truthfully, I am doing just fine with a flip phone and crusty iPod Nano, but being able to watch a movie or read school documents on my commute would be a nice plus. I have to stop with the ooh shiny things and think of these as I used to with the phones, hold onto them for 2+ years until you must upgrade.

It is now. Life events change the need to chase current tech. That and I realized that I'm cool using what I have as long as it works and doesn't hinder productivity. Shiny and new is awesome, but I just don't upgrade like I used to.

I got off the upgrade every year bandwagon about 4-5 years ago. All my tech is now aged and will all be replaced within 6 months.

My main system uses DDR2 RAM. That gives you an idea of my tech spending. And my phone is the original Galaxy S.

Sort of beyond my needs.

I upgraded my 2010 cMBP to a mid 2012 cMBP for Yosemite, continuity, and SATA 3.

My iPhone 5s to the 6+ because I wanted a bigger screen for my weary eyes.

The iPad Air (sold) will be upgraded to the Air 2 for wireless ac and the anti-reflective screen.

I certainly underutilize the full capacities of my devices though.

Kinda.

I replace my mac every few years. Right now it's a 2012 Mini with the 23" Apple Cinema Display. Swapped out the HD for a Samsung 830 and added 16 GB of RAM.

I use it both for work and personal stuff, and it does exactly what I need it to.

I upgrade my iPhone every other generation, so now I'm up to the 5S. My iPad is the only one I've ever had, iPad 3.