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How long time does it usually take before you replace your computer?

My HP DM3z with the specs in the sig was what I bought the day Windows 7 came out for $500. It's lasted me about a year and two months so far if I'm correct.

I'm going to keep it until about August and then go for another PC ultraportable... Give this one to my brother. I need a laptop with better battery life for university I think. This one only gets about 4-5 hours. Probably either the Sony Z or Thinkpad X201 refresh. Maybe the MacBook Air if a new one is out and it blows me away, but I have been straying away from Apple since Tiger because of how more and more closed they are getting.

However, my mom still uses the final revision of the Titanium PowerBook running OS X Tiger as her main computer, so it's 7 years old. Our main family computer is the final revision of the iMac G5 still going strong at 5 years old, and our two PCs in the basement that my brothers use are Pentium 3s with ATI Radeon 9200SE Cards. :O
 
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Until I can't use it anymore. Only 16 months into my most recent MBP, so I'm sure I'll be keeping this for quite a while longer.
 
I've had my PC notebook for a little over 2 years and the battery is complete crap.. I get about 1 hours 15 min watching a DVD and about 1 hour 45 min web browsing on wifi. I plan on getting a Macbook Pro for college next summer.
 
I've had my unibody MacBook Pro since my freshman year of high school. I'm a junior now and plan to make it last through college. Or at least try. I have no problem replacing the hard drive, battery, fans, etc, if I need to.
 
I gave up on keeping up with the newest things as I won't be able to keep up with it.

I am still using non unibody 17" and 15" MBPs along with 13" PB and 15" PB (both PBs are mostly used as juke boxes and TV). Unfortunately, I don't really run intensive applications as I usually only use Excel, Word, PowerPoint/Keynote, Skype, Photoshop CS2, and Safari on a daily basis.

I take good care of my Macs and I guess it paid off well as I have not been forced to get another one. I used to force myself to get a new Mac when I was younger. But, my interests have spread to so many things... I could not justify another new Mac if I know I won't be using it to its fullest (when one of my Macs goes south, all bets are off; I am going for a top of the line MBP :)).
 
I probably change mine once a year. But I have two on the go.
I purchased a Macbook in December 2009, got an iPad in Sept from Apple then just last week I purchased a 27inch iMac.

To be honest...when something new comes out that takes my fancy, I'll usually just go for it.
 
I would like to ideally sell and profit and use the money towards a new computer every 2-3 yrs. But that is now and future. Currently, i'm not using a shiny mac, i'm using a hideous looking 7 year old pentium 4 dell grey/black box. It was decent when my family got it but right now, its PSU is making funny sounds and one of the dvd drives in it doesn't read too well anymore(cd rips sound distorted). Thank god my dad got it w/ 2 dvd drives. Thankfully, its fast enough for general use but i've been itching for a new computer. Hoping to get a envy 14/15 after the SB refresh.

uiop. said:
I've had my unibody MacBook Pro since my freshman year of high school. I'm a junior now and plan to make it last through college. Or at least try. I have no problem replacing the hard drive, battery, fans, etc, if I need to.
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Lucky... Senior in HS here and still rockin a old dell that would've conked out eons ago if it weren't for the fact that I was fairly sure i wasn't getting another computer if the dell broke. That is a very strong motivator to learn how to optimize your computer's performance as much as possible.:D
 
4 years for me, but that just seems to be because that is the length of school.
High school = 4 years (iMac G4)
College = 4 years (Macbook alum)
Grad school = probably 4 years (whatever is newest at the time)
 
Bought my first Mac (A G4 mini) on Dec 26, 2005.

In late September 2006, my Dell Insprion 1150 went belly up so it was replaced with a 2006 MacBook (the one that was released in May (or something like that))

Mid 2007, replaced the G4 Mini with an Intel C2D Mini

February 2010, upgraded the 2006 MacBook with a late 2009 MacBook. (By this time the 2006 MacBook has had everything except the hard drive, optical drive, and LCD panel replaced under Applecare. I'm planning on giving it to my wife so we can see if she is able to work using VoiceOver. I would love to run an all Mac household...)

September 2010, dog decides the 7 month old MacBook needed some coffee to keep up with my workload one day... Fried the machine. (It's in one of the cupboards in the kitchen right now, in peices...) Swap hard drives with the 2006 MacBook, back in business with 2GB less of RAM

Plans are to replace the MacBook with an 11" (or 13" I'm still in the air on this one...) MBA some time before March, just have to get my taxes back...

So it boils down to "When the system stops being useful for what I'm trying to do." This MacBook, is even getting bad at working on the internet, but I have boiled it down to a RAM issue (More like a Lack thereof.) It's hard to go from 4GB of RAM to 2GB.
 
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