What is your hardware replacement time?

[AforAndromeda]

Hi Guys,

I am near the point of changing from PC to Apple - probably MacBook Pro.

I would be interested to know :

1.
How long roughly did you keep your laptop before replacing it, and whether you got a couple of years 'extra life' out of it by adding RAM, increasing HD size or anything else.

2.
Did you get it to use for one or two specific needs (e.g. Video) - or did you get it to use a 'general purpose' computer? Did that actually work out, or did you change your main use?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[bozz2006]

Good morning. Tough questions to answer, as it is all relative. I have a macbook that I bought in 2008 that is still going strong. I plan to upgrade it with an SSD in the next year to give it another big boost.

I also just sold a Mac Pro that I bought in 2006 and replaced it with a 15" MBP. That rig was for semi-professional photo editing and amateur video. The MBP I just bought is just as powerful as that Mac Pro. But it was still going strong and still had room for expandability.

In my experience, PCs (laptop and desktop) are sort of like a pickup after it gets past ~150,000 miles. It begins to rattle itself apart and becomes more trouble than it's worth. I have been using Macs since 2005 and have never gotten that impression from the Macs that I've owned. I think this is the reason that resale is so much higher with Macs than Windows PCs.

As for your second question, I don't think having an answer to that is as important as it used to be. Most computers for sale these days are powerful enough to do whatever the consumer asks of them. They can change to your needs. The caveat here is for gamers and professionals, as the former will lament the "crappy" GPU in their 6-month-old machine, and the latter will get frustrated that not every piece is upgradeable.

Get the Mac. You'll love it.

P.S. - Your signature is great! lol

 

[Bending Pixels]

I purchased my first MBP last year when Photoshop CS5 was released. Prior to that, had (actually, still have it) a 3 year old Gateway laptop (still running). Most of my computers last a long time because I take care of 'eem. The only thing I've done to my MBP (spring 2010 base 15" model) was to add a 7200rpm 500gig HD.

Mine is used primarily for photography (running both Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5).

FWIW, my next MBP (probably 2012) will include a non-glare screen and as much RAM as I can afford.

 

[awer25]

As someone who just made the change from Windows to Mac, all I can say is go for it (money permitting). I bought mine as a general purpose machine, but I wanted something powerful enough to do whatever I needed (sometimes video encoding, sometimes newly-released games), yet portable with decent battery life. My last machine (HP Envy 17) had the power (quad-core i7, ATI 5850) but had 2 hr battery life and weighed a ton.

1) I don't keep machines very long - usually a year or 1.5 yrs max. I work with computers a lot though, so it's helpful to have something new and powerful. I usually increase the RAM and put in an SSD right away, so there's not much room to add stuff later. Based on build quality and componentry though, the MBP will last a long time.

2) See purpose at the top. The 15" 2.2GHz MBP worked out perfectly!

Hi Guys,

I am near the point of changing from PC to Apple - probably MacBook Pro.

I would be interested to know :

1.
How long roughly did you keep your laptop before replacing it, and whether you got a couple of years 'extra life' out of it by adding RAM, increasing HD size or anything else.

2.
Did you get it to use for one or two specific needs (e.g. Video) - or did you get it to use a 'general purpose' computer? Did that actually work out, or did you change your main use?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[jim4spam]

We have a iMac 24" bought in 2007. Came with 2Gb RAM, upgraded now to 4Gb in about 2009. Now have installed an SSD. This one used for CS4, Indesign, Lightroom with 15000photos. Light video editing.

We also have a Macbook bought in 2007. Came with 1Gb RAM and upgraded to 2Gb. Debating an SSD right now. This machine is for general use, and as a portable backup for the above.

I keep looking at the shiny new computers but these babies are still fit for purpose and going strong.

Maybe next cycle....

 

[rebby]

1) Generally, I keep my Macs for 3 years. Once AppleCare expires, I'm shopping for something new and selling my current device. The nice thing about Macs (specially Macbooks) is that they hold their value well and, unlike the vast majority of PC counterparts, actually have value at 3 years of age. This "rule" isn't hard and fast though, depending on the specific features of any given release, I've been known to upgrade at as early at 18 months.

I'll upgrade my machines "as I go." Take my quad-core for example, I upgraded that to 8GB of RAM and added the 256GB SSD and 7200 RPM 750GB drive on day one. I booted the machine w/the stock hardware once to verify function, shut down, and upgraded. Once 16GB is more affordable, I'll upgrade it again. The same w/the SSD/HDD combo, as bigger/faster alternatives are available, I won't be afraid to upgrade. Upgrading these components are part of the reason that I'm able to hang on to a computer for 3 years, w/out the upgrades I'd be looking at a much more aggressive refresh cycle.

2) I use my Macs for work. I do everything from running SSH sessions via Terminal to running 5+ virtual machines synchronously. I prefer a fast machine with some portability (which is probably why I own 2 17" MBP's). When I'm on the move, I usually bring my 11" MBA since my tasks are not quite as intensive on the go (or, when I have intensive tasks, I find ways to deal with the decreased performance). I'm a big believer in using the right tool for the job and I have multiple tools in my arsenal (from MBA's to MBP's to dedicated 16-core servers) to accomplish that.

 

[MrNomNoms]

Hi Guys,

I am near the point of changing from PC to Apple - probably MacBook Pro.

I would be interested to know :

1.
How long roughly did you keep your laptop before replacing it, and whether you got a couple of years 'extra life' out of it by adding RAM, increasing HD size or anything else.

2.
Did you get it to use for one or two specific needs (e.g. Video) - or did you get it to use a 'general purpose' computer? Did that actually work out, or did you change your main use?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

I wish there was a general rule of thumb but I think it is on a 'need' basis rather than necessarily some sort of arbitrary refresh time. For me I have started a new job and decided to splash out so as well as getting a fancy smart phone I've decided to upgrade my iMac and MacBook Pro and this time now that I am not a student I've decided to go the 'kill a flea with an atom bomb' and maxed out the top 15inch MacBook Pro and 27inch iMac. How long do I think it'll last? given the introduction of the thunderbolt connector I would say that the life is going to be a lot longer - maybe 4-5 years. If i get 5 years out of it I would be an extremely happy person but 4 years I'd still be fairly happy.

Keeping in mind that the 2011 refresh introduced a pretty big CPU refresh so it'll be interesting to see how well things move along. I know in my case my imac has served me well of 3 years and if push came to shove I could probably get another 18 months if I really had to

 

[gngan]

My previous computer was 2 Sony's laptop and both of them broke down within 2 years. My late 2007 white MacBook came with 2gb ram and 150HDD. I am still using it now and going strong. I changed the HDD to 320HDD last year. I will be getting a new one when Back to school promotion is on OR wait for the next MacBook Pro release and this MacBook will be turned into a server.

 

[AforAndromeda]

Thank you everybody for your info and thoughts.

Appreciated.

 

[medi.freak]

Don't you guys think that replacing time will be extended in the long run? I mean, if you are not one of those people who always want the new released mac, then shouldn't the power of for example the new macbook pro last for longer than the power of the Powerbook of 5 years ago? Of course new programs will arrive and such, but my PC desktop is now 8 years old and I just feel like replacing it now. I don't play new games though on it, that wouldn't work on a Pentium 2