raid
Dad Photographer
Doug,
I am just guessing here. I could be very wrong.
I am just guessing here. I could be very wrong.
Jobin33
Established
5 years and counting. Been through 5 rough years of college being used long hours everyday. It's a Mac book. I would never go back
To windows.
To windows.
zauhar
Veteran
Raid, I am a computing pro (as in scientific computing) and I have been stunned by the high level of expertise among RFFers.
That may simply reflect that there is a strong presence of people with science and engineering backgrounds in the group.
Randy
ornate_wrasse
Moderator
I am currently typing these words on a loaner computer. I bought a MacBook Pro four years ago (on 9/2/2007) and fortunately bought a 5 year warranty. A few weeks ago, the display started having problems, most of the computer screen was gray. Frye's Electronics (where I bought the computer) now has my computer and have loaned me a brand new one to use while my computer is being fixed.
I am not sure how much longer the computer will last after I get it back from repair. I am sure glad, though, that I bought the warranty
Ellen
I am not sure how much longer the computer will last after I get it back from repair. I am sure glad, though, that I bought the warranty
Ellen
Timmyjoe
Veteran
Still got my original first generation Tangerine iBook from 1999. Put in a larger hard drive so I could upgrade it to OSX. Had to replace the battery but other than that it runs like a champ. Don't use it as much anymore because I can only get up to OSX 10.3.9 on it.
Still got my 12" Aluminum Mac Book from 2003. Had to replace the hard drive and the battery, but it's humming along running OSX 10.5.8 and I gave it to my 7 and 9 year olds for there computer to use for school projects, and playing around.
And typing this on my January 2004 Power Mac G4, a computer I have been using about 12 hours a day, every day, since I got it eight years ago, and it's never missed a beat.
I like Macs.
Best,
-Tim
Still got my 12" Aluminum Mac Book from 2003. Had to replace the hard drive and the battery, but it's humming along running OSX 10.5.8 and I gave it to my 7 and 9 year olds for there computer to use for school projects, and playing around.
And typing this on my January 2004 Power Mac G4, a computer I have been using about 12 hours a day, every day, since I got it eight years ago, and it's never missed a beat.
I like Macs.
Best,
-Tim
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
I have been a computer professional since 1986.
At home I still use a ten year old PC.
Chris
Vincent.G
Well-known
My PC is >6 years old and stiill working fine. Running on Windows XP Professional and is compatible with Nikon Scan 4 software for my Coolscans.
I usually buy the PC parts and assemble them myself. Cheaper and can customize it to my preference.
A few months ago, I bought a MBP 13inch for work and to try out Mac systems.
I usually buy the PC parts and assemble them myself. Cheaper and can customize it to my preference.
A few months ago, I bought a MBP 13inch for work and to try out Mac systems.
Paddy C
Unused film collector
It's the one-year anniversary (or thereabouts) for my Mac Pro.
This was purchased after running a dual G4 tower for 7 years. I did make some minor upgrades to the G4 over the years but nothing too expensive. It was getting too slow, a little glitchy, and I was way behind with software as I couldn't upgrade anything.
This was purchased after running a dual G4 tower for 7 years. I did make some minor upgrades to the G4 over the years but nothing too expensive. It was getting too slow, a little glitchy, and I was way behind with software as I couldn't upgrade anything.
SimonSawSunlight
Simon Fabel
I just built myself a new one two months ago. i5 2500k quadcore and 16gb ddr3 ram, should do for a little while!
oh and the old one I built (q6600, 8gb ddr2) must be about 4 years old, still up and running as a fancy backup.
oh and the old one I built (q6600, 8gb ddr2) must be about 4 years old, still up and running as a fancy backup.
seakayaker1
Well-known
I had three dell computer mother boards go belly up in there fifth year of ownership. One of them had a hard drive that crashed as well.
Converted to using Mac and have not reached 5 years on my MacBook Pro 15" laptop 4.5 years old, or my iMac Desktop, 3 years old. Both are still running . . . . .
I have also enjoyed getting away from the Microsoft OS. Personal preference I guess.
Converted to using Mac and have not reached 5 years on my MacBook Pro 15" laptop 4.5 years old, or my iMac Desktop, 3 years old. Both are still running . . . . .
I have also enjoyed getting away from the Microsoft OS. Personal preference I guess.
W
wlewisiii
Guest
I have a Mac SE/30 that I run Word 5.1 and play things like Might & Magic and Wizardry on. It did have the electrolytic capacitors replaced a couple of years ago, so it should be chugging it's 32mb & 4 gb disk along at 16mhz for the foreseeable future.
I also have a 4.5 year old Macbook that is dying from the abuse wreaked upon it over the years by my soon to be 10 year old son (knocked off of tables, spilled a coke on it, etc). I have to run it off of an external firewire drive as the last time he dumped it from the coffee table, the internal SATA connector was broken along with killing the HD itself. The onboard keyboard has completely failed as well. I can't even use the power button anymore OTOH, the screen is as nice as ever and with a couple of USB hubs, I can hang everything I need off the no longer mobile laptop.
Next time, it'll be a Macbook Air.
I also have a 4.5 year old Macbook that is dying from the abuse wreaked upon it over the years by my soon to be 10 year old son (knocked off of tables, spilled a coke on it, etc). I have to run it off of an external firewire drive as the last time he dumped it from the coffee table, the internal SATA connector was broken along with killing the HD itself. The onboard keyboard has completely failed as well. I can't even use the power button anymore
OTOH, the screen is as nice as ever and with a couple of USB hubs, I can hang everything I need off the no longer mobile laptop. Next time, it'll be a Macbook Air.
Cool! The SE/30 was a "pocket rocket" in its day. I still have one that hasn't been used for a long time. It has a 3rd-party graphics card add-on that I suspect went bad... and perhaps if I removed that card the internal monitor would work again. That would be nice.
Creagerj
Incidental Artist
I have had my white macbook since 2007. It doesn't show any signs of letting up.
cabbiinc
Slightly Irregular
I retired my 6 year old eMachines desktop to the kid's room because 2gb of RAM is the max that the motherboard would take and I wanted more. I had Folding@Home running on it 24/7 and it's still running fine. I did upgrade it from Vista to Windows 7 before giving it to the kid.
My Windows 98 machine is out in the garage, I'm going to resurrect it for the Kindergartener's machine as I'm getting tired of the youngest jumping on my main computer any time I step away from it.
My Windows 98 machine is out in the garage, I'm going to resurrect it for the Kindergartener's machine as I'm getting tired of the youngest jumping on my main computer any time I step away from it.
Field
Well-known
Typing to you on a computer from 2005. IBM T60. The T series Thinkpads are beasts unlike any other laptop ever made. All I do is put Ubuntu/Linux Mint on them and they do everything. The only update you need is more ram, cheap.
I have one from 2004 and the only reason I don't use it instead is because of my own error of exposing the screen to extreme cold, which ruined it. I still turn it on to find old files but screen is pink and goes black after a bit.
Do I want a new computer? Uh not so much... They don't offer anything more except a bigger hard drive (I got an external for photos etc anyways, now). I am spyware and virus free.
People look at it and go "oh its so old" which I don't really think so... Old to me would be something not compatible with modern software. The new ones look the same anyway.
Compared to my friends with Mac's... Theirs run slower of the same vintage, and are always missing keys or the screens get beat up too easily. They were still a bargain for the life they got out of them & got a lot of life, compared to other things. A few of them have better video cards than my laptop; but inconsequential to me that they run games better.
I have one from 2004 and the only reason I don't use it instead is because of my own error of exposing the screen to extreme cold, which ruined it. I still turn it on to find old files but screen is pink and goes black after a bit.
Do I want a new computer? Uh not so much... They don't offer anything more except a bigger hard drive (I got an external for photos etc anyways, now). I am spyware and virus free.
People look at it and go "oh its so old" which I don't really think so... Old to me would be something not compatible with modern software. The new ones look the same anyway.
Compared to my friends with Mac's... Theirs run slower of the same vintage, and are always missing keys or the screens get beat up too easily. They were still a bargain for the life they got out of them & got a lot of life, compared to other things. A few of them have better video cards than my laptop; but inconsequential to me that they run games better.
nemo2
Established
Thinkpads are built like a tank, but this doesn´t mean they are eternal (the opposite seems true to me). I had two T-series Thinkpads - the first (T40) demised due to a problem with graphics chip (typical for this model) and the others (T60) display just started working (replacement cost is similar to the cost of another notebook of the same type).
But both did good service before they left.
Al Patterson
Ferroequinologist
My 2006 vintage laptop and 2005 desktop are running fine. The 2009 desktop bought to replace the older one lasted about 18 months...
Bill Clark
Veteran
I'm different than many, especially younger folks. Always been that way.
This leads me to suggest to use the stuff forever, if you try hard you can. Have a computer that has Windows 95 installed. It has Quickbooks, used for my business and Microsoft Office.
Still works just fine.
Thing of it is when I need to fire it up I can switch it on and have enough time to go make a pot of coffee!
The only time I receive money from MSFT is when they payqtrly dividends and/or stock gains when selling!
Have a few iMacs and Mackbooks from 2006. Still work just fine on the internet.
My wife and I upgraded from flip phones to iPhone. Did this conversion last fall. At the time the iPhone 4 was free. Moneys better in my pocket.
This leads me to suggest to use the stuff forever, if you try hard you can. Have a computer that has Windows 95 installed. It has Quickbooks, used for my business and Microsoft Office.
Still works just fine.
Thing of it is when I need to fire it up I can switch it on and have enough time to go make a pot of coffee!
The only time I receive money from MSFT is when they payqtrly dividends and/or stock gains when selling!
Have a few iMacs and Mackbooks from 2006. Still work just fine on the internet.
My wife and I upgraded from flip phones to iPhone. Did this conversion last fall. At the time the iPhone 4 was free. Moneys better in my pocket.
DougFord
on the good foot
Bought an iPad 4 awhile back for web surfing and emails. My main rig is a 10 year old dell 4600, with an upgraded graphics card, running xp. I run elements 10 for screwing around with photos. Yep, it loads web pages faster than the iPad.
mike rosenlof
Insufficient information
It's hard to say. If you keep updating software, it keeps growing to consume all available memory and cpu power. (I have 30+ years as a software engineer!) Effectively it becomes obsolete. Do you really need the upgrade?
The weak points of any computer are things that move, now that's fans and disk drives. The second weak point tends to be power supplies mostly because they deal with more current than most other devices in the box. When fans fail, the device they're supposed to cool may also be in danger of failure.
I have a desktop machine that is I think seven or eight years old. It works fine, but is starting to feel resource-limited (memory and cpu cycles again). I do upgrades.
The only real thing you can do to extend the life of a computer is open up the case occasionally and vacuum out the dust. If fans start to make more noise than usual, clean out the dust first, and if still noise, replace the fans. Back up your disk drives.
The weak points of any computer are things that move, now that's fans and disk drives. The second weak point tends to be power supplies mostly because they deal with more current than most other devices in the box. When fans fail, the device they're supposed to cool may also be in danger of failure.
I have a desktop machine that is I think seven or eight years old. It works fine, but is starting to feel resource-limited (memory and cpu cycles again). I do upgrades.
The only real thing you can do to extend the life of a computer is open up the case occasionally and vacuum out the dust. If fans start to make more noise than usual, clean out the dust first, and if still noise, replace the fans. Back up your disk drives.