willynilly

Any techies? I've got a few questions.

What is the lifespan of a laptop ( that's frequently used)?

What is a good, durable brand to get (if it's going to be used frequently)?


Mine is not quite 2 years old and has already had the hard drive replaced. I did get the extended warranty because laptops fail lots more frequently than desktops do, but it already needs to be sent back again because one hinge is loose, I'm missing a few keys, and just recently, I have a thin verticle line on the screen.

My laptop, by the way, is a Compaq Presario. Not top of the line by any means, but reasonably priced.


Be kind, please, and don't call me a dumbass for buying a Compaq. I love her.

Fox Mulder

I'm partial to Dells because they are easy to get parts for to fix. And laptop hard drives do fail very quickly, unfortunately. The good news is they are really cheap now so its easy to replace.

willynilly

Thanks, FM. I see that there is a computer section I probably should have posted this in. You can call me a Noob, just not a dumbass, please.

We had to replace our desktop recently and we got a Dell. Their customer service is rated the best, last time I heard.

Pheonix23B

i use an external hard drive to store things that i dont want taking up too much space on my computer

willynilly

Excellent practice to use. The time my hard drive died, I lost quite a few pictures. I now store some of mine on photobucket, and always back up the rest of them.

I was lucky in that when my hard drive died, I hadn't deleted the pics from the camera's memory card. Always have a Plan B. A Plan C never hurts either.

Fox Mulder

Often when a main bootable drive fails, you can still read it as a slave drive, so you always want to try that before assuming its dead because it won't boot.

ssl

Lifespan of a laptop, frequently used: If taken good care of, you could probably get about 10 years; average use would probably be anywhere from 4-7 years.

My Compaq Evo N610c was first built in 2000, but refurbished in 2006/7 (I cannot remember when excatly, I got it off of eBay). It theoretically has been used for 8 years. I do not move it too much, although college (the main reason for me having it) is about to start up again.

You need to determine as well what type of form you like in a laptop: curvy, or more squared off. I prefer function over fashion and usually get business-like squared-off laptops, unlike what you may see normally in a retail store or online.

The hard drive in my laptop may have been replaced; I am not sure if it is, but so far, the drive has held up to extreme temperatures: processor, graphics card, hard drive and memory are all on the left hand side, therefore creating massive amounts of heat, in respect to the laptop. The memory is Kingston, which is my preference, and I have not had a problem with them ever since I started using their memory sticks since about 2003/4 or so.

Mulder:

The hard drive, if unbootable, may still be recoverable, because you can fix what boots the computer: the MBR (master boot record) is repairable, but I definitely advise that a technician do it. I would not even shoot for it, unless I knew it was a non-critical system (my laptop is a critical system, being the only computer setup I currently have in operation).

willynilly:

The brand is just a name-plate in computer systems. When you open them up, most of the components are made by the same company. The video card in a lot of systems are made by at least 3 different companies (the chipmaker - NVidia/ATi, the board retailer/designer - BFG/VisionTek, and the board maker - some company in Asia Minor or surrounding area).

There are some companies that do push for the more expensive materials/components, such as Asus; however, the price is passed on to you, so keep that in mind.

Now, sometimes, the price is not the best indicator of quality; Sony likes to charge a little for the name. I used to work for Circuit City, in Technology Sales. One thing about technology:

There are about 10 or so companies that produce the bulk of technology. Therefore, the quality is quite consistent. The tech support, however, is managed by the company or outsourced to other companies, and will be a major factor in your decision.

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HANUMAN

My .02 centavos - APPLE . I have a MACBOOK PRO and it is the best machine I have ever had. When I had a problem took it to Apple and though it was bought in canada it was fixed in a week - even here in Brazil. I back up everything always now with the new MAC leopard automatically and am building a collection of external harddrives as I deal with so much media. I am by no means a techie and that is precisely why I love Apple so much. You turn it on and it works. I have an ibook that is maybe 12 years old and it still looks and runs great .

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ssl

Not all the time, but yes, I actually forgot about Apple.

Get an Apple. It can do games now, with what, the Intel stuff running the Tiger?Leopard?Panther?Jaguar?

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willynilly

Good information, SSL. Thanks!

Any idea why I have that thin vertical line on my screen? I don't generally move it at all, but we did take it with us on vacation a few weeks ago and I noticed it just after we got home. It was packed pretty well in its case, but maybe the trip caused it?

ssl

It is slightly possible that some moisture developed inside the screen and/or some circuitry that produces the image, and result is that vertical line.

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Fox Mulder

Connect your laptop to an external monitor and see if you have the same problem.

Them try gently twisting the screen by grabbing one side and the other with your two hands--emphasis on gently--you don't want to break it you are just trying to see if its a loose connector that possibly reconnects on the moving--if you are very lucky it fixes it, but this will at least give you an idea of what is wrong.

Minor Axis

I'm on about my 4th Apple laptop, currently a MacBook Pro, highly recommended and it does play PC games via Leopard (the current OSX version), BootCamp and WinXP or Vista your choice. If the author of the post wants to save money, but with lesser gaming abilities, go with a MacBook.

The Mac OS is superior to Windows for all home uses I'm familiar with. And being able to run Windows programs helps for those who are former PC Types and have some cash invested in PC programs you don't want to update or possibly are not available for Mac in native form.

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bass_man1989

I have an HP, it's new so I can't report on lifespan. I did research for a long time though and found that IBM seems to be the longest lasting/most durable laptops. I went with HP for price and better video cards.

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NicAuf

I have a Dell which I luv.

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