Is it reasonable to expect a 4-5 year useful life span from a new laptop?

[mephiston5]

So, I hope to be going back to school for a phd in the next year or so. As such, I will have a few years of comparative poverty. I don?t want to spend much more than 1.6k on computer equipment while in my program.

I will probably require a laptop for its mobility. It would be nice to have a decent amount of processing power and memory to run large data sets in statistical software packages.

I guess my ultimate question is this: Would I be better off buying one 1.6k laptop hoping that it will last me 5 years, or buy an .8k laptop with the intent to replace it with other .8k laptop in 3 years?

Any other options I should consider?

Thanks.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The laptop itself should last beteen 3 to 5 years. The first things that generally wear out first are the battery and the HDD. Now the battery will depend on how often you use it. But your needs will not overtax a laptop so 3 to 5 years on one laptop shouldn't be a problem. Your main requierments will be HDD space and RAM. So get the best deal you can on a unit that gives you the most.

 

[jonesthewine]

Buy one of the new Macbook Pro laptops and you'll be happy for many years. Great build quality, aluminum body, exceptional battery life, LED backlit LCD...and it is quiet. You never hear a fan or the HDD.

 

[elconejito]

If it were me, I'd go with 800 now and 800 later. Performance changes so fast. And for 800 you can get a pretty decent laptop, especially if you find a good sale. Once you go over 1k your really paying for looks, really small size, or the top of the line CPU which is only 200mhz faster. The cheapest laptops are in the 15" range, you'll pay more for similar performance in either a smaller or larger form factor. As long as you're OK with that, you can get a good deal.

Now, if you don't think you'll have that 800 in three years because you spent it already, then get the 1600 laptop

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: elconejito
If it were me, I'd go with 800 now and 800 later. Performance changes so fast. And for 800 you can get a pretty decent laptop, especially if you find a good sale. Once you go over 1k your really paying for looks, really small size, or the top of the line CPU which is only 200mhz faster. The cheapest laptops are in the 15" range, you'll pay more for similar performance in either a smaller or larger form factor. As long as you're OK with that, you can get a good deal.

Now, if you don't think you'll have that 800 in three years because you spent it already, then get the 1600 laptop

This is the route I'd go as well, but I'd stash the second 800 dollars where safe where it can build interest in the interim.

I would NOT buy a Macbook since you're on a budget, they are nothing but looks and based on technology several steps behind what you'll get on the PC. The aluminum unibody is nice, but Apple has has serious QC issues on everything from iPods and iPhones to their MacBooks and Mac Pros.

 

[Emulex]

quite reasonable for a business class thinkpad or hp elitebook.

quite not reasonable for a consumer class notebook.

 

[Farmer]

It might be wise to buy accidental damage protection. My Thinkpad of 3 years died do to water damage/corrosion, I didn't have protection, and hence they wanted to charge me $750.

Your battery will most likely be practically unusable by end of year 3.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: mephiston5
I guess my ultimate question is this: Would I be better off buying one 1.6k laptop hoping that it will last me 5 years, or buy an .8k laptop with the intent to replace it with other .8k.

You could probably squeeze 5 years of useful life out of a $1K+ machine but the probability that you'd spend the last 18 months envying others is quite likely. You'll probably be more satisified if you less and plan to upgrade a little or replace after 3 years or so.

Take a little time and look at the refurb offerings from the major manufacturers -- you can save 40%-50% if you are patient and use coupons. 3-year depot service should be sufficient for your purposes. By all means though, put the extra money outside your reach so that it really will be available if/when you need it down the road.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd go with the $800 / 800 strategy. That should get you a faster Core 2 processor, 4 GB RAM, Vista 64 (to use the last GB), 250+ GB HD, and a free upgrade to Windows 7.

In 3 years you can use the other $800 to get a quad core, 8 GB RAM monster.