As for battery mine is dead for quite a while, I can only work with it when it's connected to the electricity. At the same time, if you don't mind me asking, why do you need 3 laptops for @Ray1? I know people who change the laptop often, but they sell the "old" one, it's like an upgrade they do.
I cannot afford to have a laptop with a dead battery as with our kind of power supply you never know when face outage. As far your question of why do I need 3 laptops, the one I bought a Lenovo 3000 series way back in 2004 I do not want to sell it as it was my first laptop (I used to work on a desktop at my home) the other one is a 10" small laptop that I use while I go our. It is a Samsung with 8 hour's battery back that weighs only 1kg or so. It has all features less a DVD player and the third one is my regular work laptop.
I see, in my case I don't have such an issue as our electricity is reliable, at the same time it's important to have a good battery as my laptop only lasts 3-4 minutes, so it really doesn't have any autonomy. I see, so each laptop serves it's purpose. So far I don't have such need, but with my kids growing soon enough I think I'll need an extra one.
If my computer/laptop works for what I have to do in the day and it gets me through it without a problem, I would just keep my old one. The only reason I'd invest in a new one is if I truly need an update for a program I need or if I see that my computer is slowly breaking down. I think it all depends on needing one. Do you NEED a new one? If not, don't buy one and if you do, purchase a new one.
I know that a laptop is not a machine that needs frequent replacement but as I am in the electronic industry I also know that soldering has a shelf life of 5 years after that soldered components begin showing sign of disruption. It happens due to chemical reactions and oxidation or in simple language chemical reactions weaken te base of ICs which cause malfunction in operation.
That's an interesting insight, thanks @Ray1. I am under the impression that these days everything is produced with less and less quality, is that true? And @TheKnight, I am with you right there, do I need to change or not? That's always the base I use to change my technology and to be honest that is why I am still using my old laptop.
Sometimes, you do need to take advantage of deals if there are any. Let's say a laptop that is usually 500.00 dollars drops to 250.00 dollars. I think that would be a smart investment to make because your current laptop is bound to break and it's great to have a back-up at a cheap price because you might have to spend the 500.00 dollars later on if your old one stops working.
Pretty much, if there is the opportunity for a deal I might jump into it. That is why I've been considering buying theLog In with the dock, I feel that it's really cheap and could work as a computer. The wife doesn't agree, she says a phone is a phone and a computer a computer, and she is usually right...
When your old electronics no longer do the job, you should upgrade by either buying a new piece of electronic or making some upgrades on the older one, depending which one is more effective and/or cheaper. Usually it would be buying a new one but you never know.
Just today I was shopping around to see what laptop might suit me better, but the offer is so diverse that sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed. This is something I certainly prefer not to save, as investing in a quality laptop means it will last a lot longer.
The question made me think on my own situation. I am using my laptop since 8 years. It does not all work. During 8 years my computer crashed twice, I changed battery thrice and the hard disk once. Still the computer is performing well. I cannot take a decision on whether I should dump my computer and buy a new one or continue to use it.
It's a matter of doing the maths if you ask me @Binu. You replaced the hard disk one time, bought three batteries (!), how much have you spent on all that? Maybe you would be better of if you have bought a new one right? Either cases, if now it's ok, no need to think about that.
