I've just received a new PC a couple of days ago. The one I replaced was bought 4-and-a-half years ago, and cost less than yours - and that included a monitor. I never upgraded it, but upgrades were always going to be limited on it. That was it's only downside, because otherwise it was still going strong, and didn't have any of the issues you mention. With this new one, which has loads of room for upgrades/expansion, I'd be expecting to get at least 6/7 years out of it.
My current box (Athlon X2 4400+, 2GB RAM) is still running fine some five and a bit years after I built it, though the PSU had to be replaced (I canibalised the PSU from my previous PC, and it is still working fine with it today despite being only a 350W model), and I upgraded the graphics-card to keep it capable of playing recent games well, and a new larger hard-drive was a no-brainer last year. The heart of the system (CPU, mobo, memory) however is unchanged from over five years ago, and I expect at least another year out of them. The only way it is looking old is in the RAM department, but I'm not going to buy more DDR RAM as that is obsolete, plus I'd need to install 64-bit Windows,
The machine I'm using now I built in 2003, and it's still running fine. It's been running continuously all that time except for the odd reboot after updates, holidays and so on. The only trouble I've had was a fried graphics card when the fan fell off.
Last month, I finally got round to putting in some more RAM lol. I've never reinstalled Windows (XP) as I've kept it clean. So I suppose it's like a car, really - it depends how you treat it.
One of my machines built in 2000 is still working with a friend although he only really uses it as a word processor.
I upgrade my own machine every year just as an indulgence and not a need and pass my old one down the home network 'chain', the oldest in regular use at home as a media server is from about 2004 maybe 2003.
I'm a very heavy handed touch typist so tend to go through keyboards every year. I've tried expensive ones and cheap ones, but they all go pear shaped on me. Last year my local B&M discount store were selling Samsung Pleomax keyboards at a fiver each, tried one and it worked well so went back and got another five to use in the future
You should get 5 - 10 years out of a PC if you keep it ventilated and clean, you may need to replace a hard drive/optical drive in that period though as like keyboards the mechanical side wears out.
Oh no, miracles do happen, but I am going to agree with Neo
A computer built with decent quality components should last for many years. Occasionally the more heavily used mechanical components could wear out, so you might end up having to replace optical drives, mice keyboard and possibly the hard disc if it is heavily hammered.
Most problems with machines shutting down and misbehaving are usually (although not always) as a result of such things as overheating, or dodgy software installs. It's not unusual for motherboard and/or CPU fans to fail causing overheating, but these are easy to replace and only cost a few quid.
Basically take the cover off, give it a good clean out of any dust. Check the CPU and motherboard fans spin freely. Check the power supply fans spin freely too, make sure all connectors are properly seated, ensure the memory sticks are pushed in properly etc,
As for any software issues, that's a harder thing to pin down sometimes. Usually taking the machine right back to basics by reinstalling the operating system breathes new life into the machine.
Also make sure the base unit has free air flow around it, so don't have it pushed up against a wall or back of a desk and definitely don't have it next to a radiator.
My uncle still uses daily a machine I built way back in 2001. It was expensive back then, all I did was replace the CDRom drive with a DVD drive and install a bigger hard disc when I passed it on to him. Late last year he bought a new graphics card for it (bit hard finding a decent AGP card these days but we got one), and it now runs Windows 7 quite happily.
My old Sharp laptop from 2003 still works too, dual boots XP and Ubuntu and has only had a memory upgrade. Still on it's original 50Gb drive. Bloody think did cost me a grand back then though.
Oh no, miracles do happen, but I am going to agree with Neo
Steady on, think of my ticker :eek:
I've got a couple of old laptops, one is an IBM T??, can't remember thats from about 2003 and its the best built computer I've seen in years. I took it on the ward everyday, used it for Powerpoint when staff training, never really looked after it and the hard drive failed on me back last October which I replaced with a £20 job off eBay so really all things considered its the best value computer I've ever used. All I ever did was NOT use it on my lap, I always did my bit to keep it cool.
I've got a couple of old laptops, one is an IBM T??, can't remember thats from about 2003 and its the best built computer I've seen in years. I took it on the ward everyday, used it for Powerpoint when staff training, never really looked after it and the hard drive failed on me back last October which I replaced with a £20 job off eBay so really all things considered its the best value computer I've ever used. All I ever did was NOT use it on my lap, I always did my bit to keep it cool.
Back in those days the Thinkpads were solid and well built, but in my opinion quality went downhill a couple of years after they sold their laptop and PC division to Lenovo (even though by that time Lenovo had been building their Thinkpads for them for a while).
These days they just don't seem to be as well made which is a shame as they are still expensive.
Comments
Last month, I finally got round to putting in some more RAM lol. I've never reinstalled Windows (XP) as I've kept it clean. So I suppose it's like a car, really - it depends how you treat it.
I upgrade my own machine every year just as an indulgence and not a need and pass my old one down the home network 'chain', the oldest in regular use at home as a media server is from about 2004 maybe 2003.
I'm a very heavy handed touch typist so tend to go through keyboards every year. I've tried expensive ones and cheap ones, but they all go pear shaped on me. Last year my local B&M discount store were selling Samsung Pleomax keyboards at a fiver each, tried one and it worked well so went back and got another five to use in the future
You should get 5 - 10 years out of a PC if you keep it ventilated and clean, you may need to replace a hard drive/optical drive in that period though as like keyboards the mechanical side wears out.
A computer built with decent quality components should last for many years. Occasionally the more heavily used mechanical components could wear out, so you might end up having to replace optical drives, mice keyboard and possibly the hard disc if it is heavily hammered.
Most problems with machines shutting down and misbehaving are usually (although not always) as a result of such things as overheating, or dodgy software installs. It's not unusual for motherboard and/or CPU fans to fail causing overheating, but these are easy to replace and only cost a few quid.
Basically take the cover off, give it a good clean out of any dust. Check the CPU and motherboard fans spin freely. Check the power supply fans spin freely too, make sure all connectors are properly seated, ensure the memory sticks are pushed in properly etc,
As for any software issues, that's a harder thing to pin down sometimes. Usually taking the machine right back to basics by reinstalling the operating system breathes new life into the machine.
Also make sure the base unit has free air flow around it, so don't have it pushed up against a wall or back of a desk and definitely don't have it next to a radiator.
My uncle still uses daily a machine I built way back in 2001. It was expensive back then, all I did was replace the CDRom drive with a DVD drive and install a bigger hard disc when I passed it on to him. Late last year he bought a new graphics card for it (bit hard finding a decent AGP card these days but we got one), and it now runs Windows 7 quite happily.
My old Sharp laptop from 2003 still works too, dual boots XP and Ubuntu and has only had a memory upgrade. Still on it's original 50Gb drive. Bloody think did cost me a grand back then though.
Steady on, think of my ticker :eek:
I've got a couple of old laptops, one is an IBM T??, can't remember thats from about 2003 and its the best built computer I've seen in years. I took it on the ward everyday, used it for Powerpoint when staff training, never really looked after it and the hard drive failed on me back last October which I replaced with a £20 job off eBay so really all things considered its the best value computer I've ever used. All I ever did was NOT use it on my lap, I always did my bit to keep it cool.
Back in those days the Thinkpads were solid and well built, but in my opinion quality went downhill a couple of years after they sold their laptop and PC division to Lenovo (even though by that time Lenovo had been building their Thinkpads for them for a while).
These days they just don't seem to be as well made which is a shame as they are still expensive.