How often should you replace a PC and a laptop?

It really depends on how much you spent when you originally bought it. In theory the more you spend up front, the longer between upgrades. And when it comes to PCs, you can usually upgrade parts rather then replacing the entire machine, but that isn’t so easy with a laptop.

Four years seems like a decent average, but depending on what you will be doing with the computer it could be useful to you for many more years then that without replacement.

It all depends on what you do, how often you do it. You can make a computer last for up to 10+ years if you treat it correctly. For someone like myself, 4 years is to long. In the past 4 years i have rebuilt my PC probably 3 or 4 times. I used to have old ladies come in with their computer where i used to work, and the only work they needed done on there Gateway 2000, was a windows reload on 98 SE….

But for the avg. person today, 4 years is the limit due to the cost that they keep coming out with. To people, buying a $500 PC from bestbuy or wal-mart and running it into the ground till it breaks or needs to be fixed is worth it because they don’t know any better. When they could buy a nice PC upwards around $1000+ and not have to worry about shity parts e-machines or dell uses. Like anything else in the world, you get what you pay for, and a PC is one of those things.

@battlemarz good point about the parts i forgot to mention that you did.

The more the PC is, the better the part are, usually. Example, E-machines use off brand mobo’s from taiwan, that the capacitors blow after a short while. If this happens, E-machines will not fix it, even if its under warranty, because it is caused by your house shorting,spiking, or lagging in your power lines. Better mobo’s are able to handle it a lot better, because they are produced a lot better. Capacitors are mixed with water in them, and when the water is dirty of not filtered, then they blow, or bubble up.

I’d have to agree, depends what you do. As a freelance designer and video editor, I get a new piece of machinery every 6 months on average. This could be anything from a Macbook Pro to an iMac or even a Mac Pro.

I tend to get more notebooks, since they do get better and better over time (price and . With an iMac you can keep it for a longer period of time considering it comes loaded with massive space and everything else. A Mac Pro could probably last me 4 years tops, if that.

If you’re an average user, using a Dell or an HP desktop, I’d say 3–4 years.

Geez, the computer companies are getting rich off of me. I usually buy one every other year! There is no should or shouldn’t…

You can chose to upgrade and keep what you got, or you can just buy a new one. Weigh the costs.

Not to mention computers are like Automobiles… the depreciate the instance they drive off the lot… Computers are usually outdated by the time you get them home. In a lot of cases they are already outdated on store shelves.