How long will my laptop last?

6.5 minutes.

Hmm. . . I would say don't worry about it. Most of the problems that I've had with older laptops (and I do have an older one, Pentium 200MMX, Win 95) is the screen is prone to going out. And even on that one, I think my kids were a little rougher on it than they should have been. (Wasn't me, after all )

Laptops are more prone to accidents, simply because you don't pick a desktop up and lug it around. But with care, it should last as long as a regular desktop computer.

Backing stuff up is always a good idea, too. Regardless of the type of system.

Ahh. How long do computers normally last - mean the hard drive, not the screen. Does keeping it on longer - even if it's on standby or hibernate a lot - shorten its lifespan? Is a windows computer more prone to an early death than a linux computer? What about dripping wax into the keyboard (I'm guilty of this...)?

Okay, keyboards are different from hard drives. And I suspect you don't mean the hard drive, but the actual unit where the hard drive is.

So in answer to the question I think you're asking (i.e., how long will my computer last) It can and will last a long time. It really depends on what you consider obsolete. If you stick with the same software right now, your system should run as well ten years from now as right now. But when newer software comes out, and demands on the processor increase, that's when you notice that the machine is slowing down. In fact, the machine is not slowing down, it's running as fast as it always has, it's just trying to do more than it's done in the past. Clear as mud?

As for actual hard drive failures, I haven't seen very many in my 7 years working professionally in IS/IT. Oh, it does happen, but it's pretty rare in my experience. It's always a good idea to back up the critical data (i.e. - data that can't be easily replaced) just in case anything happens, because stuff does happen. I have seen the odd processor burn out, I have seen the odd memory chip go bad. . . so things do happen. But with care, your laptop should last as long as you need it too.

Oh. The hard drive on my dad's desktop gave out a couple years ago and he had to replace it - like, the disc. He keeps telling me that mine's going to do the same pretty soon.

BTW, do you happen to know what those things are called that plug into your USB port and can back up your computer and how much they cost? Would that be cheaper than burning everything onto CD-RWs?

They are called USB Flash Drives, and generally they hold less than a CD. If you have a small amount of files, then they are the way to go. But if you're wanting to back up large amounts of data, it's probably better to go with the CDRs or CD-R/W. CDs are also cheaper, as you don't have to have a bunch of 256mb flash drives, at about $60 a pop sitting around, when you can have a CDR that costs about fifty cents.. . so you can use the USB Flash Drives, but it's a more expensive alternative.

But your dad is right. . . it could happen. I'm not sure about the Dell 8100's, but it can happen where a certain type of machine is prone to that. (I know, that contradicts what I said earlier. Now I'm talking about specifics, where before generalities) It's always better to be safe than sorry. And if your dad has the same kind of experience with the same kind of machine. . . well, he's been there done that.

Well, his was a desktop and I think he actually assembled the innards himself, although at one time it was a gateway of some sort. I've been planning to back stuff up, but it would be kind of nice to know when I could expect it to start dying.

Oh, you want to know when to expect it to die? Any freaking moment! It's true! Who knows what could happen. Cosmic rays, kids, pets. . . unless your system is locked up tight in a data center, then anything could happen to it.

But I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

I have a POS HP Pavillion 8770c at home. I've done things to this machine that's caused HP to stop talking to me. . . it's in a state that I call 'fragile.' But I don't worry. Oh, I"ve got some backups, and I should probably do that when I get home, but for the most part, I know it'll work.

Best thing to do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It'll all be good in the end. (As long as you've got backups, that is. . . )

This is how it is.

Make backups religiously. Then don't worry.

It *could* die at any moment, or it could last years. But if you have good backups it doesn't matter.

Age is not really so much of a determinant in the life of electro-mechanical devices as are environment and handling. Laptops, by virtue of being subject to somewhat more handling than desktops, have a slatiistically higher component failure incidence, but that is just the nature of the world in which the critters live. My desktops remain on, configured to "sleep" after a period of non-use, and with only monitors set to power off after a period of non-use, 24/7/365 (except for when I'm actually poking around inside the cases of the suckers). When at home, my laptops usually also are on 24/7, but configured to "sleep" after a period of non-use, then to "Hibernate" after a longer period. Honestly, I've broken more stuff than I've ever had fail.

Heres A LINK to a list of reviews for a number of portable external hard drives, many of which have greater storage capacity than the drive in your laptop. Personally, I use both FireWire and USB portable drives, as well as both inboard and outboard optical media, IBM MicroDrive and Compact Flash of both card and key platform. And I still get caught dejectedly wishing I had backed up more dilligently. Being able to is not enough ... you have to do it, or use software that does it for you (and remember not to deactivate the software )

It is a good idea to keep crap out of any keyboard, particularly a laptop's. If serious cleaning is called for, the keys can be popped off ... its a pretty good idea to write down the order in which they go back on before you takle them off ... then the understructure can be scrubbed with electronic-and-plastic-safe-solvent-dipped Q-Tips and be blown clean and dry with canned air, but its better to not need the effort. Common transparent plastic kitchen wrap over the keyboard will keep it clean, laptop or standard keyboard, and is a lot cheaper than the also available, much sexier custom-fitted keyboard protectors. If you use kitchen wrap, be sure not to obstruct any of the cooling of the laptop.

With many laptops it's quite easy to fry the motherboard by spilling stuff in the keyboard. So do be careful or use some protective covering like Timber recommended.

I use a 1GB USB 2.0 thumbdrive for my own backups, and much prefer it to CDs cuz it's damn fast & I'm always using it to transfer files to/from computers that don't have CD writers.

I've had 2 of my harddrives die completely out of the blue in the last year, so I'm a little more careful than most when it comes to backups, but yeah harddrives are fairly durable and most go quite a bit longer than 2 years without major problems, rufio.

I currently have a stack of 7 Western Digital hard drives in varying capacities from 20 gigs to 80 gigs that are all complete write-offs.
They all went with the "Clonk of Death" where the drive makes a click...clonk noise when you power the computer up.
This is more a statement of the quality of goods available out here than a comment on the quality of the manufacturer.
However, hard drives DO fail.

They are actually more reliable if they are kept running. A bit like a bulb or a car engine. It's the stopping and starting that kills them.

Thanks for advice all you guys... as soon as I get back to school I'll start backing stuff up.

What the smeg is it about keyboards that attracts detritus - liquid and crumbular?

Coffee - I spill coffee in mine.

And my 2 month old modem fritzed last night.

Damn electronic stuff....

Don't trust it I say....never trust it...