Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
0. What's your profession?
1. Which laptop do you use as your personal laptop?
2. How long do you use yours before getting a new laptop?
22 comments
Software. I typically use Macs. Previous one lasted 8-9 years (still working but bad battery). Current one (apple silicon) probably gonna last me the same time
As long as possible.
0. Software developer
1. Current laptop is HP EliteBook 835 G7 (16 GB/256 GB SSD).
2. I bought the current laptop secondhand for few hundred a year ago. I expect to get 5+ years out of this one.
Previous laptop was MacBook Pro (15", mid 2015) that I would probably still be using, but I need to change it's keyboard and haven't bothered to do that yet. That lasted for 8 years on my use.
0. Software developer
1. Current laptop is HP EliteBook 835 G7 (16 GB/256 GB SSD).
2. I bought the current laptop secondhand for few hundred a year ago. I expect to get 5+ years out of this one.
Previous laptop was MacBook Pro (15", mid 2015) that I would probably still be using, but I need to change it's keyboard and haven't bothered to do that yet. That lasted for 8 years on my use.
0. Founder
1. MacBook Pro 2019; Asus G56rj; Asus F15
2. Still using them, MacBook is old~ish, but still working, the heavy lift for containers, etc running on a separate home-lab machine, but still good. Battery is not decent anymore (~2-4h). The Old g56rj is my homelab (16gb mem). The F15 is for local LLM & stuffs that requires a dedicated 4xxx GPU (image processing, compiling, local ai tests)
I buy used/refurbed, keep till breaks, and mostly keep plugged in, as nearly always near a plug socket. So battery lasts a long time too.
32gb+ ram & nvme ssd is more than enough. No need to update cpu as it is rarely 100% for long and is often idling at single digits.
And most don't need a GPU.
If not gaming/high end design, training AI models then your needs are low.
32gb+ ram & nvme ssd is more than enough. No need to update cpu as it is rarely 100% for long and is often idling at single digits.
And most don't need a GPU.
If not gaming/high end design, training AI models then your needs are low.
0. Developer
1. Lenovo L340
2. I often find that ~5 years is about the right time to change so i can stay somewhat in touch with the current tech. I often get lower-spec devices as i mostly work via remote machines though
In a professional setting, about 5 years. Just various office work, nothing to intense.
In personal life, currently 17 years. Lenovo T400 still rocking on. Beyond SOME web browsing there just isn't anything yet that heavy that demands anything more than this thing.
In personal life, currently 17 years. Lenovo T400 still rocking on. Beyond SOME web browsing there just isn't anything yet that heavy that demands anything more than this thing.
Only problem with those are that the screen is very average and audio too.
So if you play music or watch stuff, not as good as other options.
So if you play music or watch stuff, not as good as other options.
17?! Holy cow that's a really long time. What OS do you run on it?
0. Engineering Manager, but I still write code.
1. I don't. I have a Mac Mini. I don't quite understand why people have laptops at home if they always use it in the same place. I spent years getting my office setup to be great so I don't need a computer I can move around.
2. Mostly dependent on what shiny new Mini is available. I had an 8GB M1 for 5 years, then moved to an 24GB M4 Pro last year because local AI looked fun. I'll probably upgrade to an M5 later this year because there are tangible improvements in the hardware.
1. I don't. I have a Mac Mini. I don't quite understand why people have laptops at home if they always use it in the same place. I spent years getting my office setup to be great so I don't need a computer I can move around.
2. Mostly dependent on what shiny new Mini is available. I had an 8GB M1 for 5 years, then moved to an 24GB M4 Pro last year because local AI looked fun. I'll probably upgrade to an M5 later this year because there are tangible improvements in the hardware.
A laptop hooked to an external monitor and keyboard is basically almost the same experience IMO. And it gives me the optionality of taking it the few times I travel (tho i can see how some people would decide not do that)
Taking your puzzlement at face value...
> I don't quite understand why people have laptops at home if they always use it in the same place.
A lot of people wil be using it from the sofa or generally in a shared space where it's not convenient to have a permanent computer setup.
Those who usually use it in one place may want the flexibility of occasionally using it from the coffee shop or while on vacation.
> I don't quite understand why people have laptops at home if they always use it in the same place.
A lot of people wil be using it from the sofa or generally in a shared space where it's not convenient to have a permanent computer setup.
Those who usually use it in one place may want the flexibility of occasionally using it from the coffee shop or while on vacation.
Those are people who don't use their computer in the same place. A laptop is great for them. I know plenty of people who only use their computer sat (or standing) at the desk in their home office. And yet they still insist on buying a laptop. It's odd.
Ok, I don't know anyone at all who does that. Your friends are odd.
Thanks! What do you carry when you travel?
If it's for work, my work laptop.
If it's not for work I won't be using a computer, so my phone is enough.
If it's not for work I won't be using a computer, so my phone is enough.
Got it, thanks!
Software Engineer, use it partially for private and professional purposes.
In historical Order: Thinkpad X201, Then a Thinkpad T450s, currently a Macbook Air M2, usually in the biggest configuration.
Usually I use it about 7 years. Not because it doesn't work anymore, but because it gets too slow for what I am doing with it. In one case it was the switch from C++/C# to Rust and the compile times became unbearable. The next switch might be because of LLMs.
That's basically one of the main reasons I'm trying to switch my M1 Air.
I used to change more frequently but since I got a MacBook Pro M1, the original one, I am still waiting for something significant better.
0. Developer
1. Dell Latitude 7490
2. As long as I can.
I think I've been on the Latutude for about 4 years now, but it's a second-hand device coming up on seven or eight years old. I generally don't need much oomph for the stuff I like to do at home (I don't game for example).
I had a series of XPS laptops, but the battery life in use was poor and they tended to need the battery replacing quite quickly (puffy batteries - possibly because they run quite hot).
Prior to that I'd been on second hand Thinkpads, with the X220s still kicking around somewhere in case the main device dies.
I reckon the current Dell has at least a couple more years in it for my purposes. It has 64Gb ram so until website bloat gets out of control I'm good I think.
I have a fairly fast mini-pc with oodles of ram on the network that I use as a sacrificial yolo machine for Claude, and an elderly desktop machine with a decent GPU for local running of LLMs. The latter is noisy and in practice it hasn't been turned on for months.
I hate Macs, but envy you the battery life and spiffy Arm CPU (yes, I know about Asahi, but until one can safely entirely wipe MacOS from the Mac I'm not interested).
1. Dell Latitude 7490
2. As long as I can.
I think I've been on the Latutude for about 4 years now, but it's a second-hand device coming up on seven or eight years old. I generally don't need much oomph for the stuff I like to do at home (I don't game for example).
I had a series of XPS laptops, but the battery life in use was poor and they tended to need the battery replacing quite quickly (puffy batteries - possibly because they run quite hot).
Prior to that I'd been on second hand Thinkpads, with the X220s still kicking around somewhere in case the main device dies.
I reckon the current Dell has at least a couple more years in it for my purposes. It has 64Gb ram so until website bloat gets out of control I'm good I think.
I have a fairly fast mini-pc with oodles of ram on the network that I use as a sacrificial yolo machine for Claude, and an elderly desktop machine with a decent GPU for local running of LLMs. The latter is noisy and in practice it hasn't been turned on for months.
I hate Macs, but envy you the battery life and spiffy Arm CPU (yes, I know about Asahi, but until one can safely entirely wipe MacOS from the Mac I'm not interested).
0. founder
1. m1 max 32gb
2. i bought it used for $900, i'll use it until it no longer works for my needs (build speeds, running docker stuff locally) and then i'll get whatever future renewed macbook i can get on amazon for 900-1000 bucks
1. m1 max 32gb
2. i bought it used for $900, i'll use it until it no longer works for my needs (build speeds, running docker stuff locally) and then i'll get whatever future renewed macbook i can get on amazon for 900-1000 bucks
Thanks for the response. Do you run any LLMs locally?