How old is your computer?

[Midpack]

I just proactively replaced my 2013 Dell XPS 8700 desktop WinPC (so 8 yo) with a loaded M1 iMac a couple months ago. The Dell was still working, though painfully slow, and we decided to leave the MS world for the Apple ecosystem - we've had iPhones and iPads for years. I couldn't be happier with the iMac and MacOS, as with our iOS devices.

 

[target2019]

I'm a fan boy for Dell and Microsoft since the mid 90s. I'm a fan of the PowerMac 7500 with OS9. Lol. I've supported Mac installations too. I don't miss that at all.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Homebuilt Intel i7, 2012; still on Windows 7, don't use much.
Homebuilt Intel i5, 2014, current main PC, running Windows 10.

Not a serious gamer so don't see any need to upgrade. Unless Windows 11 and their fake hardware requirements makes me do it.

 

[Chuckanut]

My MacBook is now 6 years old and while it is slow at times on some sites, it still works well. A previous iMac (2011) was do dog tired it would take about 5 minutes to fully boot up and be usable after about 7 years. Mostly it was the sloooowww..... disk drive. An Solid State Drive kept it going for a few more years.

Generally, I replace computers when they are no longer are getting periodic security updates.

+1 on on the drop-dead dates for updating Chromebooks. Be careful if you buy a new one that's already several years old. There may not be much time left on it.

 

[mountainsoft]

I built my main desktop computer in 2015. It's running Windows 10 on an i4790K processor and 16GB memory. I've got a 256GB SSD drive for Windows, a 2TB SSD drive for all of my personal data, and a 1TB SSD drive for video editing. I also have a pair of external 5TB portable hard drives I use for backups. Even though the motherboard and CPU are from 2015, I replace individual components as needed (like the storage drives). It's fast enough to do everything I need so I have no plans to upgrade anytime soon.

I have an Acer Aspire laptop with an i5 processor. I bought it refurbished in 2020 and don't use it much, but it comes in handy every now and then.

I also bought a small Lenovo N22 laptop back in 2017. I bought it to take on vacations, but rarely do. I prefer to go tech free while on vacation. I mostly use the Lenovo for diagnosing issues with my car.

 

[Hermit]

We bought new computers for everyone in the family the summer my DD graduated from high school. She is now 31 and has her own family. They were all HP machines. Laptops for DD, DS, and DW. Mine was a desktop with quad core processor. I replaced the screen on DD's laptop her Senior year of college when she left a pen in it and sat a bunch of books on top of it. DD finally got a new laptop about two years ago. DS likes the fastest laptop so he has gone through about 5 laptops since. I used DW's laptop for a couple years when space was limited. It still runs, but is very slow and no longer used. My desktop is back in use and has been upgraded to Win10. I guess it is time to think about a new machine with Win11. I have a very old version of MS Office so I might keep my old machine to run that.

 

[Gumby]

I have an HP All-in-One desktop that I bought in 2012. It came with Windows 7 installed, and I have since upgraded to Windows 10. It will not be compatible with Windows 11, so I plan to buy a new one on Cyber Monday.

 

[Jerry1]

I just proactively replaced my 2013 Dell XPS 8700 desktop WinPC (so 8 yo) with a loaded M1 iMac a couple months ago. The Dell was still working, though painfully slow, and we decided to leave the MS world for the Apple ecosystem - we've had iPhones and iPads for years. I couldn't be happier with the iMac and MacOS, as with our iOS devices.

I’m thinking of going this route too. However, as much as I like to blow the dough, it’s hard to spend on something that won’t really improve my computing experience - given how little I do on the computer. The main thing I have going against the Mac is that it has a fan. My OCD can pick up the sound of a fan no matter how quiet. Tough decision.

 

[steelyman]

I use a late-2015 iMac that runs well. I use the Parallels VM to run Windows applications (basically Quicken and now TurboTax).

I’m set for now as far as desktops go but watch to see what Apple will offer in the iMac line with 27” displays.

I don’t spend very much time on the desktop and purposely placed the home office on the second floor away from the normal living spaces.

 

[Lakedog]

Mid-2012 MacBook Air still chugging along. Haven't noticed any slow down but thinking about buying a new one soon. The battery is the original and is down to only 2-3 hours but that hasn't really been an issue for my current use.

 

[pacergal]

2016 Macbook Pro,

 

[stepford]

I built my main desktop computer in 2015. It's running Windows 10 on an i4790K processor and 16GB memory...

Very similar to mine: i5-4690K OC'd to 4.7 GHz (Why buy a 'K' CPU if you're not going to overclock?). Also built in 2015. Other than replacing a dead PSU a few years ago all I've done is upgrade the smallish SSDs I installed initially with 1 and 2 TB units. I could spend >$1K on a new machine with maybe 30% better performance, but why?

I did eventually upgrade my old 2006 Windows Vista laptop a couple of years ago with a cheap i3 based unit running W10. Slammed some extra RAM and a bigger SSD in it and for under $300 it does everything I want it to.

No noisy, slow spinning discs anymore in any of my computers.

 

[razztazz]

A Dell desktop bought in 2014. It was originally a Win 8.1 machine that got the mandatory Win 10 download update. It works as well today as the day I bought it. I have no plans to get a new one until Win 11 is pervasive and taking over as the norm. I guess that means 2025 maybe 2024. Don't want to wait till the tippy last min.

I can't list my specs because I don't remember them and forget how to glean them from Win 10. I can say it was the 2nd from the top model NON-gamer machine they had at the time. I have no problems streaming anything which is about the most intensive thing I do with it.

 

[JoPeter57]

after I got laid off late in 2020 and had to give my Lenovo laptop back, I bought an HP core I3 10 gen laptop on sale at Costco. IF I could have a "do-over" I would buy a laptop that has a built in RJ-45 port (Ethernet). Why? because the wireless mouse and kybd I have interferes (cursor intermittently responsive) with the USB-C port that I used to use for a hard wired ethernet adapter. This fix would be to use a wired kybd/mouse, but instead I use WiFi and continue with my wireless kybd mouse.

 

[teetee]

My oldest working computer is a IBM Thinkpad 240 from 1999. Though it has not been my daily driver for a long time (=several months), it is handy to do network router and printer setup and troubleshoot with Linux.

 

[Freedom56]

We have lots of them...

Main desktop - 2014 (upgraded power supply, graphics, 4K monitor, CPU/motherboard, SSD in 2019) (will replace with AMD Ryzen 9 5950X) soon
Wife's all in one desktop - 2014
Home music studio PC - 2020
Acer Nitro Gamer Laptop - 2020
Florida Condo Sony Vaio laptop 2009 (updated with SSD drive)
Switzerland home - Vaio Laptop 2010 (updated with SSD drive)

All are running Windows 10.

 

[athena53]

My laptop is 6 years old. I am having issue with the charging port. I have to wiggle and adjust the cord to get it to charge. I'll be looking for a new laptop by end of year. I think 6 years of all day use is pretty good for a $600 laptop.

This happened to my HP Envy a couple of months ago. I'd had it for only 2.5 years. The guy at MicroCenter told me that they could open it up and see if it could be fixed but the charging port was likely integrated with the mother board and I'd have to replace the whole thing. They wouldn't know until they opened it up and there was a charge for that. I was truly disgusted and bought a new laptop- NOT an HP. I backed up all the files to an external drive before it died permanently, incapable of charging.

While the HP was acting up I moved the mission-critical files to a 7-year old Asus and used it instead. I'd replaced the Asus because of limited hard drive space and a silly design flaw that meant the Power button would slip inside the case if you weren't careful when you pushed it in.

My late husband's desktop is more than 7 years old and I rarely use it. It's slowing down. If/when it dies I won't replace it.

 

[Ian S]

My current desktop is a custom build that I've modified over the years. I guess the biggest change would have been the switch from an AMD Phenom II X6 1100T (Black Edition) to an AMD FX-8350 unlocked 8 core processor in 2012. That change required a new motherboard as well. Sold the old CPU on eBay for not much less than the new one cost me! Started out with Windows 7 then went to dual boot that includes Window 10. Went to an SSD some years back and have a couple of internal hard drives for data and backup. The performance is still fine for my purposes the most resource hungry being video editing and rendering. Have decided not to make any more significant changes until Windows 10 is no longer supported in 2025.

I have a 4 year old HP Spectre 360x convertible laptop that I take traveling. Somewhere, I still have my first laptop, an IBM 560x from circa 1997 that last time I checked still boots up even though the battery is dead. That was an awesome laptop at the time! Also have a working Everex laptop from 2007 now running Windows 10 and which still has a bit of battery life left. DH has a custom built desktop that I assembled using an ancient Intel Core 2 duo with SSD and additional hard drive to store his music on. Windows 10 runs fine and it works well for his purposes.

 

[ziggy29]

I used Macs for a long time, and I still use one regularly, But I built a Windows gaming rig in early 2017. It is still a very powerful system, and it remains to be seen whether Win 11 will even fully support it because it only has a seventh generation Intel processor, and at least the preliminary requirements say at least an eighth generation. In any event, W10 will be supported until 2025.

 

[MRG]

I had a 10 year old Dell desktop that had died after a power outage, motherboard by the diagnostics. I found something to order another Dell that screams. I mean it is fast with 16GB memory and 256 SSD and 1tb hdd. It's screaming fast until it hits our 3.5Mbs internet. [emoji854]

From my past in systems performance I remember someone wrote in permanent marker on the vendor's whiteboard at a benchmark center, perhaps as an awareness set in at ohdarkthirty: "All computers wait at the same speed " .[emoji846]

 

[Another Reader]

I have a basic Dell desktop, purchased three years ago when its' predecessor, a Lenovo, failed. It was recommended by RE Wahoo and it's chugging along, doing the work I need. I will be annoyed if Microsoft makes it obsolete, but what can I do?

I bought a cheap, basic Lenovo laptop last Christmas as a back up and to use when I was really sick. Microsoft insists on ignoring my instructions to use chrome and insists on directing me to its' Edge universe every time it goes to sleep. I guess they will make it more difficult to escape their clutches with the new OS. Sigh...

 

[MC Rider]

Mine is about 10 yo, and was built to my specs. I tried to future proof it, 16 GB RAM, core i5. I don't game, so video and sound were not priorities, except video card to support 3 monitors. A while back I changed out the C: spinny drive for a solid state drive, and demoted the spinner to data storage. It still works well. Had no problem going from Win7 to win10.

 

[NW-Bound]

Nowadays, I spend all my surfing time on an HP 14" laptop, the EliteBook 8470p, with an i5 CPU, made in 2015, and running Win10. It has TPM 1.2, while Win 11 requires TPM 2.0. I will need to see if my laptop can be upgraded from TPM 1.2 to TPM 2.0.

I can swap out the i5 CPU for an early i7 CPU to get 2x increase in speed, and at a fraction of the price of the new laptop. Even the current CPU is fast enough for what I do, which is not game playing nor video editing.

The other day, browsing at Costco, I saw a new HP 14" which sports a CPU 4x faster than my current one. Son of a gun! It is also a lot lighter than the EliteBook.

I will not do anything for a while, and will wait till Win 11 comes out.

And by the way, I have several tower PCs, and they are all older than the laptop. Most run Win 10 Pro. The fastest one is only as fast as my laptop. The last time I turned one on was to do taxes, because I want to do it on a big screen. I also used another to develop firmware for an ARM microcontroller.

 

[RobbieB]

Office - 2 yr old midrange dell mid tower

Bedroom - 4 yr old Google pixel book

Wife - 7 year old HP Chrome book.

 

[ncbill]

2011 MacBook Pro.

No plans to upgrade until the browsers stop working to access the websites I use.