Should I replace 4 year old laptop?

[lydneynexus]

Hi all,
I have a Toshiba Satellite Laptop from late 2012 with Windows 8.1.... It has:
-Intel Pentium CPU B950 2.1GHZ
-8GB RAM
-500GB Hard Drive

This laptop still runs very fast without many performance issues at all, I can watch YouTube, do document work etc. I dont think, however, it will cope with gaming etc.., but thats not what I am intending it to be for. Now what I am questioning is to whether I should think about upgrading next year, or stick with what I have got, as I am concerned as to how long this laptop will work for as I have done some research, and an average lifespan of a laptop nowadays is 4-5 years... I do look after my laptop and make sure that the battery is never low on juice and that I don't spill any liquids onto it. So should I think about an upgrade anytime soon, or not (as I am happy with my current system)?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Alabalcho]

Laptops longetivity (as with every stuff) is something out of the thin air. I have a 15-year old laptop which still runs fine with XP installed, and another 10-year old which runs almost-OK with Win10. So, if you're happy with yours - use it for as long as it works (or works adequately for you).

 

[jaguarskx]

It is hard to say when a laptop will actually fail; that applies to all electronics. Typically the first thing to go bad with a laptop is the battery. However, if the laptop is always plugged into the AC outlet and there is no intention of taking it out of the house, then it is not a big deal. If you are currently satisfied with the performance of the laptop then just continue to use. You can always set aside some money that is earmarked for a new laptop in case the one you have actually does die or you simply want something newer.

The good news is that CPU and integrated graphics performance has improved over the years. The following $350 Acer laptop with a 7th generation Core i3-7100u is a pretty value and it is definitely more powerful than the one you are currently using. The integrated Intel HD 620 is actually pretty decent (for integrated graphics). It is actually possible to play some older / low graphics demanding game. For example, the Intel HD 620 should be able to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at 1366x768 with the default graphic settings. Based on person experience with an older 4th gen Core i5-4200u and Intel HD 4400, it is possible to tweak the graphics so the it can be played at 1600x900 resolution with pretty good performance and maybe even at 1080p resolution. It can definitely play Mass Effect 1 to 3 without any issues at 1080p using default graphic settings. It can also play Star Trek Online at 1080p with a mix of low and medium with decent performance, or drop it down to 1600x900 for a little better performance. Both are also based on my testing experience with the older Intel HD 4400 graphics core.


https/www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1513700239&sr=8-3&keywords=i3-7100u