Your laptop is probably your most important technology item and it is such an essential part of everyone’s working life especially as you can take it everywhere you go with absolute ease. It is safe to say that the laptop has completely revolutionised the world of work, as Setyl will do with the management of IT assets for businesses, but unfortunately your laptop will not last forever. Therefore, you probably ask yourself frequently how long will my laptop last until I need to get a new one? This would seem like an easy answer but a laptop’s lifespan really differs from laptop to laptop therefore in this article we will be giving you a detailed answer to your question.
Firstly, we should define what laptop life expectancy actually is because there are two different types. One is the operational life expectancy which is a measure of how long the laptop will work properly while the other is operation life expectancy which can be defined as how long the laptop will be able to meet system specifications and run advanced software. Therefore, a laptop can last you for at least 10 years with the operational life expectancy definition but will last for a shorter time period with the second metric. If your laptop is needed for your work then the second definition is far more important than the first however, if you don’t require high performance then it shouldn’t be a problem getting a much older laptop and using it for a long period of time.
If you need to run the best software then you are always going to need to get a better CPU and graphics card every few years which is difficult to do for a laptop hence why having a desktop computer can be useful for something like this. Overall, the laptop life is likely to be a lot shorter if you need to run lots of heavy applications meaning you will likely find yourself having to buy yourself a new laptop every two years or so. In addition to software needs, the battery of the laptop is really important as it is one of the main contributors to why the laptop is portable. Although your laptop will last a long time, the battery will continuously need to be replaced as it has a shorter lifespan. The older the battery, the less the battery can hold charge, therefore, battery replacement is needed frequently. Normally a battery will last about 18 to 24 months but it really does depend on how much you use your laptop, but you will know the death of your battery is approaching when the charge holds for a shorter and shorter amount of time.
One question you might be asking yourself is how can I make my laptop last longer which is what I will answer in this paragraph here. The main thing you need to avoid is heat as it really isn’t good for your laptop due to the design of the laptop meaning it is extremely vulnerable to internal overheating which is definitely a no no. One way of avoiding this overheating is by blowing dust out of the laptop’s air vents which allows for cool air to flow through therefore minimising overheating. Furthermore, you should avoid putting your laptop anywhere near external sources of heat and you shouldn’t put it on a very soft surface. Another way you can help reduce your laptop’s exposure to overheating is by getting a laptop cooling stand which provides your laptop with more fans on the surface which therefore helps to improve air circulation. These tips will come in great use as it will help you to reduce the amount you need to spend on laptop replacements in the long run hence reducing your IT expenditure which Setyl can help you to manage.
Another great indicator of how long your laptop will last is the amount of money you spend on it. One great sources for working this out is through Simply Laptop who say that “if you pay less than $600/700” then you should expect it to last for about “2–4 years” while “if you spend more than $1000” then “you should expect it to last for around 4–7 years.” This is a great way to work out how long your laptop is going to last for!
As you can read in the article above it is quite obvious that the life expectancy of your laptop really depends on what you plan to use the laptop for as well as how much you spent on it and how well you look after it. Therefore, in order to make sure you make the most out of your laptop I recommend that you buy a high quality laptop, for example, the Apple MacBook Pro, and then you should look after the laptop exceptionally well in order to keep it going for a long period of time. Yet most of all if you or your business need any help with managing theirIT hardware assets then you should definitely sign up to Setyl as we can solve all your IT related problems.
