My New Laptop Replacement Policy/Plan
For a long time, I've told people who are replacing their computer to do exactly what most companies do: plan for the next time you're going to need to do it.
While there's no "one-size-fits-all" cycle, if a computer is even a moderately important part of your life, you should just plan to replace it on a regular schedule. Nearly everyone has a similar idea in mind for how often they replace their car.
Some people get a new car every 10 years, some every 5 and, some people replace them more often than that. I'm not here to say which is better, be cause there *isn't* a "better" here.
At any rate, my recent experience reviving the Dell laptop that I like by installing Linux gave me a chance to think through my own policy on replacing laptops.
My general policy has been every 18 months or so to replace my main laptop. That would have actually put me in the market in a couple of months. However, my new policy is tied to features instead of dates and it's basically going to be up to the manufacturers when I buy my next one.
I thought through what features I really need in laptops and what determines the need to replace them instead of just upgrade or hold on.
- The CPU is the single most overrated piece of hardware. I'm typing this on a laptop that has a 1.6Ghz processor. I bought it 2 years ago, but the closest model from Dell today still only has a 1.8Ghz processor. So, processor is really eliminated from the criteria for when to buy. The other bits will dictate the need first.
- RAM and hard drive speed are where most impressions of speed are really derived. And, since RAM can added to after the fact, the real criteria here is the maximum that the motherboard supports and the fastest hard drives available. Again, this laptop has a max of 2GB, which is what most of the new ones today have.
- Hard drive capacity does show advancement, but can be replaced aftermarket. As I keep movies, music and images on file servers, my needs in this respect aren't as critical as other people's might be.
- Battery life is a big one. When you can get 4-6 hours out of a laptop battery, there's really no going back. That's usually going to require some sort of extended battery (it did this time).
- Lightweight and small. I've got desktop machines with big LCD's when I need them. However, my laptop is something I drag around the house and around town. So, I'm pretty much going to be after laptops with less than a 14" screen for the forseeable future.
- Widescreen. I like the docked toolbars in Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. which uses more horizontal than vertical space. While there may be less actual space, it's more *useful* to me this way.
- Media drive. The one place that this current laptop from 2 years ago is lacking is a DVD burner. Speed doesn't matter to me much, but new disc formats do.
- Operating system. Now that I'm primarily using Linux as my primary OS, this is less of an issue. As a developer, I usually need access to a current versions of Windows. I used to do that with my primary laptop (which would mean the current Vista release would dictate an upgrade), but am pretty much shifting the fulfillment of that need to desktops, where it can be met for less money.
What it basically all boils down to is whenever I replace a laptop, it's all about the maximum RAM, biggest hard drive and fastest hard drive I can get for the money. Then, wait until those 2 have advanced enough to be worthwhile replacing again.
That all points to watching the trends in those 2 components in the laptop market.
At the moment, 2GB of memory seems the general limit on maximum memory without going over the bang-for-the-buck edge. There are some 4GB models, but they're in the $2000-$3000 laptops, not in the <$1500 models, generally.
The hard drives are hanging out at 7200RPM for the high end speed (why, oh, why are they selling those 4200RPM drives to people?) and about 100-120GB.
At this point, I'm specifically watching mostly for the 4-8GB RAM number to slide into the price range. That would provide another couple of years out of the next one.
Until then, for $100 in RAM and $100 on the hard drive end of things, I can bring *this* laptop to the same level as the new ones. Spending $1400 on a new one to get essentially the same thing as what $200 will get me would be stupid.
So, it looks like it's going to be some time next year that I end up buying a replacement, which works out well. I've got time to build up the laptop fund and get what I really need.
