[Toutgood]

I dunno if anyone else has a self imposed rule like mine. Once I buy a new laptop ( at least every two years ) I am not allowed to look at ads for upcoming material for at least one year. I mistakenly infringed this rule when reading some powerbook prediction threads and now I am chastising myself.

I am the proud and very productive owner of a 15" 1ghz tibook, the best damn laptop I've ever owned. Yes there are very minor issues like the heat/fan ( although that's only because it's positively boiling here ) and the screen occasionally picking up dirt from the keyboard. But these don't prevent me from getting my work done and enjoying this beautiful machine.

It's like dating the girl of your dreams and then keeping an eye out for someone just a little better.

Am I the only one with this sort of silly rule? Obviously if it turns out I've bought a lemon or it falls down a flight of stairs all bets are off. I'm just glad I didn't get suckered in to getting a tablette book thingy... Or the toilet seat books that came out a couple years ago...

Tibook, ibook, albook or whatever it's the shiznit, and a better one'll be waiting when the current one dies or gets put out the pasture ( given to an older relative ).

My rant for the day.

[NeXTLoop]

Toutgood, that's a commendable credo. Unfortunately, try as I might, I've never been able to follow it myself.

[JLFanboy]

Though I don't think I could do what you do, I've definitely got my own credo.

Simply put, it's a well known fact that any Apple computer should last for at least 4 years. These computers are great. I've got an original Bondi iMac that's still running strong. Sure, it doesn't have a lot of the nifty new features like Firewire, or a CD-RW drive, or, hey, Mac OS X. But it's still a damn fine machine.

That said, my rule is simply that any Apple I buy will last me four years. Barring any accidents I will get my money's worth out of these machines. I've had a TiBook 400 for about two years now. I got it for college. I got it for all of college. As much as I want a Superdrive, I won't be getting a new computer until I graduate.

Yes, it's damn hard, but then I think: Damn, as amazing as the new machines are today, just think how amazing they'll be when my 4 years are up.

[Toutgood]

This is my first mac laptop, though.

The windows ones have had an average lifespan of about 3 years till they drove me insane or broke. I usually upgrade before this happens since I really need mine for work. And these graphics apps seem to want more and more ram. However I've got a pentium II from 99 with slackware installed and it's still going strong.

[Link]

I find that the sweet spot for apple computers is 2 years, when you start to get weary of them.

But I can't afford to get another, not even a PC, and my mom is saying this computer better last me through college o_O

[DigitalEl]

I have that credo with car purchases. Never thought to apply it to computers, though. It only makes sense.

[cc_foo]

My guidelines are:

1. Don't buy a Rev A machine.
2. Don't buy something too expensive .
3. Buy only what I need.
4. Buy only when I need.

I seem to break these "guidelines" all the time though: I did buy the Rev A ipod, and the Rev A Dual USB iBook, the Rev A Tungsten T... And that G5 looks real tempting. Although that would violate every one of the 4 rules.

[Flash2000]

Originally posted by cc_foo:
My guidelines are:

1. Don't buy a Rev A machine.
2. Don't buy something too expensive .
3. Buy only what I need.
4. Buy only when I need.

I seem to break these "guidelines" all the time though: I did buy the Rev A ipod, and the Rev A Dual USB iBook, the Rev A Tungsten T... And that G5 looks real tempting. Although that would violate every one of the 4 rules.

Rules were made to be broken.

[Mithras]

I used to think that each new machine was an event unto itself -- WOW! with my kick-ass Powerbook 520 @ 50Mhz, I will reign over computerdom forever!!! I should splurge for the active-matrix COLOR LCD because it will ROCK!.

Then I got older, and kept buying the damn things, and realized that you have to think long term.

So I look at this way: How much am I willing to spend per month on having a computer? Compared to other discretionaries like internet access, books, eating out at restaurants, etc.


I worked out this chart of the monthly cost of buying a computer, depending on (a) the price, (b) how long I keep the machine, and (c) whether I resell at the end of that period. (I assume the computer loses 30% of its value each year)

Code:
|                  | 1 year  | 2 years | 3 years | 4 years |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|      $1000       |         |         |         |         |
|          monthly |   $83   |   $42   |   $28   |   $21   |
|       resell for |  $700   |  $490   |  $343   |  $240   |
| monthly (resold) |   $25   |   $21   |   $18   |   $16   |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|      $1500       |         |         |         |         |
|          monthly |  $125   |   $63   |   $42   |   $31   |
|       resell for | $1050   |  $735   |  $515   |  $360   |
| monthly (resold) |   $38   |   $32   |   $27   |   $24   |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|      $2000       |         |         |         |         |
|          monthly |  $167   |   $83   |   $56   |   $42   |
|       resell for | $1400   |  $980   |  $686   |  $480   |
| monthly (resold) |   $50   |   $43   |   $37   |   $32   |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|      $2500       |         |         |         |         |
|          monthly |  $208   |  $104   |   $69   |   $52   |
|       resell for | $1750   | $1225   |  $858   |  $600   |
| monthly (resold) |   $63   |   $53   |   $46   |   $40   |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|      $3000       |         |         |         |         |
|          monthly |  $250   |  $125   |   $83   |   $63   |
|       resell for | $2100   | $1470   |  $1029  |  $720   |
| monthly (resold) |   $75   |   $64   |   $55   |   $47   |
|------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|

So (at least when I'm trying to be rational about it), I figure out what monthly cost I'm comfortable with from this chart, and work out how much machine I can afford from that.

[DigitalEl]

Good stuff, Mithras. Kind of scary to see the numbers there in black & grey and realize what you're spending.

[JLFanboy]

I find that the sweet spot for apple computers is 2 years, when you start to get weary of them.

2 years? What does it take to satisfy you.

Seriously, though. I think as long as you keep up with the software updates and do minimal upgrades (more RAM, bigger harddrive) a Mac can feel great for up to 3 or more years before it starts to feel really old. Up until Jaguar, my iMac running 9 could do everything my TiBook running 10.1 could do, albeit slower, and a little more crashy. But it could do them all and generally didn't give me any problems. That was after 4 years. 2 years is a little more realistic for a PC, maybe, but these Macs are built to last.