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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > how long should my imac last

how long should my imac last
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aperfectnoone
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Oct 22, 2001, 09:32 PM
 
how long should my imac live before it dies of natural causes.
-aperfectnoone
     
shmerek
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Oct 22, 2001, 09:53 PM
 
I got my reb in early 98, it died and was resurrected this summer. The anologue board fried out.
     
Face Ache
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Oct 22, 2001, 10:08 PM
 
How long is a piece of string?

It may last 10 years.

It may crap out tonight.

That's why you got the extended warranty, right?

Right...?
     
xyber233
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Oct 22, 2001, 10:35 PM
 
My dad's 520c still works .
     
iKevin
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Oct 22, 2001, 11:07 PM
 
I work in Project Management for a company that fronts about 30 national ISP's....we have an iMac DV 350(i'm the only one that watches out for it) in our tech support dept and it gets a workout.....You can't imagine the torture this little thing gets....1 year and it's running strong!

Plus I know a chick that's got 2 iMac's and another guy that's got 1 and they both bought them when they were first released...both are running strong!

On a side note, I use my new iMac 500 daily....while it is well cared for, it does get a workout everyday....so far it's running perfect!


In short....odds are you will have your little iMac for quite a while
     
<vmarks>
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Oct 22, 2001, 11:08 PM
 
I've seen them last three years, or die in as short a period of time as 14 months.

Extended warranties aren't bad. Don't use sleep, shut down. Don't let the monitor sleep.

Use your iMac in a well ventilated cool place and follow the above advice, and you should have no problems stretching the lifetime of your iMac.

<small>[ 07-09-2002, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: vmarks ]</small>
     
BlaKaT
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Oct 23, 2001, 02:52 AM
 
As everyone else has stated it depends how much the machine gets used. we have an iMac 333 at work that gets used as a webserver, so it's running all the time and it's still going strong.

My best story of extended life computing was a customer that upgraded fram a mac Plus to an iMac DV SE that's not a bad little upgrade. and he got 14 years out of his mac Plus purchase
     
ToddW7
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Oct 23, 2001, 03:17 AM
 
well ive had my rev. a imac since around october of 1998 and it hasn't given me any problems. It's on for about half the day every day. Actually now it's on all the time now that OSX is installed.

todd

[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: ToddW7 ]
     
DocWest
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Oct 23, 2001, 03:41 AM
 
My iMacDv is still going strong after being on for 19 months straight.
Gets used everyday. Running just as good if not better than when I got it.

Oh, and my Mac Plus still works fine.
     
Griggsy
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Oct 23, 2001, 04:57 AM
 
forever (just make sure you back everything up just in case!!! I just have and feel a damn sight better!
Torn apart by the wood peckers of mistrust t0 not have this happen 2 u visit guinea pig::the life of a mac designer::
     
xtro
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Oct 23, 2001, 09:57 AM
 
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif"><strong>Extended warranties aren't bad. Don't use sleep, shut down. Don't let the monitor sleep.

Use your iMac in a well ventilated cool place and follow the above advice, and you should have no problems stretching the lifetime of your iMac.
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">What's wrong with sleeping the monitor? I usually have it set to spin down the hard drive after 20 minutes of non-use, and same for the display. I though that would HELP me not hinder me.

??

<small>[ 07-09-2002, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: vmarks ]</small>
     
vmarks
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Oct 23, 2001, 10:59 AM
 
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Originally posted by xtro:
<strong>

What's wrong with sleeping the monitor? I usually have it set to spin down the hard drive after 20 minutes of non-use, and same for the display. I though that would HELP me not hinder me.

??</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">The analog/video board is the part that controls waking/sleeping and syncing the monitor when it changes resolution. It also fails with a syndrome called "Green Light of Death," where the screen doesn't wake but the computer would otherwise boot normally (on earlier iMacs... on later iMacs, the symptom is slightly different.)

My experience and observations with this failure suggests that this board is under the most stress when it has to wake from sleep. Taking sleep out of the equation reduces stress on the board, and prolongs the life of the computer.

Spinning down the hard drive is good. Under normal circumstances, sleeping the monitor would be fine, I do it on my G4. But NOT on an iMac.

<small>[ 07-09-2002, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: vmarks ]</small>
If this post is in the Lounge forum, it is likely to be my own opinion, and not representative of the position of MacNN.com.
     
LordRPI
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Oct 23, 2001, 11:19 AM
 
My Father still uses his Mac SE. He was cornered into getting a PIII for some business software (esignal), but outside of esignal, he still uses his Mac SE for Excel 1.0 saying that windows blows and Mac System 6 is way cooler ;-)
     
Jerommeke
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Oct 23, 2001, 04:11 PM
 
i hope my imac will last long i defrag him every day, no sleeping stuff or something. it is turned on about 15 hours a day sometimes the screen doesn't wake, but I don't think this is such a great problem?

I bought it march 2001 and I am very satisfied

our g3 b&w 350 mhz seemd to be a little stuck, but after a complete erase of the HD, it went fast again

our 6400 seems to be on its longest legs now, it gives really strange errors (system error 127, never found it anywhere) and sometimes simply doesn't boot at all.
iMac G5 2.0 Ghz 20", 2 GB RAM, 400 GB, OS X 10.4.5, iPod with color screen 60 GB
     
xyber233
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Oct 23, 2001, 09:10 PM
 
If you maintain your computer well, it should last for a very long time. My mac is going on its 4th year.
     
cdhostage
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Oct 24, 2001, 03:25 PM
 
iMacs. while not being the fastest computers around, are made by a quality manafacturer with a good commitment to its buyers. I've got a Rev A and a slot-loader that run 24 hours a day and have been going since I bought them. They have needed no repairs.
Actual conversation between UCLA and Stanford during a login on early Internet - U: I'm going to type an L! Did you get an L? S: I got one-one-four. L! U:Did you get the O? S: One-one-seven. U: <types G> S: The computer just crashed.
     
dn15
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Oct 24, 2001, 03:37 PM
 
We have an LC 475 that's had tons of use and is still used daily. It works perfectly, and still using the original System 7.1 installation that came on it.

Actually... the floppy drive may be giving out. But who needs floppies anyway?

[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: dn15 ]
     
DoctorGonzo
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Oct 24, 2001, 04:04 PM
 
iMacs. while not being the fastest computers around, are made by a quality manafacturer with a good commitment to its buyers.
Unless you happen to come across the GLOD, then Apple doens't want to know you exist. Unless, of course, you are willing to fork over $300 to cover their design flaws.
     
bluedog
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Oct 24, 2001, 04:28 PM
 
Aside from a part defect (which should show itself in the first few months), your machine should/could last 10+ years or more.

I have two MacSEs (one circa 1986 and the other 1988) and they both function great to this day!

OTOH, I wrecked a 6100 by tinkering inside after 2 years of use.

[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: bluedog ]
     
   
 
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