desk tops laptops and desk tops .

[alfred]

Much like any thing else i suppose these electronic  devices must at some point wear out , so as a point of interest does any one have an ancient desk top like mine .. and if so out of curiosity how long is the shelf life on these machines,

it seems nothing lasts for ever , where as in the past many items built did last today its all about quick turn overs so we have to keep for ever spending money.

Q what else do you recall where items were then, well made, compared to todays appliances,

[klondike]

Older small appliances were repairable becase you could get the spares. I can remember putting a new element in an iron. These days if the element or thermostat goes its time for a new one..

Given the huge variety of almost anything you name these days there seem to be dozens of manufactures each producing a big range of every type of item, Stocking spares would be an impossible task and labour costs would make anything other than DIY not economically viable - it often isn't for low end white goods.

For better or worse we have become a society that replaces rather than repairs.

Take cars too - in my younger days I'd often be busy working to keep some old banger or another going. I knew how it worked, if it went wrong I'd know what was wrong and how to repair it. I would pass on some of the jobs requiring special tools. These days if a car does go wrong, which fortunately isn't often, unless it's the running gear it's plug it into a computer, replace the bit that it says needs replacing and then prepare a large bill.

With computers it is a never ending battle between the manufacturers to make them faster and Microsoft to find ways of wasting the extra power.

[zoony]

Ain't that the truth.
Alfred, when I first started using computers I was hugely ignorant of them and went through a couple of 'towers' and then I discovered solid-state drives, bought a reconditioned Del and have had few problems since. I still know nothing but my mistakes don't cost what they used to. 

[klondike]

I was always a refurbs man. High end business computers go for a song as they look boring but they'll outperform many new low end machines especially as they are often sold with an SSD which is the current best racing stripes option (it used to be memory). To a degree Windows 11 is killing that if you want to keep up to date as those older machines just wont run it. This could be a ploy by MS as most of those old machines come with a Windows that only costs about a fiver or less for a completely genuine key.

I eventually gave in and got a modern laptop and all-in-one desktop. They are nice but the keyboard on the lappy drives me to distraction as I keep hitting the CTRL key instead of caps shift and some ot the other special keys are tiny.

[zoony]

Good to know I did something right K.  As a matter of fact, this old Del is near it's end. In the mornings I can't tell its wheezing from mine! Whatever I replace it with I shall bear your wise words in mind. "Huh? I dunno man.."

[TREBOR]

I dont believe in throwing out old machines while they are still useful. I have an old laptop which chugs a bit now but its small and compact and still useful. I also have a much more modern one which I seldom use. I prefer the two desktops I have.

The problem with devices like phones and tablets is that eventually they will not run the apps you need so you have to update or replace them. I always try to find someone to give the old one to, even if they just use it for email and texting.

[klondike]

I have a couple of old desktops that would make perfectly good internet boxes but I doubt there will be any customers for them as I have offloaded others not all that long back and it takes a while to set a machine up to yout liking or at least it does me.

The larger and more capable may be on the way out anyway. It cost less than £200 in 2015 (just checked in gmail for date) and has an old HP with an Intel Core i7 processor. When new it would probably have cost some corporate close to £1000 and then got swapped out 3 years later when I bought it.  It got the annoying habit of not recognising USB3 disks as USB3 making transfer of stuff downloaded from Zoony's Video Emporium to the portable drives I use to play them with an Android box on my TV a tedious process. Sometimes when watching a boxset you come across a dodgy download and have to grab a replacement so the quicker the better.

I kept it for normal use but bought a very cheap tiny machine with USB3 ports just for downloads. Then along came Win 11 and neither could run it. The old corporate laptop I was using couldn't either so I got the two modern machines I have now. Not that I am using either at the moment - I'm on a recently acquired quite cheap Chromebook. That too has some foibles but can sit on my lap on the sofa without scorching my nuts and without the eventually annoying glass keyboard of my tablet.

[zoony]

  Wow..And do you have another house that you and Mrs klondike live in?

[klondike]

A big floored loft for storing all the dead or obsolete tech stuff that I can't bring myself to bin, can't be bothered to put on eBay and can't rehome. 

[alfred]

i have to admit my desk top was one i bought through amazon it was one refurbished from the i.t company well except the printer i only paid £75.00 for it , admittedly it didn't have speakers as i use head phones instead particularly if my wife is watching the television,

Recently i bought an 8 inch amazon tablet on E, bay which cost me £15.00
and that included post and package, it works very well so all it needed was a wipe over with a moist cloth, and i was in business,

[klondike]

Recently i bought an 8 inch amazon tablet on E, bay which cost me £15.00

Which is exactly the reason I cba to put my stuff on there.

By the time eBay, PayPal and the post office have had a dip the seller will have ended up with slightly more than £5 as reward to taking pictures, putting the listing together, packing it, posting it and if unlucky having the buyer complaining it arrived a day late and has an imperceptible scratch on the back down the bottom that you failed to mention.

[Alex]

£5 better in your pocket than not 

[klondike]

I have limited time left, as does everybody but the young don't believe that, and I'd rather be spending that time on something other than selling tat than have an extra fiver in my pocket.

Of course as has been made obvious countless times some other folk think differently   

[alfred]

with regards to my tablet there wasn't a scratch on it so who ever had had it before me certainly had looked after it ,
in the past some items iv bought did have a scratch  but you would have to look hard to see it,  of course its the chance you have to take i suppose.