Last Updated on October 8, 2022 by Markeyus Franks
You have owed your laptop for sometime now and you’re finally thinking about purchasing a laptop, but the question is should you purchase a brand new laptop or not? In this articles with will go over the reasons why you should or should not purchase a new laptop.
Should you buy a new laptop
The answer to that question depends on what you need. The average life cycle of a laptop is around 3 to 5 years, but some laptops can be upgraded which gives you a great advantage by saving money and at the same time still have a powerful computer. If your laptop is still relatively fast and you don’t necessarily need to hook up any new connection, your screen is still vibrant you can potentially upgrade your laptop (This is not always necessarily) Now if your laptop has slowed down a bit, your hardware ports are outdated, screen is blurry est.., then it may be time to upgrade to a new laptop.
Typically a good laptop can last around three years or more, but most people keep their laptop longer than three years. In this article we will go over whether you should trade your old laptop for something new.
What are the signs of an Aging laptop?
Contrary to Popular belief, if taking care of properly laptops can last a very longtime, but there are some clear signs that your laptop is aging.
Battery degradation
One of the first signs of an aging laptop is battery degradation. Just like any device that uses lithium ion batteries, will eventually suffer some form of battery degradation. If your laptop is not keeping a charge as it did when you initially purchase it, then there’s a good chance your battery is suffering for degradation.
The good news is you can purchase a replacement battery and experience restored charging times. The bad news is replacing a laptop’s battery is not always the easiest task to perform. Laptops nowadays are small and compact so taking them apart can be a risk factor. Many companies don’t recommend taking the battery out of their laptops and would rather the customer purchase a new laptop altogether.
Applications load slower
This is an obvious problem that can occur after a long period of time of usage. It is not uncommon to see a significant slowdown in your application load and runtime in a three year period. Naw if you’re willing to clear out your disk space, by destiny apps, pictures, and videos; you can salvage your laptop. But some laptops are just outdated from a hardware prospective and will need to be upgraded. At this point, it will make sense to purchase a new laptop.
Laptop screen is becoming Faint
If your laptop screen is becoming faint after sometime then this is a good indicator that you may need a new laptop. Depending on the type of laptop screen you purchase will determine how long your screen will potentially last.” An LCD laptop screen can last about 50,000 hours, that’s about 5 to 6 years,” where as an LED screen can last about 100,000 hours. Many new laptops now come equipped with QLED and OLED screens. These screens are brighter, thinner, and more vibrant than other TV’s. They can last about 8 to 10 years (100,000) same as a LED screen. But if your screen is not getting bright or looks like its been sitting for years when you turn it on, then it’s best to look for something new. In-fact, replacing a laptop screen can be relatively expensive and difficult to DIY.
Laptop is getting hotter than usual
Typically a laptop becomes hot when there is some form of power mismanagement, application overload, cooling fan malfunction, dust and dirt on vents, and wear & tear. If your laptop is getting hotter than usual than there’s a good chance that your laptop may be getting old. Now you can salvage it by attempting to address the issues. Some laptop fans just die and need to be replaced and others may just need to be cleaned. But if your laptop is older than five years with overheating problem, we recommend that you just get a new one.
Laptop hardware is outdated
Another reason why your laptop may be running slower is because you don’t update the firmware on your laptop. Many times when you update the firmware on your laptop or computer its meant to optimize you computer by protecting it from new viruses, making apps run more efficient, thus maintaining good processing speed, and increasing battery problems longevity. It’s safe to say that keeping you laptop updated is very important.
What To look For in a New Laptop
If you’re in the neighborhood of buying a new laptop then there are few important specs want to look out for. In the list below, we will go car what to lack for when purchasing a new laptop. Also, if you want to check out some new laptops for this year, we created a top laptop review article for 2022.
Processing Power: This category is going to determine the speed at which your computer can process all data operations. It’s considered the brains of your computer. It basically decodes information and converts it to instructions and processes. Currently, the fastest processor for a laptop is Core 19 129,000. Any processor I5 or above is good.
Ram
This basically quick memory that your computer uses to run apps and processes. If your computer is running slow, one of the first hard war ya want to check is your ram capacity. For an average computer, we Wald recommend getting a laptop with 8 GB of ram. This is a great start and will easily run multiple applications at good speed, but if you’re a video editor, run high performance applications, or play games then your going to want to increase your ram or purchase a laptop with higher ram.
Hard drive
A computer’s hard drive is basically its long stored memory capacity. Many laptops nowadays use SSD hard drives instead of the old hard disk drive . These hard drives are a lot faster than their predecessors and are pretty much used in most laptops today. A fast hard drive enables applications to load a lot faster, and can have a significant effect on a laptop’s performance.
Graphic card
If you’re a gamer, then graphic cards will matter to you the most. Nowadays CPU’s can be external, so many gamers may not need to get an impressive graphic cards with their laptops. If you’re a hard core gamer and, don’t want an external GPS, then yes getting a laptop with a good graphics card will be necessary. Here are laptops with good graphics cards
