How long can Tech be used

[AndreiArgeanu]

On ‎24‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 2:28 PM, flappo0 said:

Hello together,

 

this is something that keeps my mind ticking lately.

 

How long is it ok, safe and acceptable to use a PC, Tablet, Smartphone or Laptop? Or anything tech related.

 

With all the software changes, hardware bugs and rising demands (like higher data workloads, screen resolutions, privacy festures) upgrades are a good thing.

 

But is also comes with a price, like money or using vanishing resources of Mother Nature and do we really need upgrades all the time?

 

So maybe you can give me some recommendations or advices?

 

regards,

philipp

Well you can use them for as long as you want pretty much. An example is the ATM's which run windows XP for as long as they exist I mean I even saw one crash really. And in the world there are lots of people that like vintage machines and use machines like commodore 64, an apple II or whatever so technology is timeless the upgrades just give you chances to do more than you could before (except the iPhone which removes something every generation like the button and the headphone jack and the fingerprint scanner). So if your device does meet your expectation and is able to keep up to your needs then there is no actual need for an upgrade.

[Inversion]

I'd say it's up to you really. For me its when I don't get what I want out of it anymore. Take my mobile phones for example. I'm on my 3rd at age 17. My first was a cheap Samsung Galaxy Ace I got on a cheap contract. It worked well enough for what it was bought for which was as a cheap phone with 500MB of 3G. Come the end of my contract it still worked but tbh I was looking for more "phone". I was watching more content and playing more games so stepped up to the first gen Motorola Moto G. This was fine for the 2 years I had it but there were things I missed from the Samsung OS that I didn't have on the Moto G so I went back to Samsung with the A5 2016. My contract on that ends this summer and I can say I'll be replacing it with something new because the battery life is frankly shocking now. It doesn't last 8 hours with moderate use anymore. I upgrade my phone when my contract ends if it doesn't do what I want it to.

 

When it comes to PC hardware it's a similar story. I upgrade when I need to and can afford to. Take my gaming PC. I started with a cheap A6 APU since I couldn't afford a GPU at the time. 8 months later I had saved enough for a new CPU (Athlon X4 860K) and GPU (GTX 960). 18 months later, my CPU was struggling to keep up with newer games and the editing I'm doing so I upgraded to Ryzen 5. 

 

Bottom line is if it works well for you and you don't see something that is a lot better that is in your price range, stick with what you've got. No need to spend money unnecessarily. 

[Canada EH]

most average users dont need much

I told my friend to go and buy a used $200 pc with intel i5 4th gen, 500GB, 8GB, OEM pc - Because he just uses email and surfs the web a bit. He ended up going to London Drugs and buying a $650 pc so it was an implusive buy or he just didnt know where to go for a good deal, or even wanted a good deal. Similar story with the same guy, buying a vehicle, told him to do research, but he just cared about the color and the looks and the fact its awd. First road trip he found out the luggage space is utter shit. Another impulsive, uneducated purchase. It wasnt even rushed purchases, just his car was in rough shape visually and recent warranty transmission swap. Probably scared his wife.

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Until it stops doing the things you need it to do.

[Cole5]

about 6 months, then you need to get the next version

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

I have a machine with a q6600 and an 8800 GT (I'm getting another one free soon - 8800GT SLI bitches) which I use as a secondary rig for stuffs occasionally. Works great for office stuff. Not gaming tho, but with SLI we'll see.