Likewise, I use a now 8 year old Dell XPS laptop. With any reasonably high quality hardware, maintenance is not hard to do. I upgraded the screen and RAM a few

Likewise, I use a now 8 year old Dell XPS laptop. With any reasonably high quality hardware, maintenance is not hard to do. I upgraded the screen and RAM a few years ago, and that has precluded me from needing anything newer. I've changed the thermal paste and blew the dust out of it. The only things I have consistently had to replace are the charger and batteries. Both are <= $30 on Ebay. I think replacing a laptop that's 4 years or less old is pretty wasteful, especially with how little the performance demands have changed in that time. We should treat computers more like we treat cars: knowing they can't last forever, but still a long term investment that requires some maintenance. Just like with a car, if you can't perform the maintenance yourself, take it to someone who can.