6 ms·

I don't know, I feel other laptops at the same price point as Apple Macbooks do this too, sometimes even better. I bought a HP 8530w in 2009 or so and it still

I don't know, I feel other laptops at the same price point as Apple Macbooks do this too, sometimes even better. I bought a HP 8530w in 2009 or so and it still works. Replacing the DVD drive for a SSD required just a common Philips screwdriver and battery replacements are sold by HP themselves or many others.

davidy123 5y ago
Exactly. Too many people compare a $400 cheap Windows laptop to a $1200 Macbook. Compare like for like, and the thing is likely to last until it's absolutely obsolete. And, while I don't really support this, some might find it an advantage to replace the computer three times for the same price. But people should be comparing to a well built, upgradable laptop (especially those that support not just RAM and disk but also display upgrades and adequate ports), running an operating system that has no arbitrary end of life.
- emteycz 5y ago
  Lenovo or Dell displays are much worse than Apple displays even though the machine costs the same.
  - davrosthedalek 5y ago
    Sure, but my macbook pro has cooked it's display /twice/ now. Didn't go to sleep properly, and it overheated in my laptop bag. No good way to check for it, because no LEDs on the outside. Only way to check is to see if the fans switched on after five minutes in the bag.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      You don't want to know what the Dells are capable of doing. My XPS 15 2020 literally got on fire somewhere on the motherboard - not even a battery thing. Then I decided to go Apple only.
      - MonaroVXR 5y ago
        I would believe that, because Dell XPS laptops are bad. (I'm in group full of laptop needs who check these things. Anecdotal and "scientifically".) You are better of with a business or workstation laptop.
- simonh 5y ago
  I’d love to see an actual serious comparison between an M1 Mac and a $400 laptop. That would be hilarious. Since there are so many of them, can you direct me to one, or even a few?
eldaisfish 5y ago
The point is that with mid-2010s apple laptops, >5 year lifespans are the norm. With the majority of other, even comparably priced laptops, that is the exception. There are other laptops that are similar or superior build quality to those from Apple (N.B. - older MacBooks, not the newer ones) but those are also easy to spot. They’ll usually be ThinkPads or some XPS models from dell.
- kogepathic 5y ago
  > With the majority of other, even comparably priced laptops, that is the exception. Consumer grade PC hardware has terrible build quality, and regardless of the price of your unit, the consumer build spec is just inferior to the business/professional lines. Asus, MSI, Sony, Acer, etc laptops all have consumer grade build quality and they just aren't designed to last a decade. > They’ll usually be ThinkPads or some XPS models from dell. Precision/XPS and Thinkpad models (with the exception of the L and E series) are almost always in the same price range as a MacBook. Any business-class machine (Thinkpad, Precision/Latitude, Elitebook) should easily last >5 years. These are vendors which will sell you 3-5 year on-site warranties for their laptops. This is why you can find so many off-lease corporate laptops on eBay from any model year in the last 10 years or so. The hardware doesn't break, it just becomes obsolete.
  - supercheetah 5y ago
    For Dell, at least the business class desktops, they're trash, and are barely useable after 2-3 years and usually have some kind of problem long before that. I'm pretty sure Dell expects most businesses to buy new ones in that time frame.
    - spideymans 5y ago
      I really want to like Dell's XPS line. I really do. But their technical support is atrocious. My XPS trackpad stopped working months after purchase, and getting them to repair it was an utter nightmare. Their tech support seemingly hasn't improved at all in the past decade (which is when I last vowed to never buy a Dell again due to their horrible tech support). They may fool me twice, but never again. (I do hear that their business support is pretty good though)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
salamandersauce 5y ago
I was using my Dad's old ThinkPad 385XD from 1998 in 2009. Battery was unsurprisingly dead but every other piece was stock and worked although at some point I swapped the worn down trackpoint nub with one of the included spares we still had.

davidy123 5y ago

Exactly. Too many people compare a $400 cheap Windows laptop to a $1200 Macbook. Compare like for like, and the thing is likely to last until it's absolutely obsolete. And, while I don't really support this, some might find it an advantage to replace the computer three times for the same price. But people should be comparing to a well built, upgradable laptop (especially those that support not just RAM and disk but also display upgrades and adequate ports), running an operating system that has no arbitrary end of life.

emteycz 5y ago
Lenovo or Dell displays are much worse than Apple displays even though the machine costs the same.
- davrosthedalek 5y ago
  Sure, but my macbook pro has cooked it's display /twice/ now. Didn't go to sleep properly, and it overheated in my laptop bag. No good way to check for it, because no LEDs on the outside. Only way to check is to see if the fans switched on after five minutes in the bag.
  - emteycz 5y ago
    You don't want to know what the Dells are capable of doing. My XPS 15 2020 literally got on fire somewhere on the motherboard - not even a battery thing. Then I decided to go Apple only.
    - MonaroVXR 5y ago
      I would believe that, because Dell XPS laptops are bad. (I'm in group full of laptop needs who check these things. Anecdotal and "scientifically".) You are better of with a business or workstation laptop.
simonh 5y ago
I’d love to see an actual serious comparison between an M1 Mac and a $400 laptop. That would be hilarious. Since there are so many of them, can you direct me to one, or even a few?

eldaisfish 5y ago

The point is that with mid-2010s apple laptops, >5 year lifespans are the norm. With the majority of other, even comparably priced laptops, that is the exception. There are other laptops that are similar or superior build quality to those from Apple (N.B. - older MacBooks, not the newer ones) but those are also easy to spot. They’ll usually be ThinkPads or some XPS models from dell.

kogepathic 5y ago
> With the majority of other, even comparably priced laptops, that is the exception. Consumer grade PC hardware has terrible build quality, and regardless of the price of your unit, the consumer build spec is just inferior to the business/professional lines. Asus, MSI, Sony, Acer, etc laptops all have consumer grade build quality and they just aren't designed to last a decade. > They’ll usually be ThinkPads or some XPS models from dell. Precision/XPS and Thinkpad models (with the exception of the L and E series) are almost always in the same price range as a MacBook. Any business-class machine (Thinkpad, Precision/Latitude, Elitebook) should easily last >5 years. These are vendors which will sell you 3-5 year on-site warranties for their laptops. This is why you can find so many off-lease corporate laptops on eBay from any model year in the last 10 years or so. The hardware doesn't break, it just becomes obsolete.
- supercheetah 5y ago
  For Dell, at least the business class desktops, they're trash, and are barely useable after 2-3 years and usually have some kind of problem long before that. I'm pretty sure Dell expects most businesses to buy new ones in that time frame.
  - spideymans 5y ago
    I really want to like Dell's XPS line. I really do. But their technical support is atrocious. My XPS trackpad stopped working months after purchase, and getting them to repair it was an utter nightmare. Their tech support seemingly hasn't improved at all in the past decade (which is when I last vowed to never buy a Dell again due to their horrible tech support). They may fool me twice, but never again. (I do hear that their business support is pretty good though)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

salamandersauce 5y ago

I was using my Dad's old ThinkPad 385XD from 1998 in 2009. Battery was unsurprisingly dead but every other piece was stock and worked although at some point I swapped the worn down trackpoint nub with one of the included spares we still had.