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>I can buy on the used market a ~2018 laptop with a 15W quad core CPU, 8GB RAM, 256 NVME and 1080p IPS display, that's orders of magnitude more capable.. But i
by qsera 10mo ago
>I can buy on the used market a ~2018 laptop with a 15W quad core CPU, 8GB RAM, 256 NVME and 1080p IPS display, that's orders of magnitude more capable..
But it won't be as reliable, mostly motherboards won't last long.
- joe_mamba 10mo agoDon't know what your source is for that, but that's not my experience, and i've had dozens of laptops through my hands due to my hobby. The ticking timebomb lemons with reliability or design issues, will just die in the first 2-4 years like clockwork, but if they've already survived 6+ years without any faults, they'll most likely be reliable from then on as well.
- ForHackernews 10mo agoBathtub curve is extremely common https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve
- qsera 10mo ago>survived 6+ years without any faults, they'll most likely be reliable from then on as well Ok, let us say they ll last 4 more years, so 10 years total lifespan. A PI would last a lot longer.
- gambiting 10mo agoWhat makes you think so? Just a feeling? A Vibe?
- qsera 10mo agoAbout what exactly..
- gambiting 10mo agoThat if a laptop is 6 years old it will only last 4 more years. Or that a Pi will last more than 10.
- qsera 10mo agoIf it is a generic laptop, yes. 10 years is a stretch. Components used in the motherboard are probably not high quality enough to last more than 10 years. A manufacturer does not have an incentive to put high quality stuff (that is probably costlier) in a laptop who's only selling point is cheap for the "features", and not reliability or longevity.. One might get lucky with such a laptop, but I won't count on it.
- gambiting 10mo agoAgain, is that just a feeling, or do you have some data to actually show this. In my experience even old basic Acer laptops easily last more than 10 years, probably without the battery and married to the charger forever now, but they will work fine. But I don't go on the internet and tell everyone laptops last most than 10 years just because I know of a few Acers lasting that. Likewise, do you have any statistics on longevity of Raspberry Pis.
- boomlinde 10mo agoWhat makes you assume that the Raspberry Pi is using higher quality components?
- qsera 10mo agoOne thing is that Raspberry PI have a fewer of them. So less chance of one becoming faulty. Regarding higher quality components, I think the for the usecase (I mean the kinds of thing it is supposed to be used for) of Raspberry PI, reliability is more important. This also matches with my experience.
- boomlinde 10mo ago
- joe_mamba 10mo ago>let us say they ll last 4 more years Why not 50 more years if we're just making up numbers? I still have an IBM thinkpad from 2006 in my possession with everything working. I also see people with Macbooks from the era with the light up apple logo in the wild and at DJs. >A PI would last a lot longer. Because you say so? OK, sure.
- qsera 10mo agoIn your comment you didn't say Apple computers or Thinkpads. Those are different. I was talking about plain old vanilla business class laptop (because we are talking about raspberry alternative).
- joe_mamba 10mo agoYou're contradicting yourself
- qsera 10mo agoI was referring to your original comment >I can buy on the used market a ~2018 laptop with a 15W quad core CPU, 8GB RAM, 256 NVME and 1080p IPS display, that's orders of magnitude more capable..
- close04 10mo agoI have computers that are ~20 years or even more and still work fine. My main computer which I just replaced is ~14 years old (with some components even older than that), was used every single day, and is now a perfectly functioning server. I have stacks of SFFs and minipcs from eBay going back to 2008 but most from 2012-2015, which have been running virtually uninterrupted for a decade, and still working fine. I have several laptops from different OEMs, business and consumer lines, that are as old as 2008 and have been used regularly for at least 10 years, all still fine. I understand what you're saying but saying it isn't enough. There's nothing to support your claim.
- shakna 10mo ago3-5 years for a cheap laptop [0]. 3-5 years of office use for a Pi. [1] Sure, there's other numbers to find as well, but I'd suggest that they're pretty comparable in the way they handle environments. If one would fail, so would the other. [0] https://pcpatching.com/2025/11/extend-your-pcs-life-how-long-do-motherboards-last/ https://pcpatching.com/2025/11/extend-your-pcs-life-how-long... [1] https://raspberrypicase.com/how-long-does-a-raspberry-pi-last/ https://raspberrypicase.com/how-long-does-a-raspberry-pi-las...