Originally posted by Spawnraven@May 11 2005, 02:56 AM
**> And feh, a laptop could easily last him 5 - 7 years… if it does what he wants it to do now... it'll still be able to do that 7 years from now. Just because it doesn't advance won't mean it can't at least stay the same. He wants it for photoshop and design... it'll do that just fine for as many years as it functions.
Not really, maybe photoshop may run now but as the years go by, any advancements to photoshop and other apps will grow to require more memory, space and such.
And if he wants to install a new operating system in the future, that may not be possible.
Finally, no PC or laptop is perfect, there will be hardware failures, and if it's going last 5-7 years, the parts may be difficult to come by, and if you do find them, they are often more expensive, much better to buy a new laptop.
I will give a laptop 3-4 years as a decent time to survive, then you may have to start shopping for a new one.
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But if he doesn't need to upgrade, the current Photoshop could last a person a long time. I used 2.5.1 with great success up until 5.0 came out, then didn't upgrade again until 7.0 (I think that's the number), and that was reluctantly. The current Photoshop (I now have 8.0 … that was my fiance's doing, not mine) is amazing enough that, concievably, one might not have any desire to upgrade it for a very long time.
We're talking about a laptop lasting 5 - 7 years software-wise... it's very concievable. As for hardware failures, yes, that will shorten the life of a laptop, but people are talking like it's foolish to think a laptop can do what you want it to for 5 - 7 years.. when it's not really.
Mostly in reference to spawnraven's post, where, I believe the comment was:
"5-7 years in the computer industry is like 30 years in our time. Computers and laptops evolves so fast that anything you buy to is crap tomorrow."
My Centris 610 was nearly a decade old when I replaced it in '99. Heck, it still works... not that I'd wanna touch it at this point.
All I'm saying is, if a person takes care of it, and doesn't need to upgrade it much, a laptop could last a long time. Programs today are pretty amazing... while, yes, they're still improving, the leaps in advancement aren't nearly as huge as they were, say, a decade ago. The difference from Photoshop 2.5.1 to 5.0 is stunning... while the change from 5.0 to 8.0 was noticable, but not nearly as incredible. I can't really think of anything I, personally, would want to see in Photoshop at this point... they already hit all my desires.
Of course, this is my opinion. I'm not saying it like it's cold hard fact, but this is based on my experiences. Barring hardware failure, a laptop could last 5 - 7 years.
PS - You also didn't read all of what I'd said... It'd last for as many years as it functions.