Nowadays I treat laptops as disposable, since they aren't as easily user serviceable anymore (nor do most offer any kind of RAID options). I use them when I need to, but I try not to rely on them.

My main computer is a desktop (one I specifically built with Xeon processors and data redundancy). If some piece of hardware dies, other than the motherboard, I can get parts either that day or the next day and fix it myself.

Business laptops. Big companies buy them by the hundred, buy 10 non working for a couple hundred dollars and have a decade or more of spare parts. I have no desk for a desktop.

I have a Garmin GPS 12 that I bought in 1997 or 1998 that is still running strong, yet I have an original eTrex that I bought 4-5 years later that has failed to work (my only GPS unit that has failed).

In my experience, GPS units tend to have a longer life than many other electronics devices. The only real reason to upgrade is to get a GPS with more/different features.

The higher sensitivity receiver was a good reason the upgrade, but my older Garmin Geko and GPS V still work fine. The older ones are just slower to pick up satellites and the newer receivers seem to see more satellites.

+1. Especially on last-minute clearance. A demonstrator or gently used business machine will outlast the shiny biodegradeable junkers by a factor of five.


Or even get them free at a public drop-off (snagged them for parts but what do you do when they are all perfectly functional?). ThinkPads are especially modular and designed to be refurbished endlessly. And the classics like T60s, T61s, T400s are quite capable if you can bump up the RAM and are generally indestructible otherwise.

All of my "trail" Garmin GPS units still work like the day I got them. That includes my first unit - a GPS III+, a Geko 201, a Geko 301, and my current main unit - a GPSMAP 60CSx.

I've gone through two Garmin NUVI units for my car. My first one stopped working suddenly one night in a pouring rain in an area of Detroit that I was not familiar with. I turned it on, the screen flashed a bright white, and then nothing - ever. My smart phone had barely enough battery power to allow me to find my way to the interstate so I could figure my way back to my hotel on my own.

I'm now using a second Garmin NUVI. So far so good.

Checking my inventory spreadsheet says me Garmin is from 2007.