Life expectancy for MBP

Can I get through 4 years of high school w/ a MBP, and if so do you think it is realistic that I will not want to update sooner. If I don't see myself using a MBP for 4 years I'd just assume save money and get a MB, although I really think with the new screen and graphics card is worth the upgrade. I also like the fact that I can a 7200HD on pro. Thoughts??????

 

Depends on what you do with your Mac. If you are a hardcore gamer, the MBP will barely last over 2 years. If you just use it for web browsing, it might last you a decade.

 

like all computers it depends on how you treat it. I just worked on a windows 95B laptop from Toshiba.

I've seen lots of new laptops that are treated like crap

 

I have a 6-year old Powerbook that's still going strong (with the exception of dead fire-wire and the inconvenience of usb1.1).

 

Budding, I currently have Asus V6VA, ATIx700 128 MB. 5400HD. I find this HD extremely slow. Would like to move up to MBP 7200HD

 

Just as Passive101 said it all depends on how you treat your laptop. Whenever my friend uses his laptop he always uses on his bed which isnt good for his laptop because of the poor ventilation and never takes his battery out whenever its plugged in. So basically yours laptops life expectancy depends on how well you treat the laptop.

 

Take Battery out when plugged in?????????????

 

Heat lowers your battery's capacity over time, especially when it's kept close to 0% or when it's kept at 100% (when it's plugged in). Your laptop produces lots of heat so when tethered for any long amounts of time, it's recommended to remove the battery.

 

you can definitely keep it for 4 years without a problem, i doubt you are using it for a gaming machine if you are getting a mac so that shouldn't be a huge issue, the 160gb 7200rpm hardrive won't be available for 4-6 weeks unfortunately, according to Apple, for all models.

as far as the battery losing charge, it is going to lose charge over time no matter what you do, and taking it out etc. will barely give you a noticeable amount of longer life, definitely not worth the effort at all, especially with a MBP, as you will have a gaping hole in the bottom of your computer, don't take it out.

just buy a new one when you need it, it is like $80, and obviously you are buying a laptop, one of the conveniences of having a laptop is being able to take if from spot to spot and still being able to work, without having to put a battery back in it when needed, etc.

I completely disagree with people saying removing the battery while not in use is worth it, the life you will gain cannot be worth the effort and having a non sealed section on the bottom of you computer.

 

oh also, if you are planning on using it for 4 years definitely go ahead and get Apple care as well, you won't regret it, being covered for that long is definitely worth it, they are very good at replacing things, even when laptops aren't treated the best.

but honestly, Macs are pretty long lasting machines, I have seen many dropped, scratched, broken cases (from a drop), slept on (seriously, you would be amazed at how many people think it is ok to close the lid and use a MBP as a very uncomfortable pillow), bumped, jerked around from cord, Macbook Pro's that are still running strong, as well as Powerbooks, etc.

But if you take care of it and don't as treat it as crappy as a lot of people do, it will last you as long as you want it too, the batter will probably need replaced every few years, but that is the case with all laptops right now.

and as far as performance, that of course depends on what you will use it for, if you will being using Pro apps like final cut studio, etc. it should still easily last you many years, definitely for the life of a 3-year warranty, and easily for 4 years.

of course over a period of 4 years better machines will become available, but you have to think of it differently sometimes, is having a slightly older machine keeping your from using your machine efficiently? probably not . . .

don't think of it in terms of hardware, just think of it as "how efficient is it for you and how much can I get out of it"

good luck with your decision.

 

The hole on the bottom of your laptop is a possible problem, one that becomes rather unlikely if your laptop becomes a desktop replacement and you're careful. The lost of your battery's capacity due to heat and full charge is an unavoidable problem, one that becomes even worse if your laptop becomes a desktop replacement.

I'm not saying one's better than the other, but depending on your usage patterns, storing your battery at 40% somewhere cool can be very nice if you suddenly find yourself in need of long battery life.

Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery#Storage_temperature_and_charge

Look at the chart of capacity vs time, charge, and temperature. I doubt it's 100% exact, but even with a moderate margin of error, the 4% vs 35% capacity loss difference between a room-stored 40% battery and a connected 100% battery is significant.

 

good wiki article

yeah it is a substantial percentage i guess, but they also don't include the hassle percentage in that chart, and that is the point of view I am coming from.

the laptop gets unplugged while you are working on something, definitely a problem that I could not deal with, and MBP's power cables can quite easily be knocked out.

but like you said, it all comes down to each users patterns, but I think there would be a very small group where this would be worth it over the long run.

if it were me, it would be worth it to me to use the computer for 1.5-2 years and buy a new battery at that time.

but I can't disagree with the fact that it you will get a longer battery life (in terms of how long it is before you need a new battery)

if you aren't going to use the laptop for a significant amount of time, ok take the battery out and get it nice and cold, but otherwise . . . . eh? I will let the battery take some abuse.

i figure if I keep abusing these stupid dyeing batteries it will force engineers to actually create one that can keep near 100% charge no matter how it is treated? why in the hell haven't these batteries been updated more significantly????? boo battery engineers!!!! booooo!

(I am in a very Mac happy posting mood for some reason ^_^)

 

quoting circa,

"it is going to lose charge over time no matter what you do, and taking it out etc. will barely give you a noticeable amount of longer life,"

thats not true at all. keeping your battery away from heat and storing it in cool/cold environments will drastically impact the long term ability of the battery to retain a charge. whether it is "worth it" to you is a personal preference, but to say that it is ineffective is untrue. those techniques are very effective at retaining long term battery health.

 

Li-ion batteries should be bought only when needed, because the aging process begins as soon as the battery is manufactured (wiki article)

yes, you will see the benefit if the battery is very often stored in cold temps, not exposed to heat, over the course of a year, how often does the battery need to be stored to see these benefit in life, over the course of a year?

yes it is a concern, but I would be more worried about many other things first, and if you can store the battery, but definitely don't make it a priority and make it more inconvenient for yourself.

 

As long as the hardware holds up you will be fine. Macs tend to age well, probably due to the closed system.