Is it reasonable to think I can have my computer last for 10 years ?

knk2009

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Jan 26, 2011
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Hi,

In January 2011 I was given a brand new Acer Aspire M3910, intel i7 870 processor, 450g 7200rpm Sata harddrive, Nvidia GT 320 video card. It has windows 7 64 bit on it. I presently am only using 296g of the hard drive space and don't plan on downloading a lot of music. I also have an external hard drive that I use for storage of photos and videos I make.

I am the sole user of this computer. I was playing some video games but at this point I have outgrown video gaming altogether and doubt I will play any if much at all ever again. At this point I am using my computer for email, surfing the web that is about it.

What I am wondering is if it is reasonable to expect that I could have my computer last for 10 years. I realize that at some point microsoft will stop making updates for windows 7 (once they release windows 8 and so on) but aside from having to possibly upgrade the OS is it reasonable to think that I could have my computer last 10 years?
 
I have a Wang APC on a desk that has been operating since 1985. I have a P300 server w/ SCSI Hard Drives that I use as a file server in my office that has been running since "the last millenium" (1999). However, neither machine is useful for performing modern day tasks.

Upgrading an OS is always a bad idea. In all of history, every MS OS has been slower than any OS before it on the same hardware.

Hardware wise, it's very unusual for a machine using everyday "consumer" rather than professional grade components to last more than 3 -5 years without at least 1 or 2 components failing. In my experience, things that go in order of "most often" are:

Optical Drives
Hard Drives
PSU's
 
An old slot A Athlon 650 I built in mid-99 still runs fine....

luck of the draw, hard to predict what component may/might not fail in a 10 yr span, but it is possible it could work fine for that time for basic surfing/email duties...
 

misry

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Aug 11, 2006
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Keeping a system in it's original configuration for ten years with me around is so highly unlikely I would say <b>NO!</b> if you knew me. As it is I have to bet against it if for no other reason but the likelihood of the above mentioned component fails.
 

knk2009

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Jan 26, 2011
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So say one or more of those components does fail and I replace them that would still be a lot cheaper than buying a new system... I suppose I will have to wait and see... thanks.