8 year old laptop - keep or not?

[AI1601]

My Samsung laptop is coming up to 8 years now. It's running the latest version of Windows 10 with an i5 processor, 8gb RAM and an SSD with a fresh aftermarket battery which isn't as good as the original but does the job. It runs very well actually but isn't compatible with Windows 11. At which point do laptops go bust? Probably a how long is a piece of string question but Samsung pulled out of the European market in terms of laptops a while back so getting hold of spare parts would be challenging.

[hersh]

Sounds like it is still a useable spec
Unless you need to upgrade, I would keep it till it dies
There are going to be lots of PCs and laptops that will not run Win11 but I don't see people throwing these out for that reason

[alock]

Just installed Windows 11 on my 2012 Lenovo X1 Carbon.

A firmware update enabled TPM 1.2, and then a quick registry change and the Windows 11 installer ignores the TPM 2.0 and CPU checks.

I've only got Office and Visual Studio on it so far, but seems to be working fine.

[Mr Pointy]

Does it do what you need it to do? W10 supports runs until 2025 although I'd guess that demand for laptops might rocket in 2024 as the deadline approaches. If it does the job you need I'd hang on to it & look to replace it in a couple of years time.

[xeny]

I'd run it until it drops, or no longer does what you want it to do.

PC/laptop suppliers are tight at present, and inevitably that means they're not as cheap as normal. That's likely to improve next year.

I can though see the point of possibly not leaving replacement to the last minute of 2025.

[anonymous-user]

I am not sure I would want to be an early adopter of Windows 11 anyway, let other people find all the issues for Microsoft.

Sounds like a decent spec laptop that does everything you need, no point buying a new one just to get Windows 11. I purchased a new laptop two months ago that came with Windows 10, it does everything I need so I cannot see any reason why I would upgrade at the moment even though I could.

[AJB88]

If it does whats required then keep it, you can make some registy edits to support Windows 11 if you really want to run it.

[HRL]

AJB88 said:

If it does whats required then keep it, you can make some registy edits to support Windows 11 if you really want to run it.

Or simply download both Win 10 x64 and Win 11 x64, swap the Install.wim file from the Win 11 ISO into the Win 10 ISO, then make a bootable USB using the modified Win 10 ISO.

[xeny]

I think it is easier to make the registry edits described https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/10/how-to-upg... and do an upgrade from the downloaded ISO.

[BIRMA]

My Apple MacBook Pro was bought in 2012 as was my iMac and both doing good service. The salesman told me when buying them that I'd never need to buy another laptop or computer and I believed him. I'll obviously have a word with Apple if I ever have a problem.

[2Btoo]

BIRMA said:

My Apple MacBook Pro was bought in 2012 as was my iMac and both doing good service. The salesman told me when buying them that I'd never need to buy another laptop or computer and I believed him. I'll obviously have a word with Apple if I ever have a problem.

Interesting. I hope you still have his number in a safe place.

[AJB88]

BIRMA said:

My Apple MacBook Pro was bought in 2012 as was my iMac and both doing good service. The salesman told me when buying them that I'd never need to buy another laptop or computer and I believed him. I'll obviously have a word with Apple if I ever have a problem.

Wait till you stop getting security updates and MAC OS updates. Amazes me the amount of people who do stuff like banking etc on old tech thats not secured.

[BIRMA]

AJB88 said:

BIRMA said:

My Apple MacBook Pro was bought in 2012 as was my iMac and both doing good service. The salesman told me when buying them that I'd never need to buy another laptop or computer and I believed him. I'll obviously have a word with Apple if I ever have a problem.

Wait till you stop getting security updates and MAC OS updates. Amazes me the amount of people who do stuff like banking etc on old tech thats not secured.

I guess that will be the time to change them, as I bought them for my business I think they have been very cost effective so won't be too upset when replacement time comes. Seem to recall they were on no deposit 36 months interest free at the time.
Not a big fan of Apple but I have to say I've not had a single hitch or virus so if they last for the ten year period I'll not complain.

[RVB]

AI1601 said:

My Samsung laptop is coming up to 8 years now. It's running the latest version of Windows 10 with an i5 processor, 8gb RAM and an SSD with a fresh aftermarket battery which isn't as good as the original but does the job. It runs very well actually but isn't compatible with Windows 11. At which point do laptops go bust? Probably a how long is a piece of string question but Samsung pulled out of the European market in terms of laptops a while back so getting hold of spare parts would be challenging.

If I was you, I would keep using it. Or keep it as a spare for when your daily computer misbehaves.

Not being compatible with Windows 11 is not an issue; the requirements can be bypassed and even on very old, low-spec hardware Windows 11 seems stable and fully functional (I've been using Windows 11 on an old computer built around 2008).

[Narcisus]

Put it on eBay I’ve just sold my 10 year old laptop for 400 quid

[Magnum 475]

BIRMA said:

AJB88 said:

BIRMA said:

My Apple MacBook Pro was bought in 2012 as was my iMac and both doing good service. The salesman told me when buying them that I'd never need to buy another laptop or computer and I believed him. I'll obviously have a word with Apple if I ever have a problem.

Wait till you stop getting security updates and MAC OS updates. Amazes me the amount of people who do stuff like banking etc on old tech thats not secured.

I guess that will be the time to change them, as I bought them for my business I think they have been very cost effective so won't be too upset when replacement time comes. Seem to recall they were on no deposit 36 months interest free at the time.
Not a big fan of Apple but I have to say I've not had a single hitch or virus so if they last for the ten year period I'll not complain.

No reason why they shouldn't last 10 years. I'm typing this on an 8 year old MBP, my wife is still using a 9 year old iMac. We'll change them when there are no more security updates being issued.

[sutoka]

My 15' MacBook Pro Retina is just over 8 years old and running well, ok a few milliseconds over the newest M1 chips with general browsing and switching applications but I've just put another battery in it as the old one was well over a 1000 cycles.

No real reason to upgrade as my 4K iMac does most of the legwork.

[Emeye]

If it is working ok and doing everything you need at a reasonable speed, stick with Windows 10 for now - the security updates will keep coming for a good while.

BUT, make sure your laptop or any important files/data on it is backed up. Therefore, when it dies you can get your new laptop and easily pull your files onto it.

You can use the built in onedrive or another cloud storage provider and move the files into the synced folder, or just periodically move your files onto a USB stick or external hard drive.

You can even configure onedrive to backup your desktop etc. You may need to pay Microsoft for some extra storage space but it is only a few quid a month to keep your files safe.

[AI1601]

Thanks for the replies, I'll go with the general consensus which is to stick with it, well at least until Windows 10 support ends. Will be buying an external hard drive for back up purposes In all honesty, I'd love a Macbook but just can't justify the high prices.

[Jinx]

Age is no reason to get rid of a working system. I have a 2009 desktop running as an HTPC and my 2012 Alienware laptop is still used daily for teams meetings and such (allowing me to continue to work on my main PC whilst in boring meetings without risk of inadvertently shutting down the meeting). As has been said previously - keep back-ups of anything important and even when win10 is no longer supported there will be a Linux flavour that will run perfectly fine on it.