ICT_GUY Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 I had a recent conversation which highlighted a huge disparity on perceived life cycles of mobile tech. SMT thought that Ipads had a useful life of 10 years. I have always held the belief that PC's End of life was approx 5 years, Laptops 3 - 4 years and Tablets, netbooks other highly mobile tech 3 years ish. My reasoning being that PC's are easy to repair and upgrade but 5 years hooked up to the mains and things start to blow / die and an accelerated rate. Laptops are harder and less economically viable to repair and upgrade but what kills them is wear and tear / battery issues. Tablets and netbooks are throwaway tech that has rapid obsolescence built in. Questionable battery longevity, rapid upgrades to the new ishinny, OS updates that tax the older hardware. Parts that take a hard knock such as charging ports ECT. The reason I am really interested in some feedback about your experiences is that total cost of ownership in a primary school is a major factor but unfortunately it seems the race for mobile tech is ignoring the sustainability of spending in our already stretch budgets. All thoughts appreciated.
localzuk Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Desktops - 5 years+ (depends on spec) Laptops - 3-5 years max Tablets - 3 years max Tablets, quite frankly, are consumer tech. They experience more severe wear and tear, and can't be repaired easily, so 3 years is maximum. 1
ICT_GUY Posted March 25, 2015 Author Posted March 25, 2015 Anyone got any experience with battery life expectancy?
Oaktech Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 we've got a set of HP 550 laptops that are from 2006/7, just about to be replaced having previously had 4gb ram upgrades and SSD upgrades. Some of which have had 2 sets of batteries to extend their life and now they are past it. So I would say that 5 years for laptops is sensible, but expect to be getting/needing new batteries towards the end of their life. 1
fiza Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 With the recent squeeze on school finances it looks like we will have to keep tech going for a lot longer. Some of our current desktops are from 2008 with no likelihood of replacing them any time soon. 1
newpersn Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Desktops in IT rooms around 4-5 Years (Old kit replaces older kit round the school) Laptops around 5 years again. (but on 2nd set of batteries) 1
Gibson335 Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Our workstations are on 4/5 year lifecycle, with the stations in main areas moved into other areas for their fifth and final year of warranty. Laptops are expected to be in main use for 4 years, become spares in their fifth, and stand-alones in their sixth. In all probability many will require a replacement battery in that time. We have few pads/tablets and none are older than 3 years yet, but everything I hear puts them in the 3 year category if you're lucky. 1
pcstru Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Desktops - 5 years+ (depends on spec) Laptops - 3-5 years max Tablets - 3 years max ^ This but Laptops will need battery replacement after 2-3 years. Interestingly Chromebooks might be limited by software (updates required for integration with the directory management but unavailable because of EOL on support). 1
difinity Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 The increase in speed of new hardware is not as fast as it used to be, so 3 year refreshes in hardware which used to be the norm don't need to be. Surely the job the device is required to do determines the lifespan, not some set time ? Unless there is some planned obsolescence by the manufacturer. A laptop battery is far cheaper than a new laptop and as above if you stick in an SSD the life can be extended further. I think repair cost should always be considered when buying devices. Sure those laptops/tablets are a few quid cheaper now than a better known name but will spares be available in 3 years time and at what cost. Whilst they maybe be a little bit of a pain to manage etc, iPads are easy to fix and spares easily accessible. I'm fixing 2 or 3 a week at the moment. It might just be me, but i love fixing hardware, so much so i left the school and do it full time. Having the right tools helps tremendously. 1
Gibson335 Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 The increase in speed of new hardware is not as fast as it used to be, so 3 year refreshes in hardware which used to be the norm don't need to be. Surely the job the device is required to do determines the lifespan, not some set time ? Unless there is some planned obsolescence by the manufacturer. A laptop battery is far cheaper than a new laptop and as above if you stick in an SSD the life can be extended further. I think repair cost should always be considered when buying devices. Sure those laptops/tablets are a few quid cheaper now than a better known name but will spares be available in 3 years time and at what cost. Whilst they maybe be a little bit of a pain to manage etc, iPads are easy to fix and spares easily accessible. I'm fixing 2 or 3 a week at the moment. It might just be me, but i love fixing hardware, so much so i left the school and do it full time. Having the right tools helps tremendously. It's not just about performance it's about condition and reliability. We know from experience that most of our staff laptops get some awful abuse over the years, and to maintain stability across the site it's better for us to replace as we do. Equally, having the ability to move stations on into other areas is useful, so we designate some areas as being on a 4 year cycle instead of 5. We tend to find that, irrespective of image refreshing, older machines are simply less reliable. It also comes down to budget, availability, volume, and support team time constraints. A lifecycle should be a guideline, not set in stone, but it should represent known quantities.
maark Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 we have a lot of 7 and 8 year old laptops which is too old but still keep them going somehow. ipads i think that apple will stop you installing the latest ios in 3 years time which is why people getting rid of perfectly good ipad 1's because they can't run latest apps. keeps apples gold mine running. 1
sonofsanta Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Desktops: as much as 7 years in these days of Good Enough Performance, especially if you start installing SSDs. Reliability is what gets to them in the end; it becomes uneconomical to keep them going. Laptops: you're lucky to get 5 years, only bank on 3. All the extra heat crammed in that tiny chassis wears 'em out sooner, the hinges go, keys get mushy, trackpad buttons break... Tablets: I'm lucky not to suffer any here (we've trialled them, and not found any actual use for our style of teaching & learning) but I'd only expect a couple of good years, and replace them after 3. 10 years ago we didn't even have iPhones, let alone iPads. How can they expect them to last that long? I bet you can't find anyone still running a Windows Mobile 6.5 device from 2005, or even an original iPhone. Tablets are consumer mobile tech, not enterprise PC tech. Judge them by how consumer mobiles last. 1
caffrey Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 iPads, seem to do okay, batteries are starting to fail on the older ones which are coming up to 3 years old and we've had maybe one total failure out of a set just short of 2 years. One thing to remember is that iPads from apple only come with a one year warranty, but yes we've fallen into the obsolescence trap - they expected them to last a lot longer.... 1
iom100 Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 An important problem with mobile devices is the support cycles of the OS. How many people are still using old, unsupported versions of Android? We certainly have some iPod touches that are now no longer getting iOS updates. 1
difinity Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 The life of laptops can be extended greatly with regular maintenance. Dell laptops always have the screws coming loose which leads to sloppy hinges and breakages. Thermal paste and pads are easily replaced as are keys/keyboards and all sockets and buttons. If the time and skills are available most laptop motherboard failures are down to components costing less than a pound. Ipads are great for certain tasks but as we see often on here are bought without ITs say so and without much though apart from "oooh shiny" and "make them work". Laptops at least have a nice shell to protect the most delicate part and the charging port is a simple design. 1
ICT_GUY Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 Very Interesting information. I have tried to avoid mobile devices purely because of cost of ownership / life span issues. Laptops in my experience (which is limited) seem to develop physical issues that on a desktop PC would be minor fixes but on a laptop are a pain. Keyboards, track pads, broken hinges or connectors. I am concerned that with the current trend to spend a lot on mobile devices which is seen as an investment is incompatible with budgets and the predicted lifespan of the devices.
FWBD Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 We've currently got several groups of laptops of varying ages across the campus which are starting to show signs that they'll need replacing soon. One group must be about 4 - 5 years old at this point and were bought before I started working here. What makes them overheat so much compared to when they were new? I noticed the older the models get the more they seem to warm up and slow down on boot up/logging in and such. 1
difinity Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 We've currently got several groups of laptops of varying ages across the campus which are starting to show signs that they'll need replacing soon. One group must be about 4 - 5 years old at this point and were bought before I started working here. What makes them overheat so much compared to when they were new? I noticed the older the models get the more they seem to warm up and slow down on boot up/logging in and such. Dust buildup between the fan and the heatsink (i've seen this build up to a few mm) and the thermal paste also dries out. 1
FWBD Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Dust buildup between the fan and the heatsink (i've seen this build up to a few mm) and the thermal paste also dries out. I had heard before about thermal paste drying out causes issues but I've never opened up a laptop to check. Do you reckon it is worth taking an air can to the laptop to try clear it out or am I going to have to try something else?
jmak Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 I had heard before about thermal paste drying out causes issues but I've never opened up a laptop to check. Do you reckon it is worth taking an air can to the laptop to try clear it out or am I going to have to try something else? I've always opened them and used canned air to blow dust out rather than in... I've never tried the other way round - it just seems counter intuitive to me.
ICT_GUY Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 I have a small air compressor, 120psi = no more dust. Does not matter much where you aim it. 1
FWBD Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 I have a small air compressor, 120psi = no more dust. Does not matter much where you aim it. Alright I've give that a go and hopefully try make these things last till the end of summer... 1
difinity Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 from a couple of laptops I've done recently. I have a compressor, but will always strip down, clean and apply new paste as part of a service. It only adds about 20 minutes to the job and i know it's properly done, with no dust hiding anywhere and without causing a mess/health concern. Sometimes the buildup is so bad air wouldn't shift it anyway. Causing the fan to blow at high speed isn't good for it either. 2
FWBD Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 See I would do this but I'm always wary of taking laptops apart completely as I've not got a good record of putting them back together after! 1
jmak Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 See I would do this but I'm always wary of taking laptops apart completely as I've not got a good record of putting them back together after! I have a collection of screws in a box on my desk which were magically spare after reassembling laptops
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