How do you decide...

Daniel Pfeffer

My new laptop doesn't have a DVD burner, and is ~1 Kg lighter. Then again, I use a DVD burner much less often than I used to, so having an external burner (connected via USB) is a reasonable choice. As for connectivity, as long as a laptop has a network (RJ-45) port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a variety of USB 3 ports, I'm happy.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

GuyThiebaut

Here here! My desktop at home is 6 years old and it's still running fine with the original i5 processor and motherboard.

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

― Christopher Hitchens

abmv

if u buy like a custom dell precision series or a ThinkPad P72....ur set for some time...

Caveat Emptor. "Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long

dandy72

littleGreenDude wrote:

I have 16GB RAM, so I'm thinking the performance is most likely related to the graphics card.

That's quite the leap, IMO. What "isn't quite fast enough" exactly? If you're just getting started with Unity, I have to believe you're still working on basic stuff, and nothing already so complex as to overwhelm your video hardware. As others have pointed out, are you using a spinning drive, or SSD? I'd try to figure out what is slowing you down before getting newer hardware that, in the end, might not solve the right problem. As I'm sure you know, your options are rather limited when it comes to laptops, other than an SSD and more RAM (if you need it, and the MB can take it). Otherwise it's time for a new laptop. Although you can certainly keep it going in parallel until it dies. All my systems eventually get repurposed. How does Unity perform on a remote system across Remote Desktop sessions? Would you consider getting a beefy desktop (they're cheaper and you have more upgrade options) and remoting into it from your laptop? If you can run that way, then whatever specs your laptop's got become pretty much irrelevant, as all the heavy lifting is done elsewhere. But since Unity is involved here--YMMV. Just a random thought from my part. Obviously this won't work if you need to be elsewhere, and offline.

Lost User

I use only gaming desktops and replace them only when the frame rates of the games I play start to drop below 60 fps. Then I go and order a custom machine with some top components. The current one is almost 4 years old and still going strong. The company that assembles them was so good at it, they went bankrupt because nobody needed new ones. [Building an X299 RGB Gaming PC - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18LketLjcKg)

They buy shoes, then they wear them! They make them sound old! Dairy! Dairy!

Jorgen Andersson

For work I make sure to get a new one when the warranty runs out, but I always buy with extended warranty, so four years. The reason is simple, the time it takes to get a new computer and get it up and working is worth more than what the computer itself costs. At home I get a new one when the old one goes beyond repair.

Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

KBZX5000

Quote:

Do you treat your laptop like a (lease) car and get a new model every 3 years, or do you keep it until end of life?

Isn't end of life 2 years?

Stuart Dootson

EOL... I'm still using my MacBook Pro, bought in 2009. It's got a few dings & dents (mostly from air travel, I suspect), but is still plenty for most of my home needs (web, email, photo processing in Aperture, some toy projects in C++ and Rust). It's had one hardware upgrade (I added an SSD as boot drive in about 2011 - still use the spinning disk as bulk storage, though) and a replacement battery, but apart from that is still going well enough.

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p

kalberts

A few years ago I dug up some old equipment (a MIDI interface) from the basement to plug into my tower style PC. This thing had a DB-9 plug, the old "COM port" RS-232. I searched the computer all over, from every angle, but I simply couldn't find the COM port! I had replaced the computer more than two years earlier, and had never realized that it didn't have a COM port. (Later, when I had the box opened, I noticed a mainboard header labeled COM1, so in fact the PC did have a COM port, lacking only the socket. The main point of the story is that it took me more than two years to discover that RS-232 is no longer included in the standard PC interfaces.)

Daniel Pfeffer

I think that proves my point. Unless you have special requirements (e.g. legacy hardware), USB is the answer to your needs. Out of curiosity, did you use the motherboard's COM port, or did you get a USB-to-COM adapter?

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

kalberts

Yes, I mentioned it to prove your point. Actually, I did neither use the COM port (it wasn't until months later I discoverd it), and I didn't get a USB-to-COM-adapter - I did it in software. 20+ years ago, when I bought this MIDI-adapter, I also bought a fairly good, for the time, keyboard. At that time, software MIDI players had terrible sound, all digitally generated, while this keyboard used actually sampled sound of acoustic instruments. I used it with a visually handicapped daughter who could not read the sheet music, so she had to learn her violin part in the orchestra by ear. (One side benefit was that when practicing, she could turn down her own part and play with the other instruments.) Fifteen years later, I picked up the old music editor so that I could practice my barbershop quartet songs with the three other parts "singing" along with me. When interfacing to the old keyboard failed, I switched to a modern MIDI player. With today's processing capacity, they generate far more pleasant sounds, even though it still is completely synthesized, not sampled. The old keyboard is still nice for e.g. giving the opening chord when singing without any PC/instrument support, but I don't use its MIDI interface at all nowadays - even though I did buy myself another MIDI-interface, going directly from USB to MIDI.

BryanFazekas

I purchased my desktop in 1996. Yes, 1996! Still got the same PC and it runs great! The nice thing about desktops is they are so modular -- it's easy to replace failed parts.

CD/DVD-burners tend to go fastest (yes, I still keep one in the PC).
Replace the primary HD every 2 to 3 years.
Motherboard, CPU, & RAM get replaced every 4 to 6 years (had 1 MB failure, otherwise when the old one doesn't run the software as well).
Hate onboard video, used to use lower end graphics cards, but bought a good one last year for gaming, and it improved overall system performance. I didn't expect that.
The case has been replaced a few times, and the power supply a few more than that.

Other than replacing a few parts periodically, I have the same PC! :laugh: To answer the OP's question -- I have a laptop and I'll replace it when it dies. It's my secondary unit and doesn't get used as much. I replace parts on my desktop when I have to (due to failure) or when the system is not meeting my needs. So I replace the MB/CPU/RAM every 4 to 6 years. That's my answer on when to replace the laptop -- if it's not meeting your needs, replace it. Don't buy a low end laptop. I buy last year's model. It's typically good enough for last 4 to 6 years, and the price drop from when it was current is significant.

littleGreenDude

:thumbsup: Thank you for the advice. I checked last night and it did have a 500 GB HDD. Ordered a 1 TB SSD. Now I just have to be patient and wait the week for it to arrive. :)

BryanFazekas

Assuming you're running Windows, your PC may need cleaning instead of replacing. I'll start with mundane ideas and move to radical. Windows gets junked up over time and you can do simple things to repair this:

Uninstall all programs that you are not using.
Empty all Temp folders.
Run cleaner utilities that clean up the Registry.
Defrag the HD!!!

A few years back my son complained he needed a new PC. I checked his temp folders -- he had 20,000+ files in his profile/temp. I cleaned out all three temp folders (profile, C, & Windows), then ran Iobit Advanced System Care to clean the junk out, then defragged the HD. The defrag on a 500 MB drive ran 4 hours the first time. [I'm not advocating ASC, but that's what I used at that time.] When done his PC ran like it was new. I had given him instructions on keeping his PC in good shape -- he ignored me (yeah, he was a teenager). In his early 20's now, he's amazed at how much I have learned over the years. :) As I said in a previous post, I replace my HD every 2 to 3 years. Last time, I replaced my SATA with a SSD. WOW! The PC went from fast to greased lightning. I have a stack of old SATA HD I use for large backups, but for my primary I have a 500 MB SSD. Prices have come way down. Another thing is to reinstall Windows from scratch. Yes, it's a PITA to reload all your applications, but when done you have a clean install. Windows gets junked up over time, and no cleaner can fix everything. So when I replace my HD, I do a clean install and start from scratch. Yes, it eats a day ... but I'm happier when done.

Slow Eddie

littleGreenDude wrote:

file / app migration is probably the bigger PITA.

I could not agree with this sentiment more.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: The DVD drive on my laptop died and I bought an external USB DVD drive. This laptop will have to die totally and completely for me to tackle the app/license migration thing again.

At this point, I expect my computers, and pets to out live me.

rnbergren

When the kids eventually beg enough that they want a new one. So I give them mine and then get a new buttkicker for myself. My eldest is about to get a really nice surface pro 2. I am looking at the HP Spectre x360. Then in a few months(6 or so) my i5 gaming laptop (used for main coding) from ASus (3 years old or so) will go to the youngest and I will get a better one. This is an unusual year for these types of purchases.

To err is human to really mess up you need a computer

Matt McGuire

I tend to replace when the tools/OS are just bogging down the machine. sometimes a wipe/new HD helps but sometimes it don't. I still keep the old machines running to test on. there's an 10+ year old Dell laptop I keep running for testing purposes only. I had an older Dell from around 2002 that I was still testing with but it finally gave up the ghost I a puff of smoke one night. I always figured if my stuff runs good on a 900mhz laptop, that I'm doing something right.

Greg Lovekamp

Different from others that have replied, my PCs tend to look absolutely brand new when I am done with them (no broken screens, dents, dings, etc.). As such, I probably hang onto them longer. I also do not use mine for my working life: my employer supplies the desktop I use daily. Given all of that, I probably hang onto mine longer than most; however, once the new wizbang features and speeds make my machine look sad and pathetic, and when I have the available funds, I upgrade. For reference, my work computer is Windows 10, but my home life is Mac. My 2011 MacBook Pro will not upgrade to the next macOS, so for me, the clock toward a newer model has started. I suspect it will be about two years from now that I will make such a purchase. This posting caused me to think back about what machines I have had since 1980, and amazingly, to me at least, the cycle seems to be pretty steady at about six years! 1980-Atari, 1986-Amiga, 1993-DEC Starion (Windows), 1998-Gateway, 2004-Dell, 2010-iMac, 2014-MacBook Pro (which was more of a form factor change, desktop to laptop, rather than features).

SeattleC

I only upgrade when my old machine becomes unusable, either because it's too slow or because hardware has failed. I used to spend a lot of time thinking about my computer; how many ports did it need, what hardware peripherals might be important for the next few years. I bought desktops because they were easier to add stuff to than laptops were. And then I had a liberating realization. I realized that I never upgraded the peripherals on my PC. I used the same graphics board. I never installed any high speed peripherals that needed access to the backplane. When a new port came along that I wanted, it was something that had appeared out of nowhere, so that I couldn't have predicted it five years previously. Oh sure, I once bought a SCSI hard drive. I got the SCSI card to work (barely), but when the PC crapped out, I discovered that the card wasn't compatible with my PC's replacement. I replace my mice, keyboards, and monitors more frequently than my PCs, and the manufacturers know it, so they use widely available ports. I have VGA-to-PCI and VGA-to-HDMI interface cables galore, but these only cost $15, so when I need a newer or different one, I just buy it. The old ones go into my box-o-cables. I get hardware lust like the rest of you, and buy a new peripheral, like a WACOM tablet or a webcam. These languish in their boxes, or get tried and rejected. Every peripheral I actually want to use is included in the vendor-supplied configuration of my next PC.

matblue25

I also think that’s the answer. I’ve now updated three laptops (wife’s, her friend and a buddy of mine). Made a huge difference in each case. The old HDDs were all 5400rpm. Check your performance with Task Manager some time when you think the laptop is running slow. If it shows 100% disk and low cpu and memory utilization, the SSD is definitely going to help. On the laptops I upgraded, disk usage went from 100% down to 20-30% and cpu became the bottleneck. Basically a 3 to 5 time improvement in performance since the cpu was only running 20-30% before and it’s now 100% (when fully loaded).