I know I'm frugal but

[Catrin]

My average computer "lifespan" has been 7-10 years. My most recent computer rocks and has impressive resources - and was quite expensive. However, I run computationally intense scientific models at work and when I purchased this computer I was doing a lot of work at home - insanely long days between work and home for a time. No more, I finally had to stop doing that...

If you stay up on OS updates and know how to maintain your computer, it isn't too hard to keep the computer going for that long. It really depends what you use your computer for. Many of us don't need the newest and best technology to do what we need to do with our computers, it just all depends. At some point, of course, you have to decide if the slower speeds are worth it.

I did purchase a laptop a few years back to support a side business I was trying to start, and I found that I hated it. I just don't like to use them, and the only way I could make it comfortable for me to use was to turn it into a pseudo desktop - connect it to an external keyboard and monitor. It was quite nice, but I wound up just giving it to someone I knew who could use it. I won't repeat the experiment.