How often do you buy new?

[RobHague]

When i was using a PC, every 6 months more or less. I would either make incrimental upgrades (more Ram, new Video Card) or grab a new mainboard and CPU (usually resulting in me wanting to change Video/RAM and Case too).

I just spend a load on my new powermac (and now there is talk of upgrading in teh PowerMac line thankyou apple) so im hoping to hold onto this thing for at least a year or more. Hopefully 2.

Im sure in that time though i might end up either getting another Cinema Display (i wish) or upgrading the RAM (most likley) or the graphics card if something substantial arrives.

Most likley upgrades though for me would prolly be (in the next 6 months) adding AirPort Express (just because its cheap and i can XD) and adding maybe another 512mb of RAM (ideally another 1.5 to take it upto 3Gb).

 

[FFTT]

As you can see here a lot of people buy a new machine simply because they want one more than they need one.

As long as the system you buy today does everything you need it to do with todays software, you're fine.

I ended up leapfrogging G4 altogether going from a
300MHz single processor non-AGP beige G3 tower
with 64 MB RAM and a whopping 8.5 GB SCSI hard drive ( that cost $2700 new) + $700 in upgrades.
to a new dual processor 2.0 GHz G5 for $1699 one day after the last G5 revison.

I actually NEEDED a new machine because the new software required a faster machine.

 

[jamesW135]

My PowerBook 540c still runs great.

 

[RacerX]

The oldest Mac I use regularly is my Quadra 950 (from 1992), the Mac I use the most is my PowerBook G3 Wallstreet (from September 1998) and the last "new" Mac I bought was in October 2000 (an iMac 350).

I see and use new Macs all the time (working with my clients), but I haven't felt any real longing for a newer system yet.

 

[G5Unit]

Usually this

5 years Packerd bell
5 years No Name
1 years Dell still in use
2 years Compaq that's un usable
Coming up to 1 year with PowerMac best compy ever
Plan on using this one for at least 5 years

 

[Alasta]

My upgrade cycle is three years. My G3 800MHz iBook is now nearly three years old and, despite the G3 being near the end of its product life when I bought it, I have found that this machine has served me well throughout the three year period.

In the next few weeks, I intend to buy a G4 1.42GHz iBook. I would expect to upgrade it to Leopard when it's released, and add some RAM at the same time, and it should then easily serve the balance of three years without any further maintenance. I don't expect the Intel transition to affect its useful life.

 

[applekid]

It used to be 5 years. But this year or next year it'll be 3 or 4. I'm going to need a PowerBook for college which will most likely have a Intel processor inside. And I want to replace my Bondi Blue iMac with a Mac Mini and that could happen soon, depending on how well this job for the library pays

 

[xparaparafreakx]

My Mac, iMac 1998
Lil Bros, iBook 2000
My Mac, TiBook 2002
Lil Bro, AlBook 2004

Looks like next year is my time to get another machine if Apple comes out with a good mactel machine

 

[galstaph]

I just bought my first mac, hope to use it for 3-4 years.
My PC's are o l d lemme see:
AMD 751Mhz duron 512mb ram 80gb hd Win2k... had for 4 years with minor dvd-rw (16x DL) upgrade
Winbook XP5 P75 (smoking fast! ) 16mb ram 800MB hd Win95, had for 4 years as well, bought an external cd-rom for it....
(it was a hand me down, I plan to do a comparo between it and my ibook as I believe it is a 12" [or so] as well if memeory serves )

So not often I guess is what I'm trying to say

 

[derajfast]

i built a PC about 3.5 years ago with a 2.53 ghz, 512ram, 160gb HD + 80gb HD and an ati radeon 9800....it still runs fine actually, and im very pleased with it, but i did have a few problems with installing hard drives that gave me headaches....probably when that dies, ill buy a cheap 300 dollar machine and maybe pirate vista (just kidding)......ive had my 1.33ghz 60gb 1.5gb ram 15inch pbook since last april, and probably once the rev B intel macs roll about ill get one of those which will be 2nd quarter 2007 (just speculation)

 

[Verto]

Well, my month old iMac is the first Apple computer I've owned, so we'll have to see how that goes.

My HP was one I'd been using for over four years; once I've upped the ram to 1.5GB (maybe a full 2GB eventually) I'm sure the iMac will last me for several years as my main computer, and will be useful for secondary roles (acting as a guest computer, DVDs, IM/web, etc) for much longer. I'll take out AppleCare in July of next year, about a month before my first year would end, and let that carry me through to the end.

 

[mad jew]

I do it on a whim.

Me too. And that's generally about every two years.

 

[Koodauw]

Whenever the benefits of what's new out weigh the cost.

 

[wdlove]

My purchasing pattern varies. Usually when I see the need.

 

[Chaszmyr]

Ideally, every other revision (which seems to work out to every 20 months or so)

 

[Euan]

I always aim for 4 years - 1 year above a more normal 3 year cycle. I've had my current laptop (Not Apple) for 2 years but want to switch and will probably do so soon or within the next year.