10-21-2013, 05:40 PM
So our household is a technological mess. Everything is old and breaking down. I might start another thread elsewhere about The State of Technology in DOOM Households where we can all weigh in on our situations. But here I'll focus on something I discovered while shopping for laptops.
Lady Cranefly and I each need one. Her screen is half-dark. My lid hinges have self-destructed and the power cord is broken. So I started researching laptops. Neither of us need anything whizbang, and I thought I was closing in on some good choices for maybe 7 to 8 hundred bucks -- possibly less.
Then by chance I stumbled across an article about non-replaceable batteries in most laptops these days. The batteries are sealed in. This is how they make the laptops so thin. There are advantages. The battery lasts a bit longer because it is sealed. But there's a dark and evil downside. When the battery dies, you have to ship the laptop to the factory (or take it to a licensed dealer) to get it replaced. The cost runs about $150, maybe more.
The battery has a life expectancy of 2 to 3 years. This means, for all practical purposes, that you should view your laptop as having a lifespan of 2 to 3 years. This is how the manufacturers are viewing it.
Am I overreacting, or is this totally screwed? I mean, my last laptop lasted 7 years.
Any thoughts or opinions on this? Because suddenly I'm pissed and stymied. There's not much out there that has user-replaceable batteries anymore, and the manufacturers aren't fond of putting this info in their specs -- so you really have to dig for the information.
Grrrr.
Lady Cranefly and I each need one. Her screen is half-dark. My lid hinges have self-destructed and the power cord is broken. So I started researching laptops. Neither of us need anything whizbang, and I thought I was closing in on some good choices for maybe 7 to 8 hundred bucks -- possibly less.
Then by chance I stumbled across an article about non-replaceable batteries in most laptops these days. The batteries are sealed in. This is how they make the laptops so thin. There are advantages. The battery lasts a bit longer because it is sealed. But there's a dark and evil downside. When the battery dies, you have to ship the laptop to the factory (or take it to a licensed dealer) to get it replaced. The cost runs about $150, maybe more.
The battery has a life expectancy of 2 to 3 years. This means, for all practical purposes, that you should view your laptop as having a lifespan of 2 to 3 years. This is how the manufacturers are viewing it.
Am I overreacting, or is this totally screwed? I mean, my last laptop lasted 7 years.
Any thoughts or opinions on this? Because suddenly I'm pissed and stymied. There's not much out there that has user-replaceable batteries anymore, and the manufacturers aren't fond of putting this info in their specs -- so you really have to dig for the information.
Grrrr.
I'm nobody's pony.