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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.
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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).
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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.
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I bought a 3rd gen i5 Laptop with 4GB RAM when I started university, that was back in 2011. When I graduated in 2015 I decided to upgrade it, sadly that decision is still pending  . One of the reasons I keep telling myself is that I don't need the bigger and better system, since I don't work at home (I am one of those 9-5 devs).
However in my free time I sometimes fascinate about buying an 8th gen i7 32GB RAM 500SSD and 2TB HDD but then I fall of the bed and wake with a new determination of not buying it! 
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I have a several years old Lenovo T-520, with a dual i3 CPU, and 8GB RAM. All I need to stay happy developing on this machine is an SSD and a new battery. Right now if the power goes out I hardly have time to save my work before the battery is flat.
"'Do what thou wilt...' is to bid Stars to shine, Vines to bear grapes, Water to seek its level; man is the only being in Nature that has striven to set himself at odds with himself."
—Aleister Crowley
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The most common performance problem I've come across is waiting on disk errors. Doing a chkdsk/f often fixes it.
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I went live with a new web app that I've been working on for the last few months. It uses Microsoft authentication. We've been preaching the cloud to our customer and today, of all days, the cloud is having problems. 
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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011111100010 wrote: Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
Don't you mean "right-handed lefts"?
Personally, I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: Don't you mean "right-handed lefts"?
You mock the suffering of my people. How dare you. 
OriginalGriff wrote: I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
Give it to whom?
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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011111100010 wrote: You mock the suffering of my people. How dare you.
Preach it, brother!
Software Zen: delete this;
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It turns out I'm ambisinistrous.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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I too have two left feet...
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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God I am bored. Fancy a pointless argument?
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Munchies_Matt wrote: Fancy a pointless argument?
Sure. What's so great about circles? They're pointless.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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I mean at least one that feels like it means something!
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Is this the five minute argument, or the full half hour?
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I'm sorry; this is abuse. You want the room next door.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Then it's not pointless 
Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians.
Help end the violence EAT BACON
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011111100010 wrote: What's so great about circles? They're pointless.
Your comment radiates bigotry.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gary Wheeler wrote: radiates bigotry.
I thought it was more geometry than bigotry, but you might have the right angle on this one.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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011111100010 wrote: the right angle on this one
Well, the circumferential evidence led me to believe so.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Do you want to have the full argument, or were you thinking of taking a course?
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
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I'll agree with that
This internet thing is amazing! Letting people use it: worst idea ever!
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There's a course on arguing with Munchies_Matt?
Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians.
Help end the violence EAT BACON
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