Do you build your computers to last, or to replace?

[sandyd]

^^this

[WinterRain]

My builds usually last about 2-3 years. And then I get the itch for something "better".

[EarthMind]

To last. I don't like to keep spending too much money on computers because there are more important things to me. Mostly, I only upgrade when it's really necessary and when I do I spend quite some money to get a high end one that lasts a lot of years.

[ttshivers]

I definately built my computers to last. Why would you ever build one to replace? Its just a waste of money if you keep replacing computers.

[kelvin spratt]

All my builds are to last.

[Chrysantine]

Since I mainly use business machines, it's 24 months and a tabula rasa machine.

[jerenept]

I have a VERY CHEAP Sempron 3000+ build that has seved me well for about 3 years. It only runs DSL in Virtualbox with any decent speed though. It is out-of-date, compared to most other people's computers, but Ubuntu runs great on it!

[samalex]

The last computer I built from scratch was around 2001 or so, and it had two 1Ghz P3 processors, 2 Gigs of Ram, dual-head Matrix G400 video card, and has a mother board with 4 IDE (or PATA as they call it now) controllers allowing 8 drives. I think I had about 800 Gigs of drive space at one point, which in the early 2000's was HUGE. Most of the space was used for redundancy in a software RAID.

It's now used as a server running Ubuntu 9.10 Server, but I'm planning on reloading it with Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop when I have time. The system was built to last, and given it's 9 years old it still runs like a champ.

It was retired for a PowerMac G4 around 2004 or 2005, and I've since moved to using laptops as my primary system. Unfortunately there's no way to really build a laptop from scratch or I would

Sam

[chessnerd]

To last. Then again, my definition of "last" is probably a little different from most. When I say "last" I simply mean that it is still in regular use, not necessarily that it isn't obsolete.

While I didn't build them, the computers in my house have lasted for a long time. My house currently has 3 desktops that are in regular use. The primary one is a computer from 2002 (Gateway Mid-Tower with 2.0 GHz P4, 786 MB RAM, upgraded from 256 MB, and 80 GB HDD running XP). After that our next most used desktop is from 2004 (the desktop in my sig), then there is another one that I made by combining two old computers, both from 2001, that has slightly lower specs than the Gateway (1.8 GHz P4, 512 MB RAM, and 60 GB HDD running Windows 2000 and Xubuntu 10.04). These computers, then, have an average service time of about 7.5 years.

If/when I build my desktop this summer, I'm going to build it to be a solid system that could be in service for 10 years.

[cariboo]

I build systems to replace, as the replaced system gets repurposed for something else, the last system I replaced got moved to my office/shop, the system it replaced got donated to someone that couldn't afford a new system, they where still running an HP with ME on it.