I've purchased several new Dell laptops with their in-home warranty and I have used the warranty service a couple times with good results. After the warranty ends, it's easier to work on a unit for repairs/upgrades when it's a highly popular brand like Dell because you can find many online DIY resources (e.g., discussion forums, YouTube videos) which provide assistance for your model.
Relevant info: "An i5 processor sold five years ago isn't the same as an i5 sold today. There have been six generations of the i5. If you look at a desktop i5 originally priced at ~$200 from the first generation (Sept 2009), and compare it to a similarly priced one from the 6th generation (Sept 2015), the first generation one has a CPU Mark benchmark of 3734 to the sixth generation's 6925." https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlik...why_does_a_laptoppc_get_slower_after_timeuse/
it is a workstation class laptop, heavy and durable. Despite its weight I took it around the world on a number of times. Upgradeable to 32 GB RAM. Good battery. It will outlive you. Again, it's heavy.
Hard to say how long a laptop will last or be useful. I had a Dell Precision M4300 which got heavy use for 6 years. One day the "lights went" out... and being as old as it was, wasn't worth the cost of repairs regardless. Personally, I think buying a used machine a "generation or two back" is good. Even if you get only 2-3 years out of it, the "cost per year" is low compared to buying new. And just because it gets a bit "long in the tooth", doesn't mean it's obsolete... just a bit slower than the new stuff. Last laptops in our house... Wifey bought a Mac for about $4,000 (she's an educator, so "can't have anything but Appple, you know"... says now she wished she'd bought a PC like I suggested and wouldn't ever buy Apple again.) I bought a "refurbished M4600 w/256GB SSD"... with 18-months original factory warranty remaining... for $475.
I'm currently contemplating on buying either an Apple iMac desktop computer, or an Apple MacBook Pro 15" laptop. I've been a PC/Windows guy since the beginning of time... Why do you say you and your wife regret buying an Apple...I thought basically everybody raves about it?
I regret [her] buying Apple only because of the price. Never been an Apple guy myself... never owned a Mac... likely never will, always thought they were much overpriced... that, and my stock market software has no Mac version. She became disenchanted when she started having problems with it... and when she considered the price vs a similar PC... she's thinking buying the Apple was "dumb", in spite of the "educator's snob appeal". But, people like Apple. (I even have an Apple product... a refurbished iPod.) Her Apple failed this summer and had to go to the Apple service center. They replaced the 128GB SSD for $260. That's what, $40 for the part and $220 for Apple labor? PC's offer a comparable model for <50% of the price of Apple. I'd rather buy that and spend the savings on beer. But that's just me.
But you get what you pay for :eek: With Apple you're kind of like buying a Porsche 911....with a PC/Windows, you're 'just' buying a Corvette... One is overall finesse and engineering...while the other is kind of like basic plastic.
Who fed you that blarney? More accurately, "You always get LESS than you paid for... sometimes a little less, sometimes a lot less." (Goes for women, too. )