Finally buying a new laptop
After roughly 10 years of loyal service, I finally gave my laptop a reprieve and bought a "new" one — used of course.1
Why? It was getting harder for me to deny that my experience had definitely degraded over the years. Older machines eventually stop being able to keep up with software that's increasingly web-based and keeps getting worse despite continuous improvements in hardware.
It's been almost a year now and loud fan noise aside, I'm very happy with the purchase. It was dirt cheap, has plenty of power, isn't a whole lot heavier than the old one, and might just last me another decade if I stay on Linux.2
I still have the old one though. It's no longer any good for programming3 and I have to watch the CPU and RAM usage like a hawk, but I'm determined to keep using it for everyday computing until I run it into the ground.
An actual new laptop just didn't feel right. Buying used also helps keep electronics and lithium-ion batteries out of landfills.↩
Linux really shines at keeping older hardware running for years longer than Mac or Windows. It's my antidote for planned obsolescence.↩
A notable pain point was processing a huge CSV file (~1.5 million rows) for a Java take-home interview.↩