And there's no guarantee that if you treat it like crap it won't last far longer than expected - in 10 years you might find yourself cursing it. There's no guarantee that anything you do can save it from dying young or failing to keep up with increasingly demanding tasks. The longevity horizon of a laptop is analogous to the longevity of a human: It partly comes down to responsible behavior, partly genetics and partly just dumb luck. Whether you need to delay a new laptop purchase because of uncertain finances ( to put it mildly), want to reduce your contribution to the e-waste problem or simply have more important things to think about, there's a lot you can do to stretch the lifespan of your existing system. When you need to touch someone else's grody laptop and don't want to waste disposable protective gloves, you might try putting a sheet of cling wrap between your fingers and the keyboard. Pro tip: If people refuse to touch your laptop without PPE, that's probably a sign it needs to be cleaned.
