I got my first laptop when I was 14, and it lasted for a period of two years. It cost £700, and started to slow down almost as soon as I put things on it when it was brand new. This is the same experience that I have had with every machine that I have had - after two years it was very slow, and the battery hardly held any power at all. Then, in 2011, I bought an Apple MacBook Pro and I couldn't believe the difference. I am still on the same machine now, and it shows no signs of slowing down, and still works for five hours off the battery. I don't know whether it's just coincidence or luck, but I think that maybe paying the extra (I paid £999 for the laptop, Office for Mac and a carry case) was worth it because it has lasted me for so much longer than any of the other machines I've bought in the past. What do you think about it? Is it worth paying a little more for the quality?
I had the same experience on my first Mac as well. I was really amazed at how well it performed after years of heavy usage, whereas most Windows laptops I bought prior to that gave out at roughly the same as yours which is 2 years. It's definitely made me a believer of all the hype, although to be fair, I haven't had a chance to test out newer Windows laptops which I'm guessing might have caught up to Apple's standard to some degree.
It's for sure that more expensive products are more reliable but for those that are cheaper it's really a matter of maintenance. First off there's a difference in the hardware usually cheaper laptops use regular HDD drives while Macbooks use SSD's depending on your make and model. SSD's are more reliable and faster than HDD so it's bound to last longer given the circumstance. We once bought a $500 laptop back in 2009 and up to this day it still runs as smooth as eggs. It's all about maintenance.
