New battery, more RAM and other ways to extend your laptop's life

If your old laptop is slowing down there are cheap and effective tricks to give it a second life, like upgrading to a faster SSD. — dpa

Your ageing notebook may be starting to slow down and stutter through its tasks, but does it make sense to buy a new one or should you instead try to upgrade the old one to get a few more years of life out of it?

Notebooks definitely last three to five years, says IT product reviewer Christian Hirsch. "Users can even expect seven years if they use the device primarily for less demanding applications such as surfing, streaming, and office applications,” he says.