So, I'm a student who uses his laptop at school. I also happen to live a two hour commute away from that school and have to make this daily trip twice in busses and trains, so there's lots of picking up, putting down, road turbulence, on again off again, etc.

 

My old laptop is showing the scars of this battle damage, broken hinges, torn plastic, etc. and is due to replacement because it is literally falling apart and held together with duct tape. And it's only about 5 years old. I don't want whatever replacement I'm going to get to suffer as badly and as fast.

 

So does anyone have any advice about preserving the condition of a laptop in these kinds of conditions?

What do you carry it in?

Eastpak Laptop Backback. Tried looking for the exact one but I couldn't find it anymore. Looks like a Provider or an Egghead type.

Laptops today are crappily made, and 5 years is as much as you can expect - even from expensive ones.

 

The hinges are usually the first to go, even if you don't abuse them. The only thing you can save from damage is the keyboard if you buy a cheap USB one and use it that way at home.

 

Other than being more careful (which really won't help much) there's nothing you can do.

Some laptops are built for more abuse than others - for the purpose I'd personally pick up a Lenovo X130 - it's just a ruggedised version of the popular X121 ultraportable (weighs a bit more naturally).

Is there nothing that duct tape cant fix?

Is there nothing that duct tape cant fix?

Broken hearts.