This is the question we get asked most across Sussex. Someone’s got a laptop that’s 4, 5, 6 years old — it’s slow, the battery’s dying, maybe the screen has a crack. Is it worth fixing, or should they just buy new?
Default answer from the Lewes bench: try repair first. Age alone is not a landfill sentence.
Why the climate maths favour repair
UK government electricals analysis and ADEME-style assessments agree on the shape of the problem: most of a laptop’s climate impact is locked in at manufacture (often cited around ~65–75%, depending on the study and model). Day-to-day electricity is the smaller slice.
So every year you keep a sound machine working is a year you don’t force another manufacturing run. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 shows how far recycling lags generation globally — reuse and repair matter more than hoping scrap systems catch up.
If you do need a different machine, ADEME finds refurbished vs new avoids roughly 27 kg CO₂e and 127 kg of raw materials per year of use.
The 50% rule (practical, not dogmatic)
As a guideline: if the repair costs less than about 50% of a sensible replacement, repair is usually the better choice on both cost and carbon. With laptop prices high through 2025–26, the maths often favour repair even more.
Example: a mid-range laptop that once cost £600 may now cost £750–£900 new. An SSD upgrade (£35 labour + drive) and a clean (around £45) suddenly look rational.
Age isn’t the deciding factor
A 5-year-old business laptop (ThinkPad, Latitude, EliteBook) with an SSD and 16GB RAM can still be a perfectly good everyday machine. Age matters less than specs and condition.
What actually matters:
- Does it have an SSD? (If not, add one.)
- At least 8GB RAM? (16GB is better.)
- Screen, keyboard, trackpad OK?
- Chassis intact?
When to repair
- Good specs, slow feel → SSD and/or clean.
- Weak battery → replacement typically £30–£80 for the cell/pack path, far below a new laptop.
- Cracked screen → £35 labour + panel (often £70–£160 total depending on model).
- Single failures (port, keyboard, fan) → almost always worth fixing.
When to replace
- Motherboard failure on a very old, low-value machine.
- Multiple simultaneous failures (screen + battery + keyboard) that stack past the 50% line.
- Under 4GB RAM with no upgrade path.
- Pre-2016 class CPU that will not run the software you actually need.
Even then, prefer refurbished before brand-new retail.
Local to Sussex
We give free, honest assessments from Lewes for customers across East and West Sussex — including Digital Concierge visits and Falmer student rates. We earn from repairs and from sourcing refurbished machines, so we have no incentive to push you only one way.
Book a free diagnosis or read why right to repair matters here.