LOL. Tell me about stretching hardware... sometimes I upgrade quite quickly, but nearly as often, if it works, it works. With regard to hardware, I often only replace it when it doesn't do what I want anymore, or when it breaks.
Logitech Wireless Wheel Mouse: 1994 - 2004 (Trashed in favor of optical mouse.)
Canon printer of which I forgot the type: 1996 - 2006 (No Vista drivers, given away)
SoundBlaster Live!: 1998 - 2008 (Sold with the final computer it was in.)
FPS 1600 speakers: 1998 - ???? (Still in daily use!)
Plextor 40Tsi CDROM: 1998 - 2004 (Sold; finally broke down in 2009)
Yamaha 6416S Burner: 1998 - 2004 (Sold; thrown away working, in 2009)
Siemens S35 mobile phone: 2000 - 2010 (Replaced by smartphone, given away)
GeForce Ti 4600 (Asus): 2002 - 2008 (Sold in same computer as SBLive!)
Eizo 19 inch SPVA TFT: 2007 - ???? (Still in use while typing this post)
Current computer: 2008 - ???? (Still in use while typing this post, but has had some upgrades)
Current notebook: 2008 - ???? (Still in use, upgraded with SSD.)
It seems that +/- 10 years is about the time most hardware needs to start fearing of being trashed / replaced
I think computer hardware gets quite a bit more use at my home than could be expected on average. The lifespan of the main hardware has lengthened considerably as I got older
