With people paying attention to details, I'm glad I got it right!
My last laptop was an HP dv9000t which I had for 5 years. That seems to be about the maximum you can get out of a laptop. When I gave it to my nephews I put it back down to the Vista it came with since 7 never really agreed with it.
I'm approaching my G74 with a 5 year plan too. I'm one year in and my first upgrade was SSD for the boot drive. I have an annual calendar event that has a 3 month ahead reminder so I can start looking for sales and update prices. Here is what the next 4 year look like for me. Although there are dates next to each item, if something gets really cheap early on, I'll do that first.
I am NOT planning on upgrading my OS, but I might add a Linux dual boot. Been experimenting with Linux VMs and not found one that is as easy to use/setup as Windows yet.
2013 Aug Larger/Faster secondary drive
(perhaps 1TB?)
(perhaps SSD?)
Wipe/Reinstall OS and apply all updates.
Reinstall only some applications
2014 Aug CPU upgrade
existing: Intel 2630QM
http://ark.intel.com/products/52219/Intel-Core-i7-2630QM-Processor-%286M-Cache-up-to-2_90-GHz%29This is the upgrade CPU that can replace it:
Intel 2760QM ($350 as of May 2012)
http://ark.intel.com/products/53474/Intel-Core-i7-2760QM-Processor-%286M-Cache-up-to-3_50-GHz%29Other CPUs that might also work
2860QM: ($618 as of May 2012)
http://ark.intel.com/products/53476/Intel-Core-i7-2860QM-Processor-%288M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz%29This one is overclock-able:
2920XM : ($699 as of May 2012)
http://ark.intel.com/products/52237/Intel-Core-i7-2920XM-Processor-Extreme-Edition-%288M-Cache-up-to...That last one is 55watts, the others are 45watts.
2015 Aug RAM Upgrade (at least to 16GB, perhaps to 32GB depending on price)
DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM, 4 x SO-DIMM 204pin sockets
Get RAM after CPU since it opens up new options.
Crucial $45 per stick as of Aug 3, 2012
Part Number: CT102464BF1339 (It's more expensive on their own website)
2016 Aug New laptop!
3D screen?
GA502IV, AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS 2.9GHz with Radeon Graphics
16GB DDR3 RAM
Boot Drive: SSD NVMe PC SN530 (1 TB)
Data Drive: WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD (1 TB)
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6.0 GB
Windows 10 Pro 64bit
G74SX-CST1-CBIL, i7 2630QM 2GHz (It just won't die!)
12GB DDR3 RAM @1333MHz
Boot Drive: Samsung 860 EVO (1 TB)
Data Drive: Samsung 850 EVO (500 GB)
GTX560M 3GB DDR5
BIOS 203
Windows 10 Pro 64bit