How long will my macbook last?

I am disabled and struggle to get out alone, so my MacBook is my lifeline for everything really. Been on disability benefits I am worried about if my Mac breaks. It's about 16 months old and runs Leopard.
I've just read a thread and someone said Macs can last 5 + years compared to to Windows 3 Years. So I shouldn't have anything to worry about in regard to my Mac breaking ?
I got this Mac through my catalog over a year, but I know I I paid over the odds. I *know* I should have got apple care, but couldn't afford it.
Thanks for reading

Your MacBook is well built and should last for many years. It's difficult to put a time frame on anything electronic or mechanical because breakages do occur. I have a very old Toshiba notebook that we still use. It was purchased in 2003 and has had two hard drive replacements but other than that, it's still usable.

Some folks who post on here have Mac machines that outdate my Toshiba and are still going strong. Let's hope your machine is like that.

Stay well.

Regards.

That is reassuring Ideally I would like to put SL on it, and get more memory/RAM ( are they the same thing btw?) but need money as I wouldn't like to put SL on myself . I know it's a case of backing up and running the disk, but knowing me it will go wrong *lol* and I def couldn't do the RAM myself.
I'll try and put a little aside for repairs

How long is a piece of string?

I am still using my LC, 120MB HDD and maxed out to 8MB, yes MB of memory with system 7.0.1 with my Apple camera and they are twenty years old so who knows? Best advise is guard your system install discs very, very carefully. They are the best trouble shooting utilities available.

I have read that the average lifespan is about 6 years.

It's like chscag says, depends on how you treat it.

My wife and I have identical iPods bought the same month, same year. Going on 4 and half yrs old. She uses hers constantly and it's always knocked around in her purse, rolls around in the car, she takes it jogging. I rarely use mine anymore and it's mostly for use with our alarm clock and I take it on trips too. Hers is dying - it sometimes stalls and won't do anything until the battery runs down. Mine is pretty much like new.

So, treat your Macbook like gold and it'll last as long as you need it to.

I'm sorry to hear you have to spend money on someone else swapping out your RAM and updating your OS to Snow Leopard. What a shame you don't know anyone who would be willing to do that for you. I hope you can find someone near you who could do that for you for free. It's silly to charge for such simple things.

Well, when someone says how long it will "last," what does that mean? There are only really a couple things that should wear out on a laptop: the battery, the hard drive, and maybe the ribbon cables that go to the monitor. The battery can be replaced. Ditto for the hard drive.

Hey, I still have my Tandy Radio Shack Model 100, bought new in 1983, and it still works just like it did when it was new. I used it every day for years and years and years. You just have to take it as it comes. Some machines just keep going. Others fail. I never plan on hardware failure. I only plan on technological obsolescence. That gives a computer a "life span" of about five years. My advice is to buy a Mac and Apple Care and then "wing it" for the last couple of years before buying the next one.

my wife had one of the first MacBooks in Sep 06. we sold it last year because she wanted an updated one and her HDD failed. i bought a new HDD and reloaded everything and maxed out the RAM. it is still lasting in someone elses hands.

I'm also worried about the life span of my MBP. I've had it for 5 months and Its already been to Apple care once for a jammed disk (human error) and is soon going back because its rejecting every single cd thats inserted. I guess my macbook is fine except for its CD drive, hopefully they will replace it and if so, then im sure my mac will be happy for a long time, probably till I get my next mac (which i would probably get when 10.7 is released)

My Aluminum 15" Powerbook G4 has just reached 6 yrs mark on december 2009.
I use the computer daily, and so far no significant problem with the unit. Internal bluetooth suddenly went out sometime in 2008, didn't bother to fix it since I rarely use bluetooth. Battery can no longer hold charge for more than 15 mins, which is expected for a 6yo system.