.. appreciate the thoughtful response Paulj.. .. but that let's...

.. appreciate the thoughtful response Paulj.. .. but that let's the computer makers off easy IMO .. .. along with 'my data' I would hope a 'black box' file or set of files could be created and programmed to remain retrievable should a 'death' occur. It's obviously not in the makers' interests to alleviate the need for continual new purchases by users.

.. As you've indicated repairs might be easy for certain causes, but without the technical knowhow to troubleshoot and perform repairs, many users just invest in new machines rather than trusting their machines to professionals where costs and ongoing reliability would be very uncertain ..