I've been keeping an old laptop going for nearly 8 years now. My mum bought it for me as a birthday present before I started my masters. I've had the motherboard replaced and swapped out the battery myself.
I've sometimes wondered whether I really need a laptop as well as a phone. Surely a phone is sufficient for most daily tasks, banking, browsing, tickets, emails etc. but the thought of being without a laptop fills me with dread. I would feel adrift, cut off, disconnected, disempowered.
I've always been a writer and writing is much easier and more natural on a desktop screen. I write on my phone when in the gym or out and about but real work gets done on a laptop with a wider screen, a keyboard and a mouse.
As I've become a coder, I've found hobbies that are dependent on desktop. You can't really run Python, write code, and organise projects on a phone. It's just not designed for it. There's a reason that enterprises use desktop and keyboards, not small touch screens. I like installing software, trying out applications, and getting work done with a widescreen.
Recently I've discovered the cosy web and the resistance to corporate, monolithic mobile first platforms, designed for constant engagement and attention mining. Getting into neocities and exploring the old school web has exposed me to a community that values an older way of engaging with computers. It's reminded me that it's okay to prefer a laptop.