Oh yeah, getting the first scratches and dings in an expensive thing is very freeing.
On the other hand you can probably take it too far. I've got a 2013 HP laptop whose case is physically broken in multiple ways. Yet, I run linux on it, and I've replaced the battery once or twice and it meets my needs so I've yet to upgrade. When I do, I'll buy an ~2019-2020 vintage thinkpad or something and I'll be stoked.
I've been doing this with phones since forever. Every upgrade is really significant, and its cheap since it's a couple years out of date.
On the other hand you can probably take it too far. I've got a 2013 HP laptop whose case is physically broken in multiple ways. Yet, I run linux on it, and I've replaced the battery once or twice and it meets my needs so I've yet to upgrade. When I do, I'll buy an ~2019-2020 vintage thinkpad or something and I'll be stoked.
I've been doing this with phones since forever. Every upgrade is really significant, and its cheap since it's a couple years out of date.