<p>The usable lifespan of a laptop is about 6 years total. So as long as your son’s laptop is < 2 years old, it should theoretically survive 4 years of college. If you need to upgrade in the future for more power, you can always cross that bridge when you come to it.</p>
<p>Source: My laptop is now 4 years old and I still use it. My bro graduated 2 years ago and he still uses his. We both have desktops for gaming though, so the laptops are more for mobile work.</p>