Sorry but I'm not very technical. I download quite a lot of movies and stuff to my laptop and later delete them or save them to cd. I have heard that by doing this it is a bit like rerecording over a cassette tape and that eventually the memory will wear out. Is this true? How long would this take? I want to get a few years out of my mac.

You're being fed duff info.

The storage mechanism in your hard drive (where the movies are stored) is magnetic like a cassette, but the head does not touch the recording surface (unlike a cassette) so there is no physical wear.

Drives DO fail, but invariably from other mechanisms than physical wear-out of the recording medium, I would certainly not worry that you will wear out your drive

You're being fed duff info.

Like Crossy said.

An example, I have a network/file server running 24/7 and is being written/read from nearly continuously. Still running after several years.

Today is my 49th birthday and my memory wore out long ago. My brain's like swiss cheese; I hope you have more luck with your computer!

there has been some research done and it indicates that HD or CD arnt forever, however newer memory storage devices and styles are allways on the market

Thanks guys, good to know that I am not wearing out the computer by downloading too much.

BTW, is it true that a Mac can't pick up a virus?

Thanks guys, good to know that I am not wearing out the computer by downloading too much.

BTW, is it true that a Mac can't pick up a virus?

UNTRUE! Mac can pickup, or better get infected by virus as well but not that much as a PC!