Computers are electronics.
Stating the obvious there but we often forget that these pieces of technology are precisely that. That being said, it's possible, Kanishka, to have your laptop last a really long time, or to have it crash despite your best efforts.
Some tips for keeping your computers in good shape:
Avoid too many sudden movements and vibrations.
Some laptops, such as the Macbook Pro have things built into them called Sudden Motion Sensors. When you move your laptop too quickly or expose it to sudden vibrations, the sensor prevents the hard drive from getting damaged.
Other laptops don't have this built in, like the 2006 white Macbooks.
If you're buying used, keep that in mind and ask for the original manuals.
Reading manuals can go a long way to keeping your laptop intact.
Even if your laptop does have that built in, it isn't indestructible.
Jostling it, shaking it too much, dropping it, or not padding it properly can result in vibrations that can damage the hard drive. This is applicable to desktops as well.
Avoid overheating.
Keep your laptop on a flat surface, preferably a desk or as Jeremy said a stand. Something to absorb the heat. You can also get cooling mats to place underneath the laptop itself.
If you find your laptop overheating, place it on a desk for about 10 minutes. The laptop would lose the excess energy to its surroundings, causing it to cool down.
Don't expose your laptop to the elements. Don't place it in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time. Sunlight warms us, and it will warm your notebook too.
Don't try "do it yourself" fix its. For example, when I crashed my uncle's Macbook (ah, see, I speak from experience
) I read I could remove the hard drive, Ziploc it, freeze it, then take it out, slap it and insert it back into the computer. That was information from a legitimate website that devoted itself to Macbook care. However, I later read that the cold and frost can corrupt the hard drive in irreparable ways.
When you fix your computer, pay a bit more at a place like Best Buy or Apple and get it taken care of the right way.
Speaking of BB & A, get extended warranties. When that hard drive just stops working, you'll really wish you had one.
Best Buy is expensive but at the Heartland outlet in Mississauga, their service is unrivalled. They'll backup everything from a dead drive for you; so the only heart attacks you'll have will be over the bill and not over a "0" for the assignment you couldn't hand in.
Remember, accidents happen.
You MUST back up, back up, back up!
If you don't have an external drive (and you can get a 640 GB hard drive for 99 bucks, so don't spend $139.99 for a 240 GB.), print off your work as you go along.
Do not type one letter and print it off; use your discretion and make sure you print on both sides to conserve paper.
You can also save everything on CDs or invest in a USB flash drive.
Backups prolong laptop life because they allow your life to go on as though you had your laptop, even if it dies for some reason.
DON'T DOWNLOAD FILES FROM SOURCES YOU DO NOT KNOW.
Viruses, Trojans etc are one of the best ways to waste the $1000 you invested in this computer.
I know we're music junkies and we love us some Limewire and hey, Piratebay might be sounding pretty good when you want a torrent, but they're also great ways to corrupt your hard drive.
If YOU MUST do this, if there is a torrent you MUST have, consider downloading it to an old computer that serves you no purpose anymore rather than getting brave and downloading it to your laptop.
That way if something goes, it is something you weren't going to use.
But then again, some viruses (I don't know but some might) might be able to infect other computers on your network, so the best thing is to stay away from the illegal stuff.
That being said, get an antivirus software.
Even the most cautious users need one.
Try not to overload your drive, run too many applications at once, or do silly things with it, like holding down the enter key forever on Microsoft Word. I'm told that is another super way to crash the drive. It may not be true, but why take a chance?
And why do you need over 5000 blank pages anyway?
Put your computer off regularly. That way you're avoiding overheating again.
Don't eat and drink at your computer. No, that Burger King Chicken Burger won't overwrite your files, but it will leave food particles wedged between the keys and will affect the keyboard performance over time.
Pets on laptops = no no.
Their fur gets into the ports and into the computer and the fans and openings.
Be very suspicious of clicks and thunks. If you hear this from your hard drive, stop....right there and get it checked. It's an excellent indicator of hard drive failure.
Those are all simple things you can do to keep your laptop living longer.
Use the power adapter when you need to, instead of using up charge cycles on the battery <- another one.
Despite this, laptops can die.
A Macbook can die if you don't handle it properly, but the chances of it doing so aren't super super high.
That being said if you use it with care, an HP could last you a nice long time too.
) and it's still fully functional.. As you can see it went through a lot 
