Whenever I read this sort of thread I cannot help wondering what people do to their tech stuff to cause these faults.
My laptop (yes, fruit-based) is 29 months old and the battery has been through 649 cycles. It's at 82% of its design capacity. Both the charger and laptop do get hot from time to time, the outermost layer of plastic around the charger cable is damaged (nothing that a bit of electrical tape won't fix) and the laptop spends lots of time on cushions, blankets and mattresses - but never have I had any serious problems with it.
Mind you, my stereo is going on 13 years old, my mobile phone is older than most first-graders and my iPod is the last model before colour displays... I think I see a pattern.