"My aging Dell laptop is up to BIOS version A21, which averages to a release every 4 months."
Yes, but having said that, most of the updates list the bugs the fix/features they add and suggest that if you are not affected by them, don't flash the BIOS due to the risks of bricking it. Personally, in my job, I've flashed 1000's of motherboards and never bricked one yet. I've also done HDD and SSD on-board firmware on occasions, likewise without issue.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
