Might be time for an upgrade

The short answer is three years and applies to any computer you own or use.

The longer answer is…well…longer. These days computers are becoming more like automobiles and television sets. They tend to last longer. A decent PC can last for years. Mostly gone are the days of bad memory, fried hard drives, on/off switches that break and other ailments that were common in the dawn of the PC age. Computer technology is still advancing at a rate that is so fast that your new PC is essentially obsolete by the time you purchase it.

Couple that with the fact that operating systems and business applications are constantly being upgraded and expanded (not to mention your favorite games and entertainment software) and sooner or later the system you have now just isn’t going to handle the load.

If your computer is more than three years old, it’s very likely running slower than when you first purchased it. The problem is not that the computer has slowed down, it is that all the software that you are using and been upgrading now requires more memory and resources in order to run effectively. It’s that updated Windows you installed along with the updated antivirus software and the latest Microsoft Office and all those new widgets and gadgets that are really cool but take up even more system resources than they did when you got the computer just three years ago.

As your computer gets older you end up spending more time making things work properly and end up spending more money for enhancements. You could spend $150 to add more memory to your computer and $100 to upgrade your hard drive. If you do both, you’ve spent $250. You can buy a new faster computer with the memory and hard drive space that you need for around $400. Now you’ll have a computer with more memory, more drive space AND a faster processor.

Also note, that according to Hewlett Packard, a new computer will run three times faster and use half the electricity and is more environmentally friendly than your old computer. You can see the HP statistics at:

http://www.hp.com/united-states/windows7/small-medium-business.html?dimid=116247560

and read more about energy savings from Mr. Electricity at:

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/computers.html

It’s a good bet that while your new computer is going to cost you around $1 per day, that same system is likely to save you about 50 cents per day in electricity along with another 50 cents per day in efficiency. Essentially, your new computer is FREE.

If your computer has a problem and it’s over 3 years old, it’s time to get rid of it. If your computer has a problem and is less than 3 years old, you should look at the cost of repair before replacing it.

If your computer is 5 years old running just fine and runs the software that you need it to run then follow the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

If you have an older computer that is running slow and has room for more RAM memory, then you can add extra memory for about a $100. That extra memory can speed up your computer significantly.

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