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Buying a computer.

10 years ago

How do I know if I need to buy a computer? Mine is 7 or 8 years old & my tech said I need a new one.

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Comments (5)

User
10 years ago
What was the reason for taking your computer to you Tech?

Basically, are you satisfied with how your computer is currently operating?

Does your PC Do everything you need it to do?

Is your PC Running well (do you hear any strange noises)?

I'm sure a New computer would serve you well with yours being 7-8 years old, but it's not always necessary if the computer operates okay and it does everything you need it to do.
aputernut
10 years ago
What OS is your old one? support runs out on or has run out on a few, and other software will opt out of support as well, and then things will just not run right after a awhile. Also it may be very slow as in not much RAM even HD may be small?
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buying my fourth computer need advice
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My advice below is based on experience and not favoritism. To qualify my advice I have to give a little rundown on what I did. I really hope it helps those looking to buy a new computer. I think the advice from damccoy is good solid advice. I'll share my information with you and try to keep it as short as possible. For several years I was an IT Manager for a portion of AT&T and had about 50-60 thousand users in that area. We went through a phase where we would give the users several different computers to choose from, depending on their usage. The choices were any of Gateway, Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Compaq (pre-HP). The population of users were very heavy users and were in Sales, Engineering, Customer Service, Warehousing and a small Com. Arts group. They had to be up and running and productive each and every day. We had a contract with IBM to do our desk top support. Over time and from the complaints I was receiving from the IBM personnel I realized Dell, Compaq(pre-HP units) and Gateway were too proprietary to effectively keep everyone in production and minimize the number of desk top support personnel. The real work horses with the least amount of hardware problems turned out to be the HP, hands down. The majority of problems with these were cockpit problems where the user screwed up some settings. A close second was IBM and Sony, third was Compaq (now HP). The junk pile was full of Dell, Gateway. Since all of these groups were networked and many of the applications were grid based, super powerful computers with tons of memory, super large hard drives and fancy video just were not necessary. However, there is still a perception that if folks didn't have those things, they were working in the dark ages. I opted to disregard the "choice" issue and only provided 1 type computer with ample memory, fast processors, variety of video acceleration complimented with LCD monitors. If anyone needed something more, we would review the use and determine what was needed and procure anything determined essential. This of course minimized the variety of spare parts and made desk top support much more efficient to the tune of a savings of 4 million per month which is small change to a big company but was a savings non the less. Since they were already in the door, IBM came in quickly with an offer we couldn't refuse so we ended up going with their offer. So with that experience and being responsible for the budget and keeping people productive and allowing for future growth innovations that don't require getting all new equipment, I recommend an HP mid range computer line for the home and light business user. If you might be interested in Internet TV, you may want to go with the series that offer TV cards. If you are into gaming, you petty much already know what you want and what you need. Just an FYI..the computer I am using right now and for all my web based stuff is an HP Omnibook XE2 laptop that is almost 10 years old..448 MHZ 256 Meg RAM. It originally came with Windows 98 and along the way I upgraded it once with Windows 2000 and then again later with XP. Networking is via USB wireless. I have an IBM laptop about 8 years old and 2 Toshiba laptops about the same age. As for laptops, any of these 3 are fantastic and are more than a home or light business user would need. So consider that if you are looking for laptops. Yes, I sure do have the latest and greatest desk top computer with all the bells and whistles...HP of course.
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I think it should be standard proceedure to provide you with a copy of the actual windows os cd with any pc you purchase that has that OS installed it just makes sense, you are buying the OS as part of the deal so should have full access to that OS disc should you need it and in most cases it is just not available. Having to go out and purchase a new windows OS cd is ridiculous when you already paid for the OS when you bought the pc. I wish they would change the practice, it would not be that big of a deal for the manufacturers to do that. It has long been a peeve of mine. Which is why I now prefer to have my computers built to my specifications and get the install cd with it from the builder. But that does not help me for my husbands windows 7 laptop. I have to say it is one of the redeeming factors for Dell or at least has been because they did provide the windows cd, not sure if they still do that or not on all of them. Having Acronis or imaging is beside the point I do have that the fact of not being provided something you paid for and should own is what is the problem.
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Over the past few months I've tried several Wiin 8 and 8.1 laptops, so my experience is limited. I'd suggest, for a desktop replacement, that you read some of the online reviews of the all in one desktop replacements that have a touchcreen. Many have excellent reviews, and they look really nice to boot. There's several with telescoping/pivoting screens that make it more convenient to go from desktop use to pure touchscreen/tablet type use. If you can, get something with Win 8.1 already installed. The download of an 8.1 upgrade is very big, in one big file. On our cable broadband it was a long download. Id also suggest, before you buy, if possible spend some time playing with Internet Explorer on different brands. IE seems to be optimized in slightly different ways between brands. IE was pretty wonderful using touch on high resolution screens, just ok on others. I didn't notice performance differences, if any, between the I5 and I7 machines. I've read the I7 would be better if you do a lot of graphics or other intensive computing tasks. Just my 2 cents...
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If Abbot and Costello were alive today they would sound like this
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Comments (2)
Good one I can hear them now.. Just like them
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User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Depending upon what your computer has for it's Hardware and What Operating System you're running there may be a couple of Upgrades you could do to get more life from your current computer.

The First is adding more RAM to the system (Usually very easy to Upgrade).

Then the Second is a New Hard Drive (possibly a Hybrid SSHD Drive or a possibly a SSD Hard Drive if compatible).

Either Hard Drive would increase your computers Performance.

The RAM will help lots in the Long Run too!

If you could tell us a little more about your computer we could help more in this department.

What's the Operating System (Windows Version, etc...)?

Brand Name and Model Number of Computer?

Desktop or Laptop?

Any Information you can give us would be helpful, Motherboard, how much RAM, Hard Drive Size, etc...

BTW, I have an AMD Phenom II 3.0GHz Quad Core Computer I built about 6-7 years ago. This computer is running great and will run almost every computer program available today. When I built this computer Windows Vista was available, so I built it with Windows Vista Ultimate. About a year ago I upgraded this computer to Windows 7 Pro (Clean Install of Win7). I have since Upgraded Windows 7 Desktop computer to Windows 10 Pro. This computer runs Windows 10 even better then it ran Windows 7!

The Laptop I currently use is an Acer Aspire 5742z-4601, it's about 5 years old. It's a Intel Pentium 2.0GHz Dual Core, it came with a 320gb 5400rpm hard drive and 3gb RAM (Windows 7 Home Premium installed). Many years back I upgraded this laptop to a 500GB Seagate SSHD Hybrid Hard Drive at 7200rmp and upped the RAM to 8GB. This computer too, will run it all, no lagging on any programs used! Recently Upgraded from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 10 Home.

My wife's Lenovo Laptop has about the same specs as my laptop had originally. Hers doesn't have the Hardware upgrades, but is running Windows 10 Home without any problems.

I posted these just to show you an older computer can be effective in todays world with the right upgrades, hardware and software. One of the biggest things is to make sure you're not hearing strange noises from the computer like the whining of a Fan going out!

Just an FYI; I did recently purchase two new laptops, one for me and one for my wife. I picked them up as Refurbished, 1 on Ebay and one at Amazon (both from the same dealer for (delivered) $349 each). They are Acer Aspire V5 573P-6896 (Intel i5 Processors (1.6GHz - 2.6GHz Quad Core), 4gb RAM, 500gb 5400rpm Hard Drive, UltraThin, Touchscreen, Lighted Keyboard, Surround Sound 4 speaker system, mSATA SSD Slot (empty) (for an SSD Hard Drive), HDMI, LAN, WiFi. These are very nice Laptops for only $350 each! I have these computer put up and we won't get these laptops until November 27th, my wife's Birthday. I do have Windows 10 Home installed on both! They are all set and ready to go!
Elmer J Fudd
10 years ago
adding new hardware or software to an old PC isn't the best choice.

You've gotten 7 or 8 years of good service, time for a new one (but buy it from a mainstream retailer or distributor, not from a tech)
aputernut
10 years ago
Do not buy a refurb. check the Sunday adverts all office/tech stores even Walmart carry name brands and the sales right now are awesome! back to school etc. For $300 you can get brand new all the bells and whistles even. If you only need a tower even better. You can browse the stores online, read customer reviews etc.

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