12 tips to determine whether you need to purchase a new computer

Posted on August 15, 2007 at 9:34 am

With technology changing at such a rapid pace, especially computer technology, you may end up with a computer that is only a year old, yet obsolete in terms of speed and performance. Now there is the camp of people that proudly have 3, 4 or 5 year old computers and boast that they have no qualms or issues with their systems. This may be true because the “obsoleteness” of a computer does depend on the type of computer user, advanced or casual.

However, there are a few scenarios in which it probably really is time to let go of that poor computer you’ve been using for 5 years! Of course, just because you need a new computer does not mean you have to fall for the hype and buy a $3500 super machine, but any replacement with something less than a year old would be fine.

So here’s a quick list of IF scenario’s where you might want to consider a new computer:

Your computer has 256MB or less of RAM memory installed. Windows XP barely ran on 256MB, worked ok at 512MB, but only ran smoothly at around 1GB. Windows Vista is a behemoth and should have nothing less than 1GB of RAM. Dell recommends 2GB of RAM for the Vista operating system to perform optimally! Of course, if you recently bought a machine, but it just has less memory, then you can simply purchase memory online.

Your processor speed is less than 1GHz or is less than a Pentium IV. The processor is the main part of any computer, it is the brain and therefore processes all instructions and manages everything. Having a slow processor will hinder applications from loading quickly, games from playing smoothly, and the screen from displaying correctly. Of course, with the new Intel Core Duo processors, the clock speed is less, but the run much faster than the Pentiums, so a 1GHz Core Duo processor could be equivalent to a 2 or 2.5 GHz Pentium processor.

Your operating system is Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium, or possibly even Windows 3.X! All of these operating systems are not built on NT technology, which provides Windows 2000, XP, and Vista with a much higher level of security and protection. Also, many applications and drivers that come with cameras, scanners, and printers are now written for Windows 2000 and above and will simply not install on older versions.

Your computer does not have any USB ports, FireWire ports, a DVI port, a S-Video port, or an Express Card slot. Now if you don’t have all of these, that doesn’t mean your computer is old, but certainly if there is not a single USB port on the computer, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a way to connect anything to your computer! Just about everything these days including cameras, printers, keyboards, card readers, etc use USB to connect.

Your computer’s monitor is 15 inches or less! This obviously does not mean yo have a slow computer, but anyone with a really old monitor probably still has a really old computer. Most web sites and programs will not display correctly if your monitor is 14 inches or less. You’ll either have to scroll a lot or squint to see things. Older monitors also are not flat; they have a curved surface that distorts the corners and edges and makes things harder to read.

You can’t upgrade to the next version of the operating system because your hardware is not compatible or not supported! This scenario has played out with many people after the release of Windows Vista. Vista has much higher hardware requirements than XP, so it’s very important to have a good graphics card to handle the Aero interface, a recent processor (Core Duo or Core 2 Duo), etc. You can check out the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to see if your hardware meets the requirements.

You cannot install a recently purchased or downloaded program because the operating system is not supported! That’s usually a pretty bad sign that you should purchase a new computer. Most programs are compatible with older versions of the OS unless they are really old, such as Windows 95, 98, etc. If you’re unable to install a program, either try to upgrade the OS or do yourself a favor and buy a new computer.

Your computer still has a 5.25 inch drive installed. Sorry folks, but the good ol B drive is of no use now! Of course, I’d say that even the 3.5 inch floppy disk drive is useless, but it still comes standard on most new computers. With the advent of USB sticks, why use any unreliable tape-based disk for storage!

Your hard drive size is less than 20GB. Notice I said the size, not how much space is free. If your hard drive’s total size is less than 20GB, you’re probably running a computer that’s a few years old. If all you do is browse the Internet, maybe it’s ok to keep it, but with so many digital items to store now (pictures, videos, songs, documents, etc), 20GB can be used up very fast! The smallest hard drive’s that I’ve seen on new computers is 40GB and even that’s hard to find!

Your computer has no sound card or jerky and grainy screen movements. If you have no sound card, you definitely need to buy another computer! Most computer have been coming with sound cards for a really long time. If the graphics on your computer are jerky, flickering, or grainy, it could be time to upgrade the graphics card. It may not require purchasing a new computer, especially if the computer is not very old.

Your computer is running slow. The reasons for a slow computer could be any of the reasons mentioned above or because of viruses, spyware, bad drivers, start-up programs, etc. The latter reason requires a clean-up, whereas the former requires a new computer. If it’s less than 3 years old, it probably needs to be reformatted.

Lastly, when you try to have your computer fixed, either they don’t have parts that old or they have never even used such an old OS. Just like finding parts for an old car can be a problem, if your computer is too old, you may not be able to find your part online or it may be so rare that the price has become expensive! So you’re paying more for an old part!

Buying a new computer can be one of the best decisions you make because it can open you to an entirely new world of communication, productivity, and enjoyment! If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment! Enjoy!