The question of whether to upgrade an older computer or buy a new one crops up a lot. For a lot of us, our computers are aging, but the thought of getting a new one is sort of horrifying for a number of reasons, not the least of which is getting all our software reinstalled, data moved over, and so on. So, upgrading can look like an attractive option.
Upgrading can be a good idea up to a point. If you have a computer that has a fairly recent Pentium processor, but seems slow, you may be able to get more mileage out of it by adding more memory (RAM). A few years ago, computers came with 32 or 64MB of RAM. If you run a lot of programs simultaneously or do photo editing, you may find your system slows to a crawl. The good news is that memory is inexpensive. The bad news is that you need to find out what memory is already in there so you can add chips that are compatible. If you have questions, just take the machine into your favorite repair shop and ask for advice. Adding an additional hard disk is another way to get more mileage out of an older machine. Again, if you aren’t technically savvy, you may want to get advice on this type of upgrade because some newer hard disks won’t work with certain older computers.
Upgrading starts not to be cost-effective if you want to swap out major components rather than add on. For example, if your computer has an older processor you want to change, that means you have to swap out the motherboard. This process is not for the faint of heart. And by the time you pay for a new motherboard, often you’ve almost paid for a new computer. Another point to consider is that sometimes a new motherboard won’t work with old components. So you have to buy new ones, which again, adds to the upgrade cost.
Similarly, if you decide you need a lot of new components, it may be cheaper to buy new. For example, suppose you want to ditch your ancient monitor and video card, and add a new CD-ROM burner and hard disk. You could be talking about more than $600 in upgrades there. Given that you can buy an entire new system that already includes these upgrades for around $800, it may be worth giving the old system to the kids and starting over.