Computer Decision : Should You Upgrade or Buy a New One?

Looking for a new computer or not sure what to do with your old one? We can help. It makes lot of sense to evaluate your needs before you start shopping for new computer or component for upgrade. Also remember that sometimes it is just lot easier to buy a new one rather than upgrading your old computer. Computer prices have fallen so fast that what you bought for $1500 a few years ago, could be had for less than $1000 today. Also, remember that there are new technologies such as bluetooth and wireless networking, that are more common today than a few years ago. So, if you like all the cool stuff with your gadgets, upgrading might not be the best to to get it done.

So here are the steps you should consider in making your decision.

What is my typical use for this computer?

Do I just need something to browse the net or complex tasks such as video editing. There is no reason to buy a top of the line expensive computer if you only going to use it for internet browsing. Once you know what you would do with your upgraded or new computer, evaluate what makes more sense. If you intend to spend $400 for upgrade and can get a comparable machine for about $500-$600, I would suggest you go ahead and buy a new one.

Your Budget

Know in advance what you're willing to spend. If your budget is $200, upgrading might be the only option for you. Remember, you could also buy a better used machine for $200, but it more than likely come without software packages that are included with new computers. If your decision is to upgrade, decide which component you will spent your money on. It could be a combination of multiple components as well.

Example - Sam has a PC he bought in 2000, that has an Intel Pentium III processor 500MHZ, 128MB RAM and has a socket 1 motherboard. He has decided to upgrade it to make it faster. Since he has only socket 1 motherboard, his options on the new CPU and type of memory are limited. Decision - Sam decide to use a 1.4GHZ Celeron CPU that can be inserted in socket 1 motherboard using a socket 1 to socket 370 adaptor. He also upgrade his RAM to 512MB.

So for about $160, Sam now has a PC that's in theory is about 2.6 times faster than his original one as well as a RAM that's 4 times his original configuration. Sam typically uses his computer to burn some music CDs and browse internet. This upgrade will definitely make a quantum leap in his PCs performance. One important thing to remember is the software compatibility, If you computer is few years old, it is probably configured to run the operating systems available back then and might have trouble running new operating system as well as program due to hardware limitations. A good example is Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It is optimized to perform best with RAM of at least 1GB. Now if you bought a computer that can only handle 512MB of installed RAM, you obviously can't upgrade to Vista and will miss out in long run.