This falls under "home repair" very loosely, and asking it in a computer forum would be a biased arena.
On average, how often do people buy new, or do a major upgrade? My AMD 1.2 GHz home PC is about 2 years old, and I am considering to upgrade to today's new technology. Then I realized, I had my previous PC for about 2 years before I got this one.
So if I am like everyone else, 2 years seems like the norm to upgrade. What does everyone else do?
Thanks
On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 21:56:03 GMT, "Bill" scribbled this interesting note:
I'm still using an AMD 333 machine!:~)
-- John Willis
I have the same thing you do and I have the latest at work. Considering the difference, I'm not even thinking about an upgrade right now. My wife's was just upgraded with a new MB, but that is because it needed some repair. Went from a 500mz to a 1.2G and the difference is worth doing. Other components remain.
In the past, say from a 386 to a Pentium 90 it was a major improvement, but the increments are less now. Ed
Still using my Gateway G6 333 mhz, won't replace unless it will not perform what I want it to do.
Three computers: Six years, three years, and two years+.
Computer #1: New in 1992 (PC, cpu = 386). Increased the RAM and added a modem in 1996 or so. Died in 1998.
Computer #2: Pentium-type. No upgrades. It started failing in 2001. No one I took it to could fix it. A three-year-life was disappointing.
Computer #3: In 2001, I bought a third new computer. Despite having more RAM and hard drive memory, for what I do I saw no difference in its performance and the previous computer's (when new, that is). Oh, except for computer #3's integrated modem. It hasn't always worked in the places I've lived. Gateway agreed to buy me a new external modem in the first month after I said I would have to return it, per the terms of the warranty, since their modem was not working in my home. So "upgrades" are not at all necessarily so. I figure it's more Bill Gates and his software and hardware compadres at work making money with these alleged "upgrades."
The only thing I really want now is a flat-screened monitor, to have more deskspace and for portability. But these older monitors often tend to be workhorses, so I can't easily justify spending money on a flat screen.
At least the prices on the flat monitors have fallen precipitously and seem to still be falling. :-)
I happily forego high-speed internet access and enjoy not having to worry about viruses, for the most part.
"Bill" wrote
I have three computes at home, all networked. I upgrade when it will not do something I want to do. That seems to work out about every four years. When I upgrade, most of the time it means I get a new computer and the one I was using is downgraded a notch and the one on the bottom gets removed from the system. The oldest one works as a server.
About every 7 years. I'm still using a 200MHz Intel processor. I may need to go longer than the 7 years this time, as I've been downsided and money is very tight for my family.
You could let money be your guide. Decide how much you are willing to spend, and design your "dream machine" with custom components (e.g. flashcard reader for digital camera.) When the price of the dream machine falls to your spending target, buy it. In the mean time, ignore it.
-- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) dphillipson[at]trytel.com
Trailing edge is cool. I tend to upgrade when either I can get stuff cheap, or if there is a really pressing reason to.
Of the last few years, I got a PPRO 160 motherboard (overclocked to 240) at the time when it would run some things as fast as the fastest lower-end processors. (at somewhere around 300Mhz).
3 years or so ago, just as the lack of being able to play fullscreen video easily got a bit painfull, I managed to acquire a bare-bones Athlon 550 system free.Then, just after I discovered movie encoding, and decided that I'd really like to be able to do it in real-time off-air (at good resolution) I spotted that Motherboard (K7S5A) and Duron 1300 could be had for around
50 pounds new, and snapped one up.Disk drives and RAM get upgraded as needed, of course.
My next planned step (barring extreme wealth) is probably to drop in a
2Ghz processor, once they fall to around 30-50 pounds. The board was bought with specific attention to upgrades, it can take a much faster processor than the one that's in there.Is there a pressing reason to upgrade? This can range from "won't play the latest games that I am addicted to" to "I'm getting tired of having to re-sort the cards after I drop them".
Faster disks and more RAM can often speed up a slower machine, and can sometimes be transferred to a newer one.
On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 00:11:13 +0000 (UTC), Ian Stirling scribbled this interesting note:
Which is why I still own my first personal computer...a TRS-80!:~)
-- John Willis
This is what I do, too. My wife is still using a huge all-metal tower case her 1993 Gateway 4D came with, along with the original 2X CD-ROM. But I've replaced the motherboard twice with newer ones and replaced the hard drives with larger ones numerous times. It's still an AT system however, so it is at the end of its upgrade life. I've offered to upgrade it for her but she is not interested, as it does everything she wants it to do.
On my own computer, I first replaced its Pentium Pro 200 Mhz CPU with a 333 Pentium Pro overdrive CPU in about 1999 or so. I also added a second SCSI drive, a big one. I used that setup until recently, when I bought a new ATX case and P4 power supply and a new motherboard with a
3.06Ghz Pentium 4. I'm still using my "old" SCSI drives and the 12X CD-ROM. I got a new nVidia video card too but so far I cannot get it to install, so I'm using my old one while tinkering with the new one. The floppy drive is from my original Gateway computer I got in 1991. I used the Pentium Pro in my business, and only built the new one for fun when I retired this year. The old one served me just fine for my graphics design and writing business, despite the heavy CPU utilization required.Having a box of parts and drives left over at one point, I bought an AT tower case for $50 and a Pentium Pro motherboard on ebay for $9.50 and built a nice little computer we use for storage, backup, and as a printer server. No CD-ROM, no sound card, no internet connection. The keyboard is also from my very first Gateway computer in 1991.
All these computerss are networked, most using the original Intel
8-bit ethernet cards I bought in the early 90s. I have a nice little NetBEUI network I built for Windows for Workgroups that is low but slow, using BNC connections and coax -- thinnet it's called. Of course it now runs on Win 98SE. Might be the last one in New Jersey! I'll have to ditch it when I finally upgrade to Windows XP someday.Finally, I also have a Mac that is also connected to the network. It is also of mid-90s vintage, a Performa 6400, which I bought on sale after it had been discontinued. But I hated it because it was soooo slow, so I got a Sonnet CPU upgrade card for it in the later 90s and a new video card. Now it is quite respectable. It is connected into the network using a program called PCMacLan, a very good networking program that uses AppleTalk. The new version they now sell uses TCI/IP.
I figure that by doing it this way instead of buying new computers all the time, and by using my computers to the maximum capacity before buying new ones, I not only increased my knowledge of computers (all self-taught) but I saved around $25,000-$35,000 over the years. More if you consider what I might have paid in computer consulting fees. When you own your own business, as I did, this sort of money is important. Saving like this (in a general sort of way, I mean, not just with computer hardware) meant that I have been able to retire at age 61. Also, I actually liked working with the computers, sometimes more than my real business!
The real overhead expense in our business was in software. Three sets of QuarkXPress at $900 each, three PhotoShops, two Illustrators, postscript typefaces for Mac and for PC, etc., etc., and constant upgrades to everything. Hard to avoid that stuff.
I upgrade, as in change out system parts, whenever I have the funds to. I replace the system, when the system can no longer be effectively upgraded to modern components The replacemet process usually entails stripping some upgraded components from the old for the new, with the old getting "downgraded", unless it is shot.
Standard obsolescence has been rated at 18 months for a number of years. Functionally speaking, most systems purchased in the last few years work admirably for most tasks.
The key determining factor in upgrading is whether or not the unit supports your needs. If all you do is surf the 'net, do e-mail, word process, and balance your checkbook (with maybe a little solitaire here and there) then you're fine -- don't bother as the bang for the buck would be limited at best. You'd be better off buying some additional memory, a larger hard drive, or a bigger monitor. Another option to consider is to do a clean install of your operating system (Windows for most folks).
If you do high end work such as CAD or other heavy graphics design then you'll want to upgrade every year or two most likely. If you are a gamer and you REALLY get into the latest and greatest then you'll want to get up to around a 2.4GHz system and the latest and greatest video card.
In my case, I'm a major technophile -- it's my business as well as my hobby. My way of upgrading is a bit atypical though -- since I build all of my systems, I upgrade in parts. For example, I just replaced my CDRW with a new Sony DVD -/+ RW drive but nothing else was changed. At the moment I think I'm running either 1.8GHz or 2.0GHz -- can't recall which offhand -- with a gig of memory, a 30G and 60G hard drive, Sony DVD +/- RW drive, the latest MS Internet ergonomic keyboard, latest MS trackball, 17" monitor (yeah, just waiting for prices on flat screens to come down a little bit more than I'll get a 21" flat screen), XP Pro and various peripherals. With the exception of the DVDRW, the last upgrade I did was a reinstall of the OS to XP Pro back in December 2001 -- I'm still flying though. :)
Bear in mind that the CPU is just one factor in the overall system. You also have memory, hard drive, CDRW/DVDRW, monitor, keyboard, mouse, video, sound, and so forth. That's what's nice about building your own system -- you can upgrade piecemeal and get the latest and greatest with what you have instead of doing a full upgrade (which won't give you ALL of the latest and greatest anyway). Since technology has outpaced function for most users, you can get by for longer then buy at less later.
FWIW....
James
"Bill" wrote in news:TJs6b.1253$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.columbus.rr.com:
I'd upgrade when your PC can not run the latest software efficiently,when the BIOS cannot support replacement HDs,when you cannot expand RAM to effectively use new SW,when new accessories will not function with your PC.
It all depends on what you DO with your PC. Graphics? DVD movies?That and CAD/CAM is the highest demand for PC HW/SW.
If you just roam the Net,read Email,and post to NGs,then 1.2 Ghz is plenty fast.
Phisherman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
A local PC company offered an 'upgrade kit' that was a new MB,case,PS,RAM,CDROM,floppy for $300. All I had to do was add a new HD,display card,and use my old KB;presto,'new' 900Mhz PC. New SW would add newer drivers and use more RAM.
I upgrade it when I can't do something I want to do with the old machine. There are advantages to Windows98--for one thing, nobody is going to bother to write blaster worms to attack it.
never heard of klez?
You are showing your age John! I wonder how many people today would even know what a TRS-80 is (was)?
(snip)
1.2 Ghz would be close to a 3x speed upgrade for me- for casual web surfing, word processing, etc, my 450Mhz 256mb ram runs win2k quite well. Until I move somewhere where I can get more than a 28,8 dialup (much less DSL or cable modem), a faster machine would be utterly pointless for me. My pipe is the speed bottleneck. I tend to buy my machines by the pallet at auctions, or even pull them out of the little gray stores scattered around the apartments here. Next machine, that I haven't bothered to move into yet, is a 750 that a neigbor threw out because they crashed the software load, and were clueless how to recover it from the 'restore' image buried on the semi-hidden D: drive. Took me about an hour to nuke it and throw a XP image on it- runs fine.(and to think we all used to do productive work on 8086s hot-rodded to a screaming 8Mhz via a V20 chip, with non-gooey green-screen text interfaces and 2400 dialup connections- my first few years on the Net were on a box like that, still sitting out back somewhere, dialing into the UNIX box at work, back when the traffic volume was still so low it got lost in the noise, and management didn't even know they were running a news server...)
aem sends...
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