The Computer Buzz

January 31st, 2008

Nome and Paul Van Middlesworth - owners - The Computer Factory
 

Do you really need a new PC?

Your old business or home PC is slowing down and just doesn't seem to work as well as it once did. You need to do something about the situation, but what? Should you spend money on your old PC or just buy a new one.

Selecting the right options for a new PC and re-loading programs and data is non-trivial, especially if your new PC comes with "Vista" (AKA Microsoft Edsel). On the other hand, it might not be wise to put money into an old PC that may have a limited usable lifespan.

Here's our "rule of thumb." Any PC that was born with Windows 95, 98, 2000 or ME is an unlikely candidate for upgrade. These PCs are simply too old to have components that are usable in an upgrade.

The exception to the rule is an older PC upgraded with a larger hard drive or Windows XP. Both these items may be usable in an upgrade or a brand new PC and can save you time and money.

If your old PC came with Windows XP it is almost always worth resurrecting.

A six year old PC with an uncluttered Windows XP operating system, at least a 1.3GHz CPU and a gigabyte of memory will accomplish common applications like Web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, photo editing, accounting, genealogy, etc., every bit as efficiently as a newer Windows XP computer and faster than many of today's low end "Vista" PCs (under $600) from Dell, HP, Compaq and Gateway.

Breathing new life into an older computer with a hard drive clean up and RAM addition usually costs around $150. If the user's applications require more horsepower than the old PC has, there is another alternative, the motherboard upgrade. In this process we may use the Windows XP operating system, computer case, power supply, optical drives, hard drive, mouse, keyboard, speakers and monitor from the existing PC. We replace the old motherboard with a new ASUS motherboard, modern dual core AMD CPU and a gigabyte of DDR II RAM. We then reinstall the Windows XP. In addition to giving the old PC a brand new "engine." This upgrade provides new audio, video, USB, Ethernet and other features. The upgrade cost about $300.

If you want a new PC with all the latest components your old PC may still be of use. We can build a new PC using your Windows XP operating system license and "slave" your old hard drive to the new hard drive so that you have access to all your existing data files.

If you don't own an XP license and don't wish to suffer through "Vista's" growing pains, you can purchase a new PC with "Vista" Business or Ultimate and have a free XP Professional installed. You can then keep the "Vista" package in you desk drawer until such time as "Vista" is fit for human consumption. This is a Microsoft program called "Vista Downgrade Rights." If your Computer Retailer doesn't know about this program, have them call us.