Upgrade or Buy New
Aging hardware and software is expensive to maintain.
Our company recently put an old machine with Windows 98 on a LAN with internet access. We installed a new Network Interface Card (or NIC) and we had to battle the computer in order to have the system recognize it. It was not Plug 'n Play. More like Plug 'n Pray. Device manager kept coming up with such grimaces such as "device not properly installed".
In another instance an ill-maintained Compaq Proliant server crashed and burned with horrible Blue Screens of Death.
In yet another experience a customer asked us to hook her old Dell computer to the home network. The machine lacked sufficient memory, processing strength and an ethernet interface.
Then there was the old Windows 98 machine so loaded with viruses that it would take hours to clean up.
There was also an old Dell that was unwittingly loaded with a copy of Windows XP. The machine's 533 MHz CPU was much of the time pegged.
We recently had an IBM R31 Thinkpad in the shop for a diagnosis. Bad LCD. With the price of LCDs running rather high, the job would have cost the customer on the order of $600. This was not to mention the hard drive needed some time and the machine needed to be cleaned up in general.
The upgrade of a CPU may be done after research is taken regarding the type of CPU that the mainboard will support. Many factors fall into play such as socket type, processor speed, and other factors. Because of the dangers inherent in upgrading a CPU, the customer may wish to opt for a motherboard plus CPU package, in which the two parts are guaranteed compatible. Nevertheless, the new board will need to be checked for form factor and to make sure it can support all of the other onboard devices. Many times the BIOS will need to be tweaked to ensure all of the devices get their correct settings.
The upgrade of a disk drive is not as easy as it sounds either. Some BIOSes may not support large drives. Customers continue to have issues moving their data and especially remapping it to the applications.
The upgrading of memory can drive everybody crazy because all of the factors that must be considered: speed, form factor, pairing considerations, slot configuration requirements, BIOS configuration requirements, support of ECC, and the list goes on. OCC is teamed with an excellent computer memory specialist in California who consistently supply us with compatible memory. It is worth noting that the memory is guaranteed and has never in our experience led to any problems. Most of the time customers are amazed at the increased performance which arrives simultaneously with the memory upgrade. (Memory upgrade is a mere $99 plus part - we come to you!)
Many factors play into the decision of what to do. Many customers are just itching to have new equipment and the money is secondary. These folks are pretty easy to spot. They keep saying "It's just not worth fixing this machine because new machines are so cheap!" Other customers just love their Windows ME and wouldn't part with it for the world.
Ultimately, the decision rests with the customer. Repairing a computer can be expensive but the customer must think about issues such as transferring information (address book, e-mail, documents, etc.) to the new computer once it is prepared. The customer must also be prepared to reload software and to consider if the old software is compatible with the newer operating system. Then there are the issues of firewalling, anti-virus and anti-spyware.
Transferring the anti-virus is not fun for the everyday user. More often than not, receipts were not kept and they are unsure where their purchased downloaded file resides. Backup is frequently not done and the purchased download may not be available if a disk is crashed.
We recently rebuilt a doctor's computer in Rye Brook. When faced with the choice, he opted for a rebuild. He was out $250 in labor and $99 for the disk drive. He knew where his software was and he had a back up of his important files. Our company indicated to him that he could not get a nice PC for $399 as advertised in the local paper.
Our company has worked on some machines with VERY cheap components. It was found they don't last long. I don't have to name the manufacturer here but suffice it to say it was not Dell, HP, or IBM. We do not believe in purchasing bottom-of-the-line hardware. Hardware is the foundation of a system and it's silly to skimp there. We find that more often than not, cheap hardware may not support some of the cutting-edge standards and specifications. Many of these standards and specifications are invisible from the outside of the box (such as the size of L2 cache). One of my favorite problems is the USB 2.0 ports in the front of a computer which don't seem to support many devices. It was found in a study we did that the ports on the front of the computer may not have the power needed to support non-powered devices.
Scary nowadays is the thought of the entire family sharing a single family computer. This computer often becomes a single point of failure and panic ensues at the thought of leaving the computer off for repair. It is unreasonable to expect the repair facility, which may be five days backlogged, to turnaround the equipment within 24 hours, but this is what is being requested.
Please buy another computer to have as a backup!
This will give you the ability to send in one computer for repair and still have the ability to use the Internet and e-mail at home. Most ethical repair shops (such as ours!) want repeat business and try to give you a fair price on the repair job. Because of the drive to stay competitive we really do try to be fair!
The adventurous among us see each new experience as a chance to learn something. Those who throw out their computers instead of repairing them really never learn anything, including what they could have done to prevent the equipment failure. Some customers go through four or five computers before it dawns on them that a repair shop may be able to efficiently put them back in business. Computer infected so throw it out is not always a bright thing to do.
There comes a time, however, in which the computer is just not able to keep pace with the demands of software and advanced games. For this reason it is best to seek out expert advice before purchasing new.
Whether the customer decides to purchase new from our outfit or have our company take on his repair job, he will be put at ease. New customers qualify for a $65 initial consultation in which they can pick our brains and together we normally come to a decision about whether to upgrade or buy new.