I have exciting news to share. I recently discovered that at the rate I’m paying off my credit cards, I’ll have a $0.00 balance on all of them in 6 months! That’s assuming I don’t keep adding to my balances.

A New ComputerThere is one purchase I’m dying to make that will certainly set me back: a new laptop.

I keep wondering, if my tax return comes out to be pretty hefty, should I put that money towards a new laptop or towards the credit card bills and get to a $0.00 balance sooner?

I wasn’t sure if this was an immediately necessary purchase until I did some research. If you’re also unsure about whether or not it’s time to buy a new desktop or laptop, check out my mini-buying guide to deciding when it’s time to replace your computer.

Pros and Cons

A Pros and Cons list always puts purchases into perspective.

For instance, I don’t have the money to pay for a new laptop all at once, but I’m losing patience with my nearly five year old iBook. I could work faster with an abacus and stone tablets. Pros: 1 Cons: 1

My iBook sure has been trusty though. It has never crashed on me, never had a virus, and I can still run just about every program I need. The major problems are that running several programs all at once makes the computer think for a long time, sometimes causing a program to freeze. Also, YouTube videos don’t play so well, which sort of makes me feel like I’m rather disconnected from the world if I’m not watching stuff on YouTube. Pros: 1 Cons: 2

The $1500 I’d save (at least!) by not buying this sexy 13″ black MacBook with Intel Core 2 Duo Processor would allow me to stay on track to being debt free in six months. Pros: 1 Cons: 0

Six more months (at least!) of slow processing and freezing programs?! Pros: 0 Cons: 1

I do keep getting 0% interest for six months credit card offers. I could pay off $1500 in six months. That’s only $250 a month. Pros: 1 Cons: 0

Total Pros: 4 Total Cons: 4. Doh!!! Now what?

What the Experts Say

Based on my Pros and Cons, I don’t exactly have a compelling reason to run and buy a new computer. But maybe I’m living in denial and am being a complete cheapo. So what’s a good rule of thumb for determining when a computer is outdated?

Matt Elliot, senior editor at CNET.com says, “Your computer will need to be replaced more frequently than any of the peripherals you attach to it. The parts inside your PC–the processor, the memory, the hard drives, and the graphics cards–become outdated as more powerful parts are released and more intensive software apps are created to take advantage of the new hardware.”

Well, exactly how often are more powerful parts released?

I was poking around the internet and came across Moore’s Law. I may be oversimplifying it, but Moore’s Law has evolved to say that improvements in computer technology will double every 18 months. RAM and hard drive improvements may take a bit longer, however.

Apparently, Moore’s law drives industry standards in terms of innovation and product releases, putting computer component manufacturing under highly sensitive deadlines. To get an idea of how fast technology advances as it reaches store shelves, Wikipedia points out, “For a manufacturer competing in the competitive CPU market, a new product that is expected to take three years to develop and is just three or four months late is 10 to 15% slower, bulkier, or lower in storage capacity than the directly competing products, and is usually unsellable.”

Yikes! So what makes a good computer in the face of such rapidly advancing technology?

Rich Brown, senior associate editor at CNET.com describes some features of the ideal computer. “If the PC is marketed for a certain task, it should go beyond just getting you started. A $5,000 system should have the latest of everything, and its competitors should be more expensive. A budget PC would need one or more parts beyond those of other vendors for the same price.”

Wow. So my old iBook sounds pretty outdated for sure. Does that mean I must, absolutely get rid of it?

Alternatives to Replacing the Computer

Replacing the computer might not exactly be necessary if it’s still meeting your basic needs. Perhaps all you need to do is some maintenance work.

Lockergnome.com points out, “Any computer that is connected to the Internet is bound to build up the ‘grime’ associated with cruising on the ‘Information Superhighway’ and cleaning out that grime should be the first step for anyone that is experiencing slow performance from their computer.”

Windows users take note. Lockergnome.com also has suggestions for improving performance. “The quickest way to determine if you have excessive grime clogging up your computer is to check to see how many processes are running in the background. To do this, close any open programs, click on the Start button then on Run and type ‘taskmgr.’

“This will open the Task Manager which has a number of tabs across the top, but you want to look at the bottom left corner for the Processes. If the number is above 35-38 for desktops and 38-42 for laptops, you will likely benefit from a cleanup of your computer.”

Mac users, don’t feel neglected. This link includes similar performance enhancing measures you can use for OSX.

I’ve got to admit, I NEVER do any maintenance on my computer. I’m definitely going to give this a shot before running out to get a new computer.

Another option of course is upgrading. Mark Krynin of About.com says “My rule of thumb is that upgrades should typically be done if the costs of the upgrades will be roughly half of the cost of getting a new system.”

I’m no techy. The only upgrade I’ve made to my old iBook is updating its operating system and keeping it current. For me, it would be less trouble to buy a new computer than the hassle of upgrading.

Conclusion

In doing my research, I was glad to find out I’m not the only one hanging on to an old computer. Sadly, this Mac user on LowEndMac.com complains about his two year old iBook. He came up with the good idea of getting a used but newer computer.

And this Windows user asked the PC Doctor’s Blog how much longer his five year old computer will last. The PC Doctor reassured him that a five year old computer may not be too old, but hard drive failure may be one thing to worry about. That’s further reminder that one should ALWAYS backup their hard drive no matter how old the computer.

So what to do?

I’m going to do some basic maintenance on my old computer. If that doesn’t speed up performance, I may consider picking up one of the refurbished computers that’s often listed on Dealnews.com. It seems that will fit best with my budget when I decide to get a new computer. And by buying refurbished, I’ll end up getting more computer for the dollar.

For those of you who feel you now need a new computer, I found this handy buying guide on NotebookComputer4me.blogspot.com. And those of you wishing to hang on to that seriously old computer, Obsolutecomputermuseum.org is a cute site to check out.

If you have any tips on when to replace a computer, I’d love to hear them. Enjoy!