When is a computer too old to upgrade?

[bill2006]

Someone sent me this, I found it useful.

"Any computer that did not come with Windows XP installed is too old – about 5 years. A computer with a Pentium IV processor is worth keeping – memory should be upgraded to 512mb and disk space to whatever you need. Want a profile of your computer? Check out Belarc Advisor – free download at www.belarc.com. Install and run that to find out all types of information about your computer."

[Bethers]

Well, I guess my old laptop should be tossed then LOL - but I'll continue to use it for what I can for as long as I can :)

It's good info Bill - but for frugal people like me - I ran my business off that old laptop till last winter - and it had no memory space LOL - I had to keep everything on disks. I did upgrade it to XP -

That old relic is still working today and useful to me. But I love my new laptop - even tho at almost a year old, it's getting obsolete already :)

[kassi59]

I can get a very useful test with PC Pitstop.com. It has a full range of tests that will tell you where you and your puter stand.. so far Im off in the field with the cows...lol.. nah just jokin as usual..Im doing really well considering all the applications I have on here... although I havent tested it recently. maybe should!...

[Andy128]

Bill- For the average user, truer words were never spoken! That is the exact advice I give people who's computers I am asked to repair/evaluate.

Keith

[jahnsele]

with Vista just accross the corner, we really need powerfull processors and RAMs. So upgradding anything before Win Xp for regular users and NT 2003 for Networking isn't worthly.

[Collectors-info]

If you want a laugh for an old computer. Three days ago I chucked out an old Wyse 286 with a 20 meg H/Drive. This had run perfectly for 15 years & more. (the 286 was the speed) I used to run an accounts package from it (Sage) that run in Dos. Until I split a cup of tea into it about a week ago, it was still running perfect & still with the same monitor. This is one machine I will miss. Maybe a bit old & slow, but never once let me down. Wish I could say the same for some computers & software now. It wasn’t until the bin man came that I thought it might have even been a collector’s item. Or at least some parts might have been.
Would of loved to of seen the look on someone’s face if asked for this one to be upgraded.

Chris.

[Sadain]

Depends:

I heard Vista will not be compliant with many Old software programs like photoshop 5.0 and below...

I guess I'll be keeping my XP mechines so I can run my software I have, I've invested some 5000 dollars in software... and I'm not about to do it again just because new MS Vista is not compliant with the programs.

Internet Security is the big thing, eventually MS will stop making updates for XP, so a Vista mechine will be nessasary for the Internet

[Vasili]

I dunno.....

I've been running a Dell 4550 desktop (XP-Pro) successfully for about 4 years now, but for the last 4 days my Outlook has been crashing by telling me the server connection keeps getting interrupted!
REALLY???

Although I can connect to the internet fine (obviously!), my Outlook apparently cannot find the server......
Not one to wag fingers, this all started happening after I bought into the Internet Download Manager ***** kept suggesting. I am so frustrated you have no idea.

I feel like dragging the thing down to the Geek Squad to upgrade the RAM to 1g just to have the opportunity to fix Outlook too....or maybe upgrade to Office 2003. (Then they are on the hook to make sure everything's right). No matter how you look at it, I'll probably end up spending $400 to upgrade a system that originally cost $700. Whatever....

My new HP XP-Media laptop has a 17" screen and all kinds of neat stuff, but I have discovered the Verizon Broadband/Worldwide card always distorts online images....ALWAYS. Funny thing, too, is that although I can design super-clearly in BV and publish fine, when I go to look online, the images are distorted. And it's every website (even VH's homepage pix of Sarah looks dark and fuzzy), so I know it's not the unit. Strange, huh?

Point is, with every system thaere are bound to be quirks that take it a few notches below "Perfect" and I suppose it always will be so, making it merely a matter of what we are willing to compromise on.
And with VISTA coming out next year, I'm pretty confident that my XP units will service my needs far into the future. Time to get things up to snuff is now, though, so they will be supported for at least a few years (remember the '98 vs. 2000 debacle? only 2000 is supported - marginally at best).

So there. A long triade from someone who has been denied email access for almost a week. If I had 2042 emails stacked up after a 4-day weekend trip, I can imagine the mess when I get back up!