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To your definitive resource for all computer related needs. We are here to help.
To your definitive resource for all computer related needs. We are here to help.
When facing the daunting task of finally taking that old computer into a local computer repair shop to figure our why it’s smoking or get whatever demons lie inside exercised we are often faced with a bill that lies just on the cusp of what perhaps some newer computers cost. Before you convert that old PC into a boat anchor, paperweight, or bookend there are a few things to consider.
For those of us with hundreds of pictures, videos, and music files the aspect of moving all those files to the new computer is something we don’t want to have to deal with. If your PC is in somewhat working order you can perhaps burn a bunch of CD’s or DVD’s and transfer the files over manually. (Or summon an army of floppy discs) If your not so lucky you’ll most likely have to pay the repair shop to do that for you, best case scenario it costs you maybe a hundred bucks, worse case there is something defective with your current hard drive and you will need to pay dearly to recover those files. Thinking of just skipping moving over the old files? Consider this, there have been countless horror stories of people who bought their new computer, decided to not transfer over old data and then end up needed some file that they can no longer retrieve. (Use caution when making this decision, that’s all I am saying)
Either way this is a situation that is commonly overlooked when comparing the two scenario’s, now that $500 PC is going to cost $600-$700 to get your years of data moved over. Not to mention if you have any custom hardware in your computer for example a SCSI card these wont be included in these computers, or perhaps your old computer had a high performance graphics card upgrade and now you will be running onboard video, these are all things that can drive up the price after you’ve already went out and bought that brand new awesome $500 computer.
It is easy to assume that buying a new computer will make all your problems go away, and while that can be true it isn’t necessarily always. If your looking at some of those entry level computers or buying one from the home shopping network, it is important to at least take a few minutes to think about quality. If you took the time and did the research when you first bought your computer it is entirely possible the quality of the parts in your existing one are better than what you are potentially buying. That said if you bought a bargain basement PC 5 years ago it is safe to assume it will at least be equal to the quality you’ll get making the same purchase today.
Just because you are having a recent problem with your computer doesn’t mean with a little work things can’t be back to normal. (Don’t throw it out the window just yet!) In my years working IT there were too many cases to count where a simple reformat and fresh install of Windows had the customers computer running like new. Take advantage of the internet for tips and tricks on fixing your own PC, many things are not as difficult as those local PC repair shops charging hundreds make them seem. There are sites out there that can walk you through some pretty simple procedures and often have support forums and videos that are free to watch. If your still not comfortable doing it on your own, call around and get various quotes rather than taking it in to the first place you see, just like auto shops computer repair shops can hold your PC hostage until you end up paying whatever they are charging.
I guess the moral of this story is that it can still make sense to fix up that old computer, especially when you do a little research and venture to do things on your own. (A note on this, don’t be afraid to try a few things on your own, chances are things are pretty messed up anyway, that said you can also cause more damage, I think I just contradicted myself there but you get the idea.)
If you do decide to replace or upgrade your PC, this is the ONLY site I use. Check them out.