Do you need a new computer?

I have been asked this question many times by friends with different levels of computer experience and user habits. I always respond back with a question: “what do use your computer for?”
In general, the most likely answer is that you probably do not need a new computer, but let’s dig a little deeper.
The question of a new computer typically comes up when you think that your computer is very slow in executing your programs, browsing the web, editing photos, etc.
Most of the time the reason is not that your computer is too old or powerless, but most likely has a few easily curable problems.
If your computer is within five years old and you do mostly emailing, Facebook, eBay and write some documents in Word, you may need a little more memory, and you need to delete your temporary internet files and also to do a little house cleaning, registry cleaning and defragmentation.
All of these are easy and largely free things that you can do yourself or have someone do it for you in one hour.
The newer programs however are increasingly power hungry and need more processor speed and much more memory. There is also a migration from the 32 bit operating system to the 64 bit OS. This will take another 2-3 years to conclude, but eventually will prevail and new programs will be only written for the 64 bit systems.
If you do decide to buy a new computer - and plan to have it for 5 years, which is the average lifetime for an average user, do buy a 64 bit system and do not skimp on the memory.
All big brands are pretty good, but they come with lots of extras, trial software, and other garbage that you do not need. You can run CCleaner or Decrapifier to get rid of those right away.
You can also buy excellent computers built to your specifications at reasonable cost at many on-line sources; many of these are large outlets are on eBay. The advantage is that you only buy what you need, while the disadvantage is that you need to be computer savvy to go this route.
Any questions: call or email me, Peter Ligeti, peter@ligeti.com. 408-528-8422