Repair or Replace?
If you are debating whether you should repair or replace your computer, here are some ideas to consider. Today's computers tend to last longer than they used to.Although the world of tech changes rapidly, for years now, processors and drives have been fast enough to keep up with everyday computing needs.
Even though they can still experience sudden catastrophic failure at any time, I've seen a lot of computers that are over 10 years old and still are fast enough that I would be happy to use them.
Questions to consider
- Does it work?
- Does it meet your needs?
- Are you satisfied with the computer?
- What is your personal threshold of pain for bad performance?
- What work load do you ask of the computer?
- When you bought the computer, was it in the low end, mid range, or high end? (Higher end computers last longer. For example, an i7 CPU will still be fast long after a lower-end i3 CPU will be considered slow.)
- If a part needs to be replaced, is it worth the investment in old equipment? For example, does a laptop need multiple parts replaced, such as battery, drive, and hinge?
- What does it cost to get a new computer? You may be surprised how low the price has become. See my suggestions for shopping for a new computer.
My Own Criteria
- A CPU benchmark score of at least 3,000. This can be checked on the website CPU Benchmark.
- At least 8 GB RAM
- Solid state drive. If the computer has an old rotary hard drive, an upgrade to SSD is not expensive.
Solid State Drive
Replacing a hard drive with a solid state drive will make a computer faster than it was the day it was built. If your computer otherwise meets the criteria to keep it running, you can breathe new life into it with this upgrade. See my article on Solid State Drives.Overall Comparison, New vs. Refurbish
Often I recommend replacing an old hard drive with an SSD, and reinstalling Windows onto the new blank drive. Here's how I do the math to compare that versus a new computer.
| New computer | |
| Cost of equipment (new PC) | $500-900 |
| Set up, transfer data, install software | $200-300 |
| Payoff: Dramatically better performance, longer life for equipment | |
| Refurbish old computer | |
| Cost of equipment (SSD) | $20-100 |
| Set up, transfer data, install software | $200-300 |
| Payoff: Significantly better performance, less money than replacement | |
You can see that for both approaches, the process, timeframe, and labor costs are very similar.
To shop for a new computer, see my article.
To see my checklist for setting up a computer, new or refurbished, see my article.