Upgrades

Last Updated: September 30, 2008

Hard to Justify

Upgrading old computers doesn't make financial sense anymore.  New desktop computers start near $400 every day at Dell.

Buying Parts

Price Grabber is my favorite search site to find the best price on computer equipment, photographic equipment, and electronics.  NewEgg is one of my favorite companies for purchasing computer equipment because of the low prices, fast shipping, product reviews, and great web site.

Windows Vista and Office 2007

See the Microsoft Vista page on this web site if you're thinking about a Windows upgrade.  Make sure your computer has enough speed and the parts are new enough to handle the upgrade.  See the Microsoft Office 2007 page on this web site to find a version that's right for you.  It's drastically different than any previous Office version.

Add Capability

The best upgrades are the ones that add functionality.  For example, adding a larger hard drive or surround sound speakers with subwoofer.

Increased Productivity

The next best upgrades are the ones that make you more productive.  This could be a faster computer, a larger monitor for less scrolling and window switching, a better quality mouse and keyboard, or more recent versions of your current software.

The processor, memory, video card, and hard drive are the 4 main bottlenecks on the computer's speed.  If you need to spend more than $300, then I'd recommend buying a new computer.  I wouldn't replace the processor, video card, or hard drive unless they are over 2 years old.  The speed increase wont be large enough to justify the cost and time.

	The cheapest and easiest upgrade is memory for as little as $35 for 512MB.  Buy the correct kind of memory described in the computer owner's manual.  Generic memory may cause stability problems, so be weary of the memory sales at Costco, Sam's Club, or BJ's Warehouse.
	The video card is the second easiest to upgrade for as little as $100.  If video or games are jerky rather than smooth, then perhaps a new video card will fix the problem.  If the processor is slower than 1.8GHz, then you may need a new processor as well.
	A processor replacement usually means replacing the motherboard and memory at the same time.  The processor will go so fast that it needs a faster motherboard and memory to keep up.  It will be the most expensive upgrade compared to other upgrades and will not give you the speed boost that you may think.  Jumping from 1GHz to 2GHz will give you a 50% increase in speed and not the 100% you would expect.  This is because the bottle neck shifts from the processor to the hard drive and video card.  Prices start at $180 ($65 processor, $60 motherboard, $55 memory) and can easily go to $400 ($200 processor, $100 motherboard, $100 memory).
	Replacing the hard drive would be my last choice unless I also needed more hard drive space.  Windows will slow down considerably once the hard drive is about 85% to 90% full.  If the drive is less than 85% full, then upgrading the hard drive alone doesn't improve the overall speed that much.  Prices start at $60 for a 250GB hard drive.
	Replace a CRT monitor or a "square" LCD monitor with a 22 inch or 24 inch widescreen LCD monitor.  Two pages of a document can be displayed side by side. Over a dozen more photos can be displayed at once to make it easier to pick and choose your favorites without scrolling.
	Replace a cheap keyboard and mouse with one that is more comfortable, more responsive, and includes extras like media buttons on the keyboard and a scroll wheel on the mouse.  I've found optical mice offer smoother scrolling than a lint covered trackball on non-optical mice.  Make sure to try all of the keyboard and mouse settings to tailor it to the way you work.  Get a mouse pad designed for optical mice too.
	Replace the outdated 4X DVD burner with a 18X burner for as little as $30.  The 15 minute backup will shorted to less than 5 minutes.  Buy two DVD burners so you can copy disc-to-disc for faster copying.
	Add a memory card reader to shorten the time it takes to move digital photos from the memory card to the computer.  It's faster than using the camera to transfer photos.

New Software to Make Life Easier

Newer versions of software typically add features.  Hopefully the added features automatically perform tasks that manually had to be done or take fewer steps to complete.  For example, Microsoft Office products have better toolbars in Office 2003 than they did in Office 2000.  Quicken now exports directly to a text file Excel can read without having to go through a 3 step conversion wizard.  Quicken also does a better job of importing bank and credit card downloads with fewer steps and less clean up work.  Hard drive backup software works across a home network whereas it didn't before. The list goes on.