Posted: 9/11/2008 4:14:44 PM EDT
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Not that long ago I used to buy a new computer every year or year and a half, what with faster hardware constantly being built and new versions of Windows being released. My current computer is a three year old Pentium 4 with a GeForce 6800 and a whopping 1GB of RAM. It does everything I need. I can play CounterStrike: Source with no problems. It's got Windows XP and with all the negative press Vista has been getting I just don't see any good reasons to buy a new computer. Anyone still drop big bucks on the latest hardware every year? |
| I have a 5 year-old lap top. Recently I expanded the RAM to the max and bought an external HD and a wireless PCMCI card (whatever) so I can be mobile. I spent maybe $200. The only thing that might make me get a new computer is battery life. The newer ones use less juice so you can be wireless longer. |
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I'm running a dual-processor 867 mhz Mac G4 that I bought in November 2002 for $1529. I've added an Airport wireless card, extra RAM, an extra hard drive and an upgraded video card. Otherwise, it is stock. In the time I've owned this computer, I've had no parts breakages. I've never run into a problem with this computer that couldn't be solved by simply restarting. You'd think that I would be left in the dust performance-wise, but I'm not. I can run the vast majority of applications currently available for the Mac, including games. The only apps I can't run are those that absolutely require an Intel processor. My computer is one of the last to be capable of using Mac OS 9, so I can run older Mac applications as well. The newer Intel Macs can't run OS 9. I have no plans to upgrade anytime soon, and I'm very happy with my current computer. My fiancee has two newer Intel-based Macs, which I only use on those rare occasions where I absolutely must use a machine with an Intel processor (like for running Windows). |
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The company I work for sent me to a 6 day cram class for an A+ cert in June. We built computers in the class. If we passed BOTH certification exams we got to keep the computers. The PC has an AMD dual core proc, 160gig HD DVD-RW and Windows XP (my choice). I passed my exams in early August. That day I ordered another 4 gig of RAM (5gig total), a nice flat panel display & a good set of speakers. I still have my '03 XP Dell on the home network as it is still a very capable machine. I just decommisioned an older IBM Win98 box that I've had since '99. |
| I have a "custom built" you might say, bought all the parts and put it together - short answer is two years old. But I got a new faster bigger hard drive for xmas last year (Thanks to my older brother). And two years ago was the last time before then I upgraded and it was just a new video card. I think my mobo and processor must be 3-4 years old... |
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The one Im on is an HP w/XP Media Center. Originally a 1st Gen AMD dual core 3800+. This past Spring I swapped an Opteron server CPU into it and currently have an ATI HD2600 PCIE video card. 2 meg of DDR. Runs COD4 just fine. Far Cry excellent. Crysis spanks it a bit. My other machine I built during Spring Break 08 is a Quad Core Intel 6600 on a Triple SLI mobo with an NVidia chipset. 4 gig of DDR2, Vista Ultimate w/ SP1. SLI'ed BFG 8800GTS OC 512MB video cards and a PhysX card. I play everything on max rez on a 22" LCD  The one it replaced is stitting in the hallway. It is still a good machine but its an Athlon 3000+ AGP board. XP Pro w/2 gig of DDR. Dont know what to do with it. |
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Maybe 2 years? I'm looking at swapping to a newer processor and video card real soon here. It's nice that the form factors have become more stable than they used to be, so that I can actually do a simple swap and come out with significantly better hardware. I'm really tempted to pick up one of the new cards from AMD/ATI with the brute force of a TeraFLOPS, but I don'y think my power supply would work out too well with that setup (check the recommendend PSU specs on their site). |
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I used to be just like you. I got tired of spending the cash when I realized I didn't "need" to upgrade. Eventually I feel that (for me) hardware outpaced what I typically do with a PC. I don't game much (COD 4 here and there) and I don't do much else that requires more horsepower. Anyway, I have a 4+ year old 2100+ AMD with a couple gigs of RAM. It suits me just fine. I did upgrade the vid card earlier this year to support COD but it's pretty much the last upgrade I can do to the thing. I figure I may upgrade everything about Christmas 2009. And for the record...I work in IT as a software developer and this setup does fine for the things I do at home. I don't really need any more than that. Typically at home I am on an underpowered netbook anyway. My work machine does have a lot more power though. |
I was looking at Dell's netbooks on their website today. I'm seriously considering buying one for when I'm on the road. I don't want a full size laptop because I spend a lot of time in auto plants pushing a cart around with other equipment on it and there's not enough room for a full size laptop. A netbook would be perfect size-wise. As long as it will play a movie DVD and I can get online with it, I'm golden. |
How's that Razer mouse? I've been eyeballing the Lachesis for a while now. I keep hearing good things about them for gaming. |
Those look pretty nice and I know two people ready to pull the trigger on one. The nice thing about those are that they are totally solid state (not even a fan). I was an early adopter with an Asus eeePC 701. I like it because I can just toss in any bag and have it with me without much bulk. I use it mostly for web, email, pictures while on the go, and movies. The netbook market is rapidly getting saturated as more players get in the game. The Lenovo S9 and S10 have peaked my interest lately as well. |
I think mine is from 1998 also. Mine is a former Boeing surplus PC that I haven't done anything to except add 160 and 640 GB HDs to it. It works, so fork it, I'm gonna keep running it. Merlin |
Moar RAM does not necessarily make your computer faster. RAM is like your desk. More RAM is like a BIGGER desk. It's not more useful unless you're using ALL of the area of the desk. It is, however, better to have more RAM than you need, rather than not enough. |
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mine is 4 years old. asus mobo with an athlon xp 3000 chip, 512 ram, nvidia 5200 video card, soundblaster audio card, it had a 2x dvd burner which was good stuff when i got it. lol. all this running on server 2003 at home. my laptop is about 2 years old. dell inspiron 1501, media center, half gig of ram. nothing special since its for work. gets the job done and keeps me occupied on the plane most of the time when i have to travel. lol. |
same here but January, OC'ed to 3.2 and I only have 2 gigs of ram since I don't have XP/vista 64 still plays everything on high so I'm good for now. |
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Found mine in the trash. Literally. Seen it sitting beside a dumpster driving by where a business has wiped out the hard drive and trashed it. In the dumpster I found the software bundle that came with it new, so I just reloaded everything, and here I am. Windows 2000 Pro Pentium 4 768 Mb RAM Some kind of basic video card. Complete with 19" CRT monitor, speakers, mouse, and keyboard. |
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About 3 years for the mobo/cpu AMD64x2 2.0ghz 4 gig pc3200 ddr  1 terabyte ATI vid card 512meg dedicated Vista I don't do much gaming on pc anymore so for now its good enough, but I have been keeping my eyes open for a decent cpu/mobo combo, going to go back to intel next build. laptop is about a year old and just for net surfing they get replaced whenever they die. |