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Computer repair/upgrade (was RE: A data point on offshoring
Subject:Computer repair/upgrade (was RE: A data point on offshoring From:MList -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 24 Nov 2003 10:52:57 -0500
> From: Mike O. [mailto:obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com] suggested that
a way to avoid problems with universally deteriorating tech-
support lines:
> Even in person, it's equally useless. Ever try to get
> customer service at a
> superstore? The best defense is to adapt.
[...]
> Better yet, assemble the PC yourself and never pay support or
> repair bills
> again. Or buy used, and upgrade and maintain it yourself. The
> market is
> flooded with high-quality offlease equipment right now.
I've seen more than one analysis, in the last year or so,
that suggests that the upgrade break point is three years,
and the window leading up to it is only about a year-and-a-half.
To expand on that:
a) unless you are a hot-sh*t gamer you don't gain from
major upgrades (like a new processor or MB, new video
card, etc.) before you've had a good box for 1.5 years
-- you'd be replacing good-enough components with components
that were not sufficiently better to justify the cost
b) unless you are a die-hard hobbyist, it's not worth
updating a computer that's more than three years old
-- you'd do better to just buy a middle-of-the-line
complete new box, as you'd be getting more for your
money than if you spent the time and money to insert
a bunch of upgrades into an aging carcass.
So, the window from "it starts being worth doing" through
to "it stops being worth doing" is roughly a year and
a half.
Certainly, for most people (i.e. not gamers and not
high-end graphics designers, just us schmoes who use
office apps) a computer can last several years longer,
giving satisfactory service, and it can be worthwhile
to replace/add a couple of pieces (like a bit more
memory or an additional hard disk), because you have
all your comfy tools and a reliable, stable setup that's
been doing fine for all that time. But, if you are
looking for a significant upgrade, consider full
replacement with a not-quite-bleeding-edge box... it
even comes with that new-computer smell. SniffFFFFF!
Ahhhh. (That's a memory -- my home PC is more than
two years old... hmm new processor?).
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