Upgrades to Computer Hardware and Software - why bother?As far
as hardware is concerned, the decision to upgrade a computer usually
comes down to a couple of reasons: The equipment is failing
or a new application won't run on the current hardware.
When deciding
on whether to upgrade a computer or purchase a new system, ask the
following questions:
1. Is the cost of the upgrade more than 50%
of the cost of a new system? Take into account all of the costs to
do the upgrade: parts, labour and possibly file transfer/support after
the upgrade.
2. Will the upgrade give the computer a longer,
more useful life? Don't throw your money away.
3. What is
the maximum upgrade path available for the computer? Check with
the PC Manufacturer.
With newer systems, it is usually possible to
upgrade the disk, RAM and the processor and get a substantial increase
in performance. With older systems, such as the 486 and early
Pentium class processors, the upgrade cost could almost equal the price
of a new system, without providing much of a performance boost.
Software
upgrades pose a different dilemma. If the software is working, why
upgrade to a newer version? The answer to this question becomes
one of "pay me now or pay me later". As the product
evolves, whether it is an application or operating system, new features
are added, bugs are fixed and performance is improved. There
should be a compelling reason to pay for the upgrade but if the new
version offers nothing you need, it is hard to justify the expense.
However,
if the product has moved through several versions by the time you need
to do the upgrade, it may suddenly become apparent that there is no
upgrade path from the version you are using to the latest one.
Another scenario would have you do each upgrade individually from one
version to the next until you were at the current release. With
major software vendors, the upgrade path is usually quite easy to follow
and there are no major surprises. But be aware that support for
earlier versions may become non-existent or scattered across the net on
various knowledge bases that will require a lot of digging to find.
The
bottom line: