Do you follow the latest trends and buy/upgrade your computer every 1-2 years, or do you wait for hardware to become outdated before upgrading? As for myself, I'm currently on my third laptop. The last two I used for 4-5 years each, until they became outdated and I felt the need for an upgrade. My current Dell laptop is still going strong after 3+ years of everyday use. It was on a bit more expensive end when I purchased it and current $500-800 laptops aren't outperforming it by very much, some have even weaker specs. As for my PC, I used to invest in it every year. Be it a processor, a new PSU or a more powerful video card. But I stopped doing that because I have an outdated motherboard and I'm planning to build a completely new PC instead of buying parts with 'old' connectors.
How often? Do I dare saying... never? LOL. Seriously speaking, I am very conservative in what concerns buying new tech especially when the old one is still working. What's the point there, to spend more money just because something new is on the market? No way, I can't afford that and besides, I have specific and limited needs, so I don't need the latest thing.
Well the current norm is to replace your phone every year, even if the 'old' one is working perfectly fine. I just wanted to see whether people do the same with their computers too. I'm conservative too. I upgraded my PC so often because at the time I was pretty serious about gaming and wanted to play every game on high settings. Then I grew up and realized that there are far better things to spend my money on.
If I had an unlimited budget, I'd probably be buying a new laptop every 6 months I love working with the new tech upgrades that come out and feel it really makes a difference in PC performance. Usually though, I'll get a new laptop every 2-3 years or so. Buy then, the computer upgrades are pretty significant and it's around that time I feel like I need a change and something new to use. It's not a strain on my budget either as my computers usually last a long time and I can sell my old for a decent price to mitigate the cost of the new one.
I usually wait about 3-4 years in between before I buy a new laptop. I'm actually due to get both a laptop and desktop. My husband wants the desktop with the removeable keyboard and such so I plan on getting him that for Christmas.
Yeah, gaming consumes a lot of resources, but luckily I am not a serious gamer, so I am happy with what Facebook has to offer. Believe it or not even the Facebook games make the fan from my computer work faster, so I guess my poor laptop is living it's last days with Windows XP...
This is going to sound SO embarrassing but in my family we actually update our computers about every 10 years. Usually they suit us fine until they get to the point that software is incompatible and then THAT'S when we update. But then again, we are all on macs, so it's definitely a lot more expensive to upgrade than it would be if we were using PCs!
I tend to only upgrade when it is necessary. I have two laptops, one is smaller and I use for work and travel (I bought it only because it is lightweight and more convenient for work) but my main laptop is a 7 year old Toshiba that works just fine. I considered getting a new shiny laptop or PC (my PC is only 2 years old) but this works for me so I don't want to spend the money. I am not very into technology so I don't really invest in it until I have to.
I don't upgrade my PC until the need to upgrade arises. For example, a few years back I had a 128MB RAM machine that could not handle most newer software. I had to get myself a new, faster computer with higher specs. At that time I was also into gaming so that could have been another reason why I had to upgrade. These days however, I predominantly use my computer for browsing and light-weight 3-D modeling so I think it will take about 4 years for me to get myself a new computer.
I can't stand games on Facebook but at the same time I am ok with playing most of the more serious games on my console. The only game that I can think of I play on PC that consumes a lot is The Sims franchise but I haven't played that in a long time.
Facebook gaming is extremely light on a computer and is almost negligible compared to how much of a burden higher quality games are. I'm pretty sure a toaster could handle Facebook games (okay, maybe not but still haha). Anyway, I replace my desktop every ~5 years or so and my laptop every 3-4 years.
I only upgrade when I need to, and that's every 4 to 5 years. I don't do a lot of technical things with my computer, my work is very basic, so I don't wear mine out like most people seem to. I see the new waves of computers that they put as being geared to an up and coming wave of new users and not necessarily geared to us old fogies.
I only do that when it's not functioning anymore. I don't really feel the need to upgrade my pc when it's still working, I'm not that keen to follow the latest specs. Maybe if I was a hardcore gamer then I would probably keep up with the current trends so that I can keep up with the latest games.
