How old are your computers? Is there any need to upgrade

[mercalia]

to the latest spec?

Mine are really quite old now belonging to the Core duo/Quad series that preceded the Intel i series. SO thats C 2006 and all are still running fine and do the modest jobs I call on them to do just fine. I have upgraded eg the boot drives to SSDs that make a big difference and also swapped out the 2TB drives first for 4TB then just this week end 8TB in my Media Center & also swapped monitors for 24" and 27". All are running either Windows 7 or 8.1 or 10 just fine. You can pick up old dual/quad pcs next to nothing these days? So what about others here?

[Vorpal]

It depends on what you want to do. As long as mine runs the software I want to use, and isn't too slow, I tend to keep it, even if it's obsolete.

I tend to spec mine for number-crunching, as I occasionally use engineering software. It's usually new editions of that that drive me to upgrade my computer. I do tend to use the old versions of software for as long as I can, so I can go some years on one computer. IIRC, my current one is 3 years old.

[gaz]

I don't claim to have any computer expertise. As such I buy one, run it until I can run it no more and then move on. I back up the occasional picture but little else. Losing files can be frustrating but I've nothing irreplacable to lose.

The desktop died shortly before the XP switch off and I then moved to an old Win7 laptop belonging to Mrs gaz with a dodgy battery and even dodgier power socket.

I updated it to Win10 when that arrived, not long after the power socket failed. I knew it was going and I intended to uninstal MS Office from the old machine before its final demise, of course when I decided not to wait any longer I couldn't get it to switch on again.

The current laptop was purchased November 2015 as an end of line on Win8 and immediately updated to Win10. Still going strong for now.

The previous one is still sitting on a shelf. There's also mini-me's functioning Win8.1 laptop with a broken screen, unused for about 12 months since the external monitor failed. Either would probably serve if repaired.

[Mick F]

MacBook Air running the latest software - 10.13.1
Two of them in this house.

We also have an iMac that is running 10.10.5 but it's as far as it will go as it's a bit old now.

No issues.

[PH]

The nice thing about PCs is their modular nature, mine is in a large soundproof case that will outlive me, big storage is on an external drive that is only powered up when needed, SSDs inside for most stuff, fanless PSU for the silence, more CPU capacity than needed so it's under clocked for cool running. I do quite a lot of photo editing, which is memory hungry rather than CPU, but even there I'm not using it's capacity since the last build four years go. I have no desire to upgrade, so I'll keep it till something goes pop then change only whats needed.
Most people I know (Except those into gaming) are running more powerful PCs than they need and have seriously under spent on the monitor. Monitors are still improving in a way that's noticeable to me, I'm already considering upgrading my three year old one. I think this is where Apple really got it right, the things that are visible, OS and screen, have always been a bit better even if the processing power isn't.

[al_yrpal]

My Acer Aspire Z5610 all in one PC purchased in 2009 runs Windows 7. I keep it to use Photoshop and Lightroom for photo editing. I replaced the Hard Disk with a fast SSD. It boots up in only 14 seconds. Windows upgrades are turned off.

For my modest IT needs I use an inexpensive Chromebook and Tablet.

I dont see the need to upgrade the PC unless some time in the future the Adobe software demands it.

Al

[meic]

My upgrades have always been forced on me, mostly by Microsoft.
They eventually get you to the point where they no longer support your version of their software and the old computer doesnt meet the specifications needed for the supported software.
Windows 10 will no doubt get me there through its updates, it has already packed my computer with loads of things I dont want and adds more whenever it gets a chance. The memory is having more and more of its capacity taken by unwanted functions that I can not disable.
The computer is six years old and starting to stall on occasions when the 4Gb memory is being drowned.
New computer some time (not particularly soon) or dump Windows 10 for something less complex.

[mercalia]

My upgrades have always been forced on me, mostly by Microsoft.
They eventually get you to the point where they no longer support your version of their software and the old computer doesnt meet the specifications needed for the supported software.
Windows 10 will no doubt get me there through its updates, it has already packed my computer with loads of things I dont want and adds more whenever it gets a chance. The memory is having more and more of its capacity taken by unwanted functions that I can not disable.
The computer is six years old and starting to stall on occasions when the 4Gb memory is being drowned.
New computer some time (not particularly soon) or dump Windows 10 for something less complex.

surprised you say that as windows 8.1 or 10 run happily onall my machines which are all C2006 even the notebooks - the notebooks have 2-4 gb memory. re windows 10 I have chosen to opt for the current branch for business which slows down the feature updates ( under advanced ) for the notebooks. My desktops still use Windows 8.1

[Mick F]

We also have a Dell PC laptop running Vista.
It's awful!

[kwackers]

We also have a Dell PC laptop running Vista.
It's awful!

That'd be the same as running 'Tiger' on your mac and that was hardly stellar either.

(You could 'update' it. I've an ancient Dell laptop from around that time running Win 7 with no problems)

[Mick F]

That means spending money on it.
It only cost £50 secondhand.

I bought it so I could use an OBD program for our Fiat500. MultiECUscan.
http://www.multiecuscan.net

Since sold the 500, so the Dell is sitting there unused and unloved, and I suppose unwanted.

[kwackers]

That means spending money on it.
It only cost £50 secondhand.

I'm sure you could pick up a copy of Win 7 for nothing. Must be loads of unused keys for it floating around, some of the 'free' sites might be a good place to start.

Vista was a bag of crap, replacing it with almost anything is bound to be an improvement.

[Cunobelin]

My travel computer is a 2009 MacBook Air and still running fine, although I have drastically upgraded the internal SSD

My main is a 2016 MacBook Pro, and my wife runs a 2015 MacBook Pro

All run on the latest MacOs


I alsohave a 2015 Acer Windows based Laptop because I need some Windows based programmes for Astronomy and work

The one thing thatches achieves is to remind me each time I switch it on, wait 15 minutes for updates and booting up, answer all the confirmations etc why I moved to teh MAcBooks

[millimole]

My laptop is an ancient Dell - I think my son bought it from his school when he left as they were upgrading (he's now 31) - run Linux Peppermint very nicely. I'm going to be replacing it in the next month or so as there's an increasing number of troublesome keys on the keyboard, and the battery holds about 2 minutes charge!


You can easlily remove the Tapatalk spam using settings on YOUR phone

[kwackers]

The one thing thatches achieves is to remind me each time I switch it on, wait 15 minutes for updates and booting up, answer all the confirmations etc why I moved to teh MAcBooks

You must run a different version of OSX to me, mine is always updating.
(You can turn it off, ditto windows updates)