6 Reasons To Get A New Computer

Sometimes it can be difficult to know when it’s a good time to get a new computer, and sometimes it can be hard to justify getting a new computer. Below are 6 reasons why you may want to seriously consider getting a new computer. 

1) Your Computer is just Too Old
2) You Can’t Afford Not to Buy a New a Computer
3) Now is the Optimal Time to Sell Your Computer
4) You Are Not as Productive as you Could be
5) Your Computer is Way Too Slow
6) You Just Want a New Computer 

Let’s take a look at 6 reasons why you might want to consider getting a new computer. If you honestly assess your motives, you will have no regret end of the decision that you make. 

Your Computer is just too Old

If you have a computer that is 8 to10 years old or, or even older. It’s time to get a new computer. A computer that old is not designed to run the software of today.  Even if you are running a Mac with outstanding hardware that still runs as well as it did the day you first bought it, today’s software was not designed to run optimally on such an old computer. Today’s software is written for today’s hardware. If you do run new software on an old computer, though it may work, you won’t get the same experience as you would if it was running on a new computer. 

Some people don’t like change, and really do not want to upgrade their computer because they have an emotional attachment to it.  They personify their computer, and may feel like they are betraying their computer after all the years of service it has offered.  Usually, this occurs with older people, especially with people who don’t like change.  But it is an inanimate object, and the “life” that it may have “birthed” is found in the documents and pictures that it has housed for you.  Those very same documents and pictures can easily be housed in a new computer. 

You Can’t Afford Not to Buy a New Computer

On a rare occasion, you just might find a deal on a computer that you just can’t afford to pass up. For example, In the United States, The best time to purchase a new computer and get a great deal would be on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday, (it’s the same weekend).  Retail stores and online stores will cut their prices drastically on a given product in order to bring you into the store so that you’ll buy other merchandise.  This “deal“ is almost always limited and only available for the first 10 customers or so, which makes it incredibly difficult to make this purchase unless you literally camp outside the store a day or two beforehand. 

Sometimes, and I cannot over emphasize “sometimes”, you may find a great deal, one in which you would seriously regret if you did not make the purchase. If the circumstances are right, you may really want to consider purchasing a new computer.  

However, I highly recommend that you check with your IT nerd friend before making the purchase, as they will almost certainly be able to tell you whether or not it really is a good deal or if it’s just an OK deal.  If you do end up buying a new computer under these circumstances, you can probably sell your existing computer online via FaceBook Marketplace, or find someone who could really use your old computer. 

Now is the Optimal Time to Sell Your Computer

Just like when one buys a car and drives off the lot, it immediately depreciates, so to when you buy a computer the value of that computer depreciates the longer you have it.  However, there usually is an optimal time to sell your computer. This is The technique that I use when I sell a computer to buy a new one. 

For example, I purchased the 2019 MacBook Pro about 10 months ago. When I purchased it, it was a great computer that did everything that I wanted it to do. It’s still is. However, Apple just introduced the new MacBook Air, MacBook mini, and MacBook Pro, all of which have the new M one chip.  The M1 chip is a revolutionary silicone chip designed by Apple for Apple computers and outperforms Intel based chips in a huge way. 

Take the MacBook Pro that I purchased 10 months ago that has the Intel chip in it as an example.  If I were to compare the speed of that computer against the new MacBook Pro with the M1 chip in it, there is no comparison. In fact, if I were to compare my MacBook Pro with the Intel chip in it against the new MacBook Air that has the M1 chip in it, there still is no comparison because the MacBook Air without perform my MacBook Pro with the Intel chip in it hands-down. 

Now would be the optimal time to sell my MacBook Pro, because the future of the MacBook line will now include the M1 chip, making any MacBook with an Intel chip obsolete in a coup of years, which will, of course drive the value of the old MacBook Pro down over time. For this reason, I sold my MacBook Pro with the Intel chip in it so that I could purchase a new MacBook with the M1 chip in it.  Now was the perfect time for me to sell my MacBook Pro, while it still has some value.  If you don’t know when the optimal time is to sell your computer, ask your “IT Guy”, (everybody has an “IT Guy”, right?), what they would recommend.  

You are Not as Productive as You Could Be

If you are one that needs to multitask so that you can be productive, and find that your current computer does not allow you the flexibility to do many things at the same time, you may want to consider buying a new computer.

Today, computers are very fast and are designed to allow you to accomplish many things at the same time. When Windows95 came out, I remember asking a friend of mine why there was so much hype around the release of Windows95. He said, “ in a word, multitasking.” Being completely ignorant at the time, And having no understanding of what the benefits of multitasking were, I asked, “Why would anyone want to do more than one thing at a time?“  

Again, I was completely ignorant I did not understand the value of multitasking at the time. I did not understand the concept of a computer that would allow you to do several things at the same time. Let’s not forget, that prior to the release of Windows95, you only ever did one task at a time, so multitasking was a foreign concept to the average computer user. 

Today, every computer will allow you to multitask. The newer the computer the faster it will function, which in theory, means that you can be more productive. 

Your Computer is Way Too Slow

Though productivity does play a huge factor into how fast your computer is, I’m not referring to productivity here.  I’m referring to how long it takes for your computer to boot up, or how long you have to wait for your PC game to load, or even how long it takes for your computer to shut down. 

The older your computer hardware is, the slower it will be.  Older computers are just not as efficient as newer computers.  Newer computers will allow you to do more at the same time. For example, a newer computer with an SSD hard drive with 8or 16 GB of RAM will allow you to render a video while editing an image in Photoshop without any lag or delay. 

Now, of course, this is not true of all new computers, as the hardware components that comprise the computer will determine how powerful that computer is.  So, for example, if you were to buy a new computer with a wimpy Celeron processor with 4 GB of RAM on a traditional hard drive, that machine is not going to to be able to render any video, let alone manipulate an image in Photoshop at the same time.

If you find that your computer is “way too slow“, you need to ask yourself why its so slow?  Does it have an internal SSD drive? Do you have at least 8 GB of RAM? How fast is the processor? And finally, do you have any programs that are starting up in the background that don’t need to?  My point is that you need to find out why your computer is slow before deciding to buy a new computer. 

You Just Want a New Computer

Sometimes, we just want to buy a new computer because we want a new computer. There’s nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong with wanting to buy a new car because you want a new car. The point is, you need to be honest with yourself, and if your reason for wanting a new computer is because it’s more powerful than the computer you currently have, that’s OK.

This is how I am with computers, (and definitely with cell phones). After all, who doesn’t want a shiny new toy to play with? I get it.  I just encourage you to be honest with yourself in assessing whether you need a new computer or not.  And maybe you don’t need A new computer, but just want one. Again, that’s OK.

Closing Thoughts 

There are many reasons that you may want to buy a new computer. We have covered 6 of the big ones, and though there may be other reasons, they probably fit within one of the six that we have discussed.

Often times, we find ourselves wanting to do something but don’t necessarily know what questions to ask to justify whether or not we should take action.  My hope is that having read this article, you will honestly approach the subject so that you can determine with conviction whether you should buy a new computer or not. 

I assure you, if you honestly assess your motives before making a decision, you will have no regrets, regardless of whether you decide to buy a new computer or not. The objective in writing this article was to help you determine what your motivation is in buying a new computer, and f you are honest with yourself, you will not regret your decision. 

Tim Chesonis

Tim has been helping people with computers needs for several years, and he loves to help people succeed. He brings a wealth of wisdom and insight from an entrepreneur's perspective and enjoys freelance writing. In fact, when he's not writing an article, you might find him binge-watching Suits or formatting his computer . . . again, just for fun. To learn more about Tim, click here.