It can be frustrating to try to keep up with the latest technologies. Everything from mobile phones to household appliances seems to be outdated quite quickly. When it comes to your computer, it can be difficult to know when you need to replace it or when you can repair (or update) it. So how do you know if you need to repair or replace your computer?
Do you currently need a computer repair service?
If your computer meets your needs or those of your company, then you have, for the time being, a small margin of flexibility to evaluate your future investments, based on the technical innovations of the moment, either in a new device or in progressive improvements to the components of your computer.
If your computer no longer meets your needs, either because it no longer works properly or because it does not have the computing speed, memory or capacity to perform the necessary tasks, you will need to have it repaired or replaced. Consult an experienced computer repair professional to diagnose whether it makes more sense to move to a more economical computer repair solution or whether it is better to move on to a complete replacement of your equipment.
What is the nature of the problem?
The most obvious factor you will consider when deciding whether to repair or replace a computer will often be cost. But this assessment is not as simple as it seems. In some cases, although it may be possible to bypass a problem instead of solving it to save money in the short term, we do not recommend it for those who want to preserve uptime, robustness, reliability and productivity.
How old is your equipment?
In fact, the age of your equipment is an extremely important factor that many do not take into account. Just like cars, many of which know that they will generally drive up to 250,000 to 400,000 km and then start having major problems, a computer has a measurable and predictable lifetime in years. Depending on the quality of the computer originally purchased, this lifetime is between 3 and 7 years. The more expensive a computer is initially, the longer it will last because buying a “professional-quality” computer rather than a “mainstream” computer will result in a longer life span.
So why do computers have a lifetime? Shouldn’t they last until the computer stops working?
Processing power – Over time, software vendors and computer component suppliers update their products, including the operating system. Computers and websites are becoming more and more complex to respond to the evolution of visual and interactive features. These updates will require more computing power to work properly.
Obsolete and incompatible software – A computer can only update its own operating system, and when a completely new version is released, your computer will not be able to use it. Without the new operating system, your computer will be much more vulnerable to computer virus attacks, and many new software and even websites will simply not work (i.e., will be incompatible).
Frequent failures – Electronics has the “gift” of breaking down without warning. In most cases, there is no specific “cause” to identify. Although this can happen to even a brand new computer, the older a computer is, the more likely it is that the electronics will fail. Hard drives are the weakest link in a computer, and each year increases the risk of a failure exponentially.
Durability – Cheap computers are cheap because the savings are made in the way they are made. The use of inexpensive materials leads to computers that can literally fall apart after only a few years of normal use. Cheap computers also have less efficient cooling systems that can lead to recurrent failures after a few years instead of lasting 5 to 7 years as is the case for quality computers.
Taking into consideration the above factors that affect the lifetime of a computer, we find that the “total cost of ownership” (TCO) is about the same for both types of computer ranges, reporting it at a cost “per year”. A cheap 400 € computer should last 3 to 5 years, which represents about 100 € per year. A 600 € professional computer should last 5 to 7 years, which is also about 100 € per year. The important difference is that the €600 premium computer will work better (performance) and more reliably (less downtime) during the period of use, which means more productivity and less frustration, two things everyone appreciates!