Upgrading Computers So Often

[Mike2002]

Why is it that people seem to thing there is a need to upgrade computers every couple of years or so. I am referring to the people that use computers primarily for word processing and to surf the internet. I would assume the majority of people use their computers for just that and the computers they have should be able to last much longer than they keep them for. It seems that by not updating compuers that don't need it will help with the disposal of computer equipment that everyone is saying is filling up our landfills. So what are your thoughts on this? Do you think I am totally off base?

 

[Paulson]

I don't game so I've still got an athlon XP 1800+ oc'd to 2200...

I do have a gig of ram but I haven't bothered switching to SATA yet.

 

[ISAslot]

might work in a non-capitalistic country...

 

[Heisenberg]

If all you use it for is office/browsing type stuff, there's no need to upgrade every two years. The people who do a lot of gaming have to upgrade pretty often.

 

[astrocase]

I have a Duron 800 still in use. It feels really sluggish. Kinda like using a Williamette. However for everyday use an Athlon 1Ghz should be able to pull off most tasks. That's my experience.

When it comes to games, encoding, etc then it's a different story.

 

[DaveSimmons]

People discover new needs, like wanting USB 2 and a big hard drive for iTunes and photos, so they replace their old P3 with USB 1 and a 20GB HD.

Or their hard drive dies and they look at the cost of a new PC vs. paying for service to replace it and having to reinstall their copy of Windows ME.

I don't think you're right that people upgrade every couple of years for no reason, I think many of them wait until they have a pretty good reason, except for the ones who let spyware / trojans etc. trash the OS and then think the hardware side is broken.