We all come to our homes to greet our window to the worlds, the desktop or laptop of choice, in hopes that all is well and nothing has gone awry since our last peek into the world wide web.
However, our dreams of perfect pc times are shattered when we least expect it by blue screens of death (BSoD), error messages, no power, pop ups, and the light. Simply put our baby is broken or at least sick and we know that something must be done to make it right. We all need our pcs right? School work, work work, games, small business venues, and much more demand that this now broken thing be fixed, up, and running like greased lightening and FAST. Sooooo off to the local repair shop we go. Let's hope that we get one of those free pc checkup things or at least a good hint at what is wrong with our pc for the sake of putting all of our money into the "fix it" pot instead of wasting some in the "find out what's wrong with it" pot, and we do from time to time. The average cost of repair however is $200 USD!!! Doesn't sound like it's worth the cost to repair it if it's not relatively new or if it was inexpensive to procure to begin with but here are a few things to consider before you make that decision.
1. How much will a new PC that fits your needs cost? Often time, what is cheap isn't right for us. Just because it is on sale and fits into our budget doesn't necessarily mean that it is a good buying decision. Remember the right pc should last you around 4 years with maybe one significant upgrade around year 2 or 3.
2. Will the stuff on my old pc work on my new pc? Not a really big issue if you're a simple user who just uses the pc for email and Facebook, but for those of us that use multiple programs for pictures, music, video, and productivity will need to see what programs will install onto the new pc AND that we have the original software to install it on the new computer. Most common issues that people run into are with Microsoft Office $150 USD), security software like Norton Antivirus or AVG Internet Security, ($50 ~ $100 USD). Some of these titles ARE NOT transferable between machines and MUST BE BOUGHT AGAIN.
3. Is there any data on my computer that needs to be copied over? Most computer places have a data migration service that will copy your documents, pictures, music, and video over to external media such as DVDs or a new hard drive. This, however is an added expense.
4. Will the things that I have connected to my pc work with the new one? Printers, cameras, cell phones, scanners, etc. All have specific system requirements and may not work with the new pc.
The nit and the grit is that there is at least $200 of add on items that most customers must purchase with a new computer. This should be addressed before making the decision to repair our broken computer or to leave it be and upgrade to a new one. Your technician can help you make a sound decision and if they won't or can't, then you should probably work with someone else.
Lionel Jackson
IT Professional 7 years
Sales Consultant 7 years
