TECH WATCH
PC choices
Is It Time to Update or Upgrade?
The holiday lull is a great time to optimize your PC’s performance for the busy year ahead.
BY MIKE ANTONIAK
Some of you may have a little less business to attend to during the temporary lull of the holiday season. That break provides an opportunity to bring your computer up to speed, while you prepare your goals for the year ahead.
First, you need to decide if you want to enter 2005 with an entirely new system or if you’d rather maximize the performance of what you already have.
The Rationale for Updating
If you’ve been contemplating something new, this is your last opportunity to squeeze in one more business deduction. If seasonal sales don’t meet retailers’ expectations, you can expect to see significant post-holiday/year-end price breaks.
Computer prices are already down across the board, with desktop systems—complete with monitor—now starting around $500. However, the mobility that a notebook computer offers may be a more practical value as your primary PC for real estate. Choices range from basic models under $1,000 to fully loaded models costing $3,000 or more. Most vendors let you customize features such as processor speed, memory, screen size, hard drive, and wireless support.
For even more versatility, consider Tablet PCs. Starting around $1,500, they combine the notebook’s portability with handwriting-recognition software which lets you compose text in your own handwriting. Enter data and run applications with the keyboard or put the pen stylus to the touch-sensitive screen when it’s more convenient.
The Rationale for Upgrading
Happy with the system you have? There are still modest improvements you could make:
- Install more memory, and you’ll see a noticeable improvement in operation. It’s easily accomplished, but make sure your actions won’t void the manufacturer’s warranty.
- Add a wireless keyboard and mouse for more freedom on your desktop computer.
- Add a full-sized peripheral keyboard to make it more comfortable to use a notebook as your only PC when in the office.
- Add a larger monitor to enhance your experience on any PC; buying one of the newer LCD flat-screen models also will free up space on your desk.
There are other ways to optimize performance of your old system without adding hardware. Think of obvious improvements first. How about upgrading to a newer version of your operating system (OS) or installing Microsoft’s latest updates?
Check user forums or with others who’ve made the OS upgrade to see what, if any, problems you may encounter. In particular, you want assurance the updated OS is compatible with important software you use. You may need to contact the software publisher: Occasionally the move to a newer OS requires software patches or an updated version of the software.
This also may be the right time to step up to the latest version of favorite applications, especially security/anti-virus protection or database software. Since it’s easiest to organize, analyze, and review activity by the year, it makes sense to enter 2005 fresh, with the new tool in place. The end of year also is a logical time to cleanse applications, folders, and hard drives of outdated records, files, and programs you no longer need. Save a back-up copy first, then purge!
Next, focus on potential problems not readily apparent. If you spend time online or frequently swap files, your hard drive could be host to hidden invaders. Without the latest security protection, computer viruses, Trojan horses, Spyware, and pop-up adware can all arrive unannounced, then drain your computer’s speed and efficiency. And over the course of a year, the files on your hard driver can become so fragmented that your processor must spend considerable time and energy searching for data it needs to run your software. Unless you eliminate these issues—purge the invaders and defrag your hard drive—your computer won’t run at full speed.
Need convincing? A Web site such as PC Pitstop features Web-based diagnostic tools to check the performance of Windows-based PCs against benchmark standards. Use of the diagnostic tools is free to visitors who agree the company can include test results in its database.
If you’d rather test your system offline, see what diagnostic tools came with your OS, or purchase and run a suite of utilities such as Norton SystemWorks, $69.95, or Tune-up Software’s TuneUp Utilities, $39.95.
Whatever you use, you’ll get a report after you run the tests identifying conflicts and problem files, no comma needed with recommendations on ways to fix them. You can automatically remedy some problems with a click of a button, but others may require you to buy additional tools, such as the utilities mentioned above.
It takes a great deal of time to scan, defrag, and re-organize a cluttered hard drive. Tend to this routine maintenance now, during a lull period, and you’ll enter 2005 with your computer tuned up and optimized for the New Year.
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Do you have technology you’d like to learn more about or a new user twist that you’d like to share with your peers? Let me know about it by e-mailing antoniak@dtccom.net, and I’ll do my best to give it the coverage it deserves.
