Looking At Alternatives
At some
point, your needs are going to outgrow the capabilities of your
computer. You may find yourself in need of more hard drive space for all
those videos and mp3s that you download, for example. Or maybe that
cool new programming language you've been dying to try requires more
memory than what your computer currently has. Unless the activities on
your computer are restricted to pure textual output (plain text files),
your computer is going to get filled with a lot of "stuff" - stuff that
can overfill a PC's capacity too much for the computer to function well.
The
problem is that while upgrading a computer is always an option,
technology advances so fast that newer products (such as memory chips,
new drives, etc.) aren't always compatible with the machines that we
own. This is a common occurrence when newer pieces of hardware require
the programming of a newer operating system. Sure, one could upgrade the
operating system to accommodate the demands of a new piece of hardware,
but trouble starts when that new operating system requires new hardware
in return. If we're not careful, we could end up replacing almost every
hard and soft part of a computer that we own - all in an effort to
upgrade! Upgrading in this fashion is not only silly to do so, it's also
costly - more costly than simply buying a new computer.
But once
the decision to buy a computer is set in stone, what can be done with
the old one? There are alternatives to selling a computer and this
article is going to introduce a few of them.
1. Give it to the
kids. This is of course, assuming the kids are too young to whine about
not having enough SDRAM or less than a 160GB hard drive. Today's "older"
computers are perfectly capable of accommodating the needs of young PC
users, and they're excellent machines for playing educational CDs, small
multimedia files, or games downloaded from the Internet. And don't
forget the most important role they play in a child's homework-clad
life: A simple encyclopedia CD on a used computer makes excellent
research tool (not to mention a rather fancy calculator!).
2.
Donate it to a less-fortunate or less-literate family member. We often
joke around the office about the "grandma" who refuses to use a computer
until she can afford the "latest" one. Chances are, Grandma isn't ever
going to shell out the bucks to buy the latest computer on the market,
nor is she going to know how to use it once she gets it. What Grandma
doesn't realize however is that a used computer is an excellent training
tool that she can use to prepare herself for something "better" in the
future. We always say, "'Tis better to screw up something on an old,
used machine than to screw up everything on a brand new one!" A couple
of errors on an old, used machine are easier to fix because someone is
going to have the experience and knowledge to fix it. Errors on a new
machine however can be a beast to fix because we're all knocking at
Microsoft's door looking for answers.
3. Convert the machine into
a storage area. As another alternative to selling that machine, we
suggest that people disconnect it from the Internet and use it to store
personal documents, records, or files. This way, personal data (such as
bank statements, store receipts, health records, etc.) is protected from
prying viruses or hackers, while the newer machine is used to surf the
net.
As you can see, old computers still serve a purpose either
for you or for someone else. And although selling an old computer is
always an option, there are a number of things that you can do with an
old computer. All that's required is a little "out of the box" thinking
and a grateful recipient.
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