Life Style & Wellness

Do you really need to buy a new laptop? When should you upgrade – and when should you postpone it? technology


SOr you want a new laptop. Of course you do. Everyone does it all the time, except maybe during the brief honeymoon period after you’ve just bought one. But that glamor fades, technology advances, and before you know it, a newer, younger, more powerful model wanders into your thoughts.

I’m not here to judge, but as a technologist, I can share some ideas that might help you resist the urge to upgrade.

Let’s start with the basics: The number one reason not to buy a new laptop is because you don’t need it. We’re accustomed to living in an age where technology gets faster every time you turn around, but the jobs we actually do on our laptops are evolving at a more leisurely pace. Many of us spend 99% of our computing time using a few applications – a web browser, a conferencing application, a word processor, and perhaps a spreadsheet or presentation application.

If you’re looking for a new laptop because you have to do all of the above on a crappy screen, or with an old keyboard, you might have a point – we’ll get to that later. But if your head is spinning around faster and bigger processors Solid state drivesStop shooting: Do you really think you’ll write your reports faster because you’re writing them on a Core Ultra 5 processor instead of your old i3? Worry about your productivity before you make a weak computer your scapegoat.

Old connectors are no excuse either. Your laptop may not have the latest USB ports or WiFi hardware, but the great thing about modern standards is that they are amazingly backward and forward compatible. You don’t need a new laptop to pair with your new wifi 7 router – the wifi 5 card in your existing one will work just fine (although it will take a long time to update Windows). And any USB peripheral can be plugged into any USB port, dating back to 1996 – as long as you have the right cable or adapter.


Save money – and the environment

Laptops feature a lot of environmentally expensive materials. Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Let’s also admit that not buying a new laptop saves you money. Spending a grand or more for a top-spec model is a lot, but if you tell yourself it’s a long-term investment, it’s somehow justified. But that doesn’t mean the money couldn’t be better spent elsewhere.

If you’re considering replacing your laptop because it’s faulty, you may be able to save money by having it repaired. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible, thanks in large part to the trend toward factory-sealed hardware and soldered components, but consider it, as a broken laptop can sometimes be restored to near-original condition for a third of the price of purchasing a new one.

Another reason you might be hesitant to retire your existing laptop is that it takes a lot of environmentally expensive materials to build a new computer, and there is an additional environmental cost to safely disposing of an old computer.

Finally, once you put a shiny new laptop on your desk, you’ll likely spend the following days and weeks searching for all the different bits of software and drivers that need to be reinstalled, and working through endless settings and preferences to get the thing to work the way you want it to work—that is, the way your old machine actually worked.


How to get your best Existing laptop

Hardware upgrades can give your laptop a new lease of life. Photo: Paona/Getty Images/iStockPhoto

If you decide to give your laptop another chance, there are things you can do to make your working relationship more harmonious. If you’re annoyed by endless pop-ups and performance disruption, it’s always a good idea to review which items are opened on startup and turn off any that don’t seem necessary. Windows works fine without any third party software having to run automatically on startup. All that extra stuff added by opportunistic apps and overzealous laptop manufacturers – it can all go away, and your life will be better because of it. Even if you’re using a Mac, it never hurts to check your login items and see what you can do without.

The same goes for browser extensions, which tend to pile up to the point where every page you open is covered in smart content and analytical toolbars. Plus, every one of them gets in your way, hogs resources and contributes to the general malaise that plagues laptops of a certain age. Get rid of them. If you use Chrome, enter chrome://extensions into the address bar and delete anything that’s not worth keeping; In Microsoft Edge, the title is – Guess what? -edge://extensions. In Safari, open the Settings window, and select Extensions to view and manage plug-ins.

And while you’re getting an eviction, I recommend spring cleaning your storage space as well. There are a lot of great free tools that will do a thorough audit of your hard drive and show you exactly what’s taking up space. My personal favorites are WinDirStat on Windows and Disk Inventory X on Mac; Whichever you choose, I bet you’ll be shocked at how much space you’re wasting on old downloads and unnecessary apps. Purging it probably won’t make your computer run faster, but if you were thinking about buying a new laptop just because this one was almost full, that desire may now be allayed.

Alternatively, you can give your laptop a new lease of life by treating it to a hardware upgrade or two. As with repairs, this isn’t always possible, but it’s worth exploring if you can add additional memory, expand storage, or replace the battery. Expanding RAM, in particular, can make a noticeable difference in the overall appearance of your computer. The latest operating systems and applications tend to assume you have at least 8GB of RAM and prefer double that amount; They are disappointed and may start protesting.

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Reinstall from scratch

…or just clean it well. Photo: d3sign/Getty Images

Apart from all that, you can always go for the nuclear option – a complete wipe and reinstall. There’s no need to deal with dozens of floppy disks like in the old days: you can now download and reinstall operating system files online, on Windows and macOS. This makes it a very easy way to restore spring to your computer’s step, but keep in mind that the process will return your computer to the same drab, impersonal state as a new laptop. And be absolutely sure you’ve backed up all your personal files before you head down this route – the reinstaller may offer to keep your documents and settings, but if anything gets lost, that’s the responsibility of the genius who decided to reformat his hard drive.

While I’m on this path, don’t underestimate the power of physical cleansing. Much of the excitement of opening up a brand-new laptop has to do with the completely smudge-free screen, grease-free keys that respond precisely to the touch without the slightest hint of cookie crumbs. I recommend you turn off your laptop, pick up a non-abrasive cloth (preferably microfiber if you have one) and wipe it down well inside and out. Next, turn it upside down and attack the keyboard with a handheld vacuum, scrubbing the keys well with the brush, to remove any dust or crumbs from around the edges. When you flip the thing the right way, it’s as if someone handed you a new computer.


Maybe you need a new tab after all: Tabs to upgrade your laptop

Sometimes purchasing a new laptop is unavoidable. Photography: Westend61/Getty Images

Despite all of the above, there are some situations where a new laptop is the right solution. As I mentioned, repairs and upgrades aren’t always possible, so if your screen is shattered, a trip to the computer store may be the only solution.

A particularly annoying scenario is when hardware is still working fine, but is too old to support the latest operating system and security patches. This tends to happen for Apple systems after about a decade, and it’s about to hit millions of PCs on October 14, when Microsoft ends support for Windows 10. PCs that meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11 can upgrade for free, but the rest will still be stuck in the cold.

If your computer is among that unhappy group — and for whatever reason, you’re not in a position to install an operating system other than Windows — then a new laptop is a must. Although it is possible to continue running an unsupported operating system, I cannot in all conscience recommend that you do so. Without regular security patches coming down from the mothership, you will be vulnerable to future hacks and ransomware attacks.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to get rid of your existing laptop. You can install a free Linux operating system on almost anything, and use it for everyday tasks like browsing the web, editing documents and spreadsheets in LibreOffice, and even making video calls.

Another option is Google’s ChromeOS Flex, a free version of the Chromebook operating system that you can install on a wide range of laptops. Whether you use it yourself or pass it on to a friend or family member, you will have done your best to extend the life of that particular device, and defer the environmental cost of turning it off.

Finally, let’s not pretend that there is no social aspect to all of this. The whole point of a laptop is so you can take it outside where people can see it. Showing up at your local café with a David Cameron-era laptop makes a certain statement, and not necessarily a bad one: it shows that you’re loyal and practical, unaffected by the temptations of consumerism.

For more, read our filter guide on how to make your smartphone last longer


Darren Graham Smith has been a professional IT journalist for over 20 years, covering brands from Amazon to Zyxel to… Magazines, newspapers and various websites. A lifelong technology enthusiast, he wrote his first program “HELLO WORLD” on a Sinclair ZX-80, and takes pride in keeping his home fully stocked with the latest consumer gadgets – both useful and often not.

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