We were speaking with a friend last week about their recent iMac purchase. We had serious sticker shock when he revealed the price. He got a lot of bang for his buck, and had a legitimate argument for spending so much. It got us thinking though, how far are we willing to go with tech purchases?
Our friend spent over $2,000 on a new iMac. Of course it was top of the line, so the price was justified and his argument was certainly reasonable. The way he looked at the large purchase was this: if he got the absolute top of the line, each maxed out component adds extra years onto the life of the machine. There will be no reason for him to need a new computer for at least 5 or more years. There won't be any extra little upgrades he'll have to do here and there, because those have already been taken care of.
So, we got to thinking &mdash do most people practice this method? Obviously having the funds available is extremely helpful in this situation, and not everyone does. Do you save your money until you are ready for the go-for-the-gusto purchase, or do you buy low and keep upgrading every few years?
We know people that have kept their computers for over 10 years, but that required regular upgrades. When all of those upgrades are added up, we imagine the two different approaches equal out.
So, how far are you willing to go? Are you a go big or go home, or an upgrade over time purchaser?
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Unless you fall into the category of folks that need to have the latest greatest on a seasonal basis, I say go big for those big purchases! My reasons are not always the most common since I work from home and can get more out of a faster computer... but even for computer purchases that are not work related such as a kitchen PC or HTPC, I find that they can fulfill a useful role for much longer as the tasks they are asked to do become more and more laborious as apps, plugins (Flash, I am looking at you) and growing media collections use more RAM, more drive space, more CPU cycles, more cores, and a greater proportion of the video processing power.
And as they eventually move on and make room for new computers, I've found that I've easily grown into that extra speed or storage that may have seemed excessive at one point and now makes for a very passable email server, or media server, backup computer, or travel laptop... And the cost to upgrade those older computers is usually very very low as the parts that may have been the height of technology in their prime has fallen considerably.
Probably the biggest thing that I could see upsetting this trend is cloud storage. But that is likely to only change your initial configuration for drive space...
I try my best to wait until the beginning of a new production cycle and then hold onto that new piece of tech (even if it's a huge initial splurge) for several years. I've had my 13" Macbook since mid-2006 and it only just needed a RAM and HD upgrade. My new iMac cost a pretty penny, but should last me quite a long time, too.
Spending on the bigger and better products means not having to dink around with parts and upgrades and replacements so often, IMO.
I'm the same way with computers as I am with favourite shoes. Screw the dictates of fashion, buy what works for me personally, and keep patching them up along the way and use them until they completely fall apart. Then I have no choice but to get a new (computer - or pair of shoes) based on what I need.
So far, favourite shoes record lifespan: 5 years (plus however old they were before I got them, they were from a vintage shop!)
Oldest part of a computer: 7 years (it recently died completely and I had to buy a new machine)
I've recently put together a new PC, after 5 years of running big 17" desktop replacement laptops that cost AUS$3K-$3500.
This time round I wanted to do a tower PC, I didn't go crazy on CPU or Memory, but I did decide to buy a Intel 80GB SSD & BluRay burner. I hope these two parts last me a long while.
An important factor I think is to choose long warranty items, for example my RAM is lifetime warranty. My new PC cost bout AUS$2,500, not including monitor.
What can I say. Dude paid the Mac tax.
i understand folks who need to get the fastest stuff for work projects or for those who do gaming, music, etc. but for those of us who basically surf the net, do word processing, a little music stuff, etc why bother? I have a 2004 ibook at home which won't run the latest OS. I'd personally rather buy the medium-low end computer and update when my computer will no longer run the OS.