Computers

Most computers are given a life of about 3 to 6 years, at least that's what most companies want you to believe. 4 years is probably the longest warranty I see most companies offer, but 3 is a bit more common. Now, if you get a warranty or not is up to you and you can decide what it is worth to ensure the computer keeps running, for me it is more of a question of how much I just spent and would I be very upset to have it break in that time and not have it under warranty. That being said, I am not advising for or against warranties. What I do want to note is that a warranty shows you roughly how long they expect your computer to last before you replace it. You see, after the warranty period is when they would expect it to start failing, though from what I've seen, if its made it that far without problem it might make it quite a bit farther. The real issue comes though in people's perceived notion that when it is out of warranty it is no longer any good. Granted it is old as far as technology goes, but chances are that the computer can still give you quite a few more years without having to put much money into it. I myself have bought 3 new computers in my life, all laptops. Each one I bought was because I didn't know better than to buy them. Now, after learning a few things, I would probably not buy any new computers unless I had a very specific reason for needing them (such as, I can't build/find/refurbish one that has the specs I need).

So what do I do? I get used computers, this is a double green for me, it is good for my budget and it is good for the environment, reuse is always better than any other choice when it comes to going green for the planet. Where do these computers come from? Well, there are plenty of businesses who get rid of old equipment and lots of home users who just recycle them through the company they just bought the new one from. I am willing to bet you might be able to talk them out of one of the computers or at least get one for pretty cheap if you're on good terms with them. Then you can rebuild it to suit your needs. Here are the most common things that need to be done to computers to bring them up to a good, working condition.

First, I verify the computer has enough RAM, I would say about a Gig at least for what I'm using, for those of you married to Microsoft you will need at least 2 Gigs. And, if you are needing Microsoft products, I need to ask, why? The OS is what slows down your computer so much, it isn't written well and has bugs and costs you more money in the long run. Anyway, short rant over. The next thing I ask myself is, do I trust this hard drive (HDD for short). If I can trust the HDD or know I won't be putting data on it that I would cry over losing I'll make sure it is big enough for my needs, if so, I keep the drive and work with it. I'll run diagnostics, most computers have this, check that it has all the screws/parts it needs to stay together and that it is in a generally good, working condition (scratches do not affect performance) and make sure the screen works. You're going to laugh at this one, but I also check the smell of the laptop too, I do not want a laptop that a former smoker used or someone spilt something on for two reasons, first, it smells horrible and second, it is more likely to break. If I decided I need more RAM or a new HDD I'll order it and wait a week for it to arrive, I have patience and don't need the computer up and running tomorrow, I'll also buy online so I can save some money.

Once I have my parts I will put them in the computer and begin my build process. The biggest decision you'll need to make is what you install on it, I highly recomming Linux as you will get more life out of your used computer with it than if you went with a commercial alternative (Microsoft Windows, see reason above). I also like that it's free and the software on it is free too, also it is well supported by a community of people (I fixed the computer, I have to support it and I am not paying someone to do it, I learned to Google my problems and figure them out) and the version I use has an easy way to upgrade (which is free). A short while later, probably about a half hour to two hours depending on what I'm doing with it, the computer is done and I'm doing what I want to do with it. That's all, some time, a little effort and I have a perfectly good computer. Now, if you have access to multiple computers that are the same model, you can take these computers and swap parts between them to get a working one, I've done that a few times. Because of what I do I end up with a new, used computer about once a year. I will always upgrade my own first and then fix up the one I was using for someone else, it's just always nice to have something nice for you when you do all this work anyway.

For those of you who don't have access to some cheap/free computers, I recommend you think twice when you are about to retire yours, you may actually be able to get more life out of it by spending some time fixing it up. If you really must have the new computer, consider how much computer you actually need, a lot of computers out there that people get the best parts in are only used for e-mail and web surfing, from what I can tell most electronics can do that now and aren't near as powerful as the computer you just bought, so why do you need to get all those fancy upgrades into a computer that you will be using less than I use my free ones? Oh, and if you can't fix one up yourself, you might be able to find someone who will help you, just remember though, if they're helping you it is because they are being nice, don't get picky or demanding with them because then they won't want to help you again or anyone else for that matter. In other words, be nice to your friendly geek, we like to keep them friendly so they keep helping others.