Desktop Computer Packages - Which is better: upgrading your computer or getting a new one if the old one is more than 5 years old?

Which is better: upgrading your computer or getting a new one if the old one is more than 5 years old?

Bought my Dell in 2001. Put in a new Lightscribe DVD burner b/c I flashed the original and messed it up apparently. Computer is running very slow...takes a long time to start up and takes a while for a program to load, especially the internet. Has Intel Celeron processor, 797 Mhz, and 348 MB of RAM. The thing is I saw a desktop computer on sale at Walmart for $600. It has 3.0 GHz Processor, 1,024 MB Memory. Upgrade or Get a new one.

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i would definitely get a new one.
if you get a new one. don't get it at walmart!!
just get a new one
Depends what you are planning to do with you're PC. But if you can afford one, maybe you should buy it.
Get a new one!
with what you got in there now get a new one... you be happyer for it too, saves time too
Unless you require custom components for a high-end machine (like a gaming PC), *and* you are really comfortable with upgrading computers yourself (vs. having a computer shop do it) your best and cheapest bet is to buy new. It'll save you money and time.
Get a new one. Celerons are fine but it sounds like your old one is out of date and dying. New ones have more memory, better processors and most everything else. Keep the old and network it to the new one. Use it to play around with and as a back up to your hard drive.
it would cost more to upgrade the parts inside than to buy a new one. so, buy!
You should get a new one, the cheap one from walmart would get you by. I would suggest investing into one that will last you another 5years. Good luck!
Yes, Buy the new one...anythings going to be faster and better than what you're using now...
probably just get a new one, with all the hassle of re-formatting to install all the new hard Ware, you just but better off getting a new one. also you probably could transfer over the DVD burner if you wanted and maybe save a little bit of money there.
New computer. At this point the only operating system you'll find is Vista, therefore I'd recommend going with a Dual Core processor and you're probably going to want 2Gb of memory.
Get a new one, but get it from someplace that actually does computers. The ones at walmart probably fell off a shelf in a circuit city warehouse and they didn't want to sell them to their customers.
I would definitely buy a new computer. The good news is your monitor should be fine, which should decrease your spending on the new machine by at least 500 bucks. If you can afford it I would purchase a Dual Core Processor.
id get a new one. then you can experience life in the fast lane again. lol
Just get a new one
I upgraded an old Dell and it is very slow. I did get a new one and I keep the old one for games for the children.
the walmart one doesnt seem worth it. for $600 you can buy way better stuff to upgrade your current one. All you need is someone that can put it all in for you, you could go to a computer doctor type place that could help with that.. but it might get a little pricey. For parts, try looking on sites like newegg.com.
if your a gamer go buy new..if not just upgrade but don't get the lightscrib it just eats up you ram but i would get the dualayerdvd.if $$$is the prob upgrade if it not go new you can mostlikely trade your old one for a discount as well
Probably getting a new one, as upgrading to a decent system would cost more and take more effort.
Best to buy new, it'll cost a pretty penny to upgrade the one you have now. In fact you'll probably save some cash in the end
Get a new one. Look for either a Pentium processor or AMD. Celeron (Intel) and Sempron (AMD) are not good processors stay away from these. To get you current computer even close to what is available now you would be building a new computer anyways. Might as well have someone else build it and get the warranty. The one at Walmart sounds good - but beware of the Celeron processor. I have owned 2 computers from Walmart with the Celeron processor and they sucked. Wally world does carry a computer with a Pentium - look at the e-machines.
It would be more cost effective if you bought another rather than upgrading an existing PC. You would put just as much into an old machine upgrading it versus buying a new machine with a manufacturer's warranty.
Get a new one.
Since 2001...your machine is an antique. Computers are already outdated after 2 years...go with the new one unless you really know how to build computers. My cousin builds computers, so he knows what to replace...but I don't know jack squat about building computers, so I buy a hard drive every 3 years.
My husband knows alot about computers. Hes been into fixing computer sence he was 8 & is 26 yrs old now. He has an A + Certification & has lots of experience. He has built one of our computer.If you want to know please e-mail me at Jeremynapril4ever@hotmail.com cause he isn't home yet & I can get him to e-mail you when he gets home
You should buy a new one because for the price you can get one that is so much better than what you have. Plus it will have all the current software. It also probably will cost you almost the same to upgrade your own and it will still be slower. Just make sure you compare computers before you buy to make sure you get the most for your money.
Get a new one ane put the DVD burner in it.
Buy buy buy!
Get a new one. Having said that, however, you must now deal with your old technologically funky Dell. Recycling of electronics is very common but it costs money. A high school or trade school in your area may take old machines and remake them with simple upgrades. Yahoo has Freecycle, an online group of people who give their old stuff away to someone who can use it.
Sounds like its about time you up graded to a NEW computer. Suggestion don't buy another Dell, Go for a better one. I bought a new one last year and was lucky enough to get a HP pavilion that had Windows XP already set up in it. Bought it at Fry's Electrics and it was on sale. It runs great. I had AOL removed from it. And use Internet Explorer. But check around and go on line and see the best buy. Good Luck.
I dont really think you need to really do anything to your computer, or get a new one. Why don't you try to reinstall Windows and clear your hard drive. When so much crap fills up your harddrive and your computer is loaded up with adware, it will run very slow. First I would run your Virus Protection software and clear out any viruses and trojans you can find. If you dont clear these out before the reinstall, they will stay on the computer. Next you should grab the free programs Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft AdAware SE Personal. Run bot of these to fiter out all the malicious adware and spyware from your computer. Your computer might run much better after you run these 3 programs. If that's the case I wouldn't worry about reinstalling Windows as you were probably just loaded up with spyware and weren't protected against it. If its still running slow, reinstall Windows. With the restore disk that came with your computer, you can have Windows reinstalled, your hard-drive whiped completely and start over from scratch like its a brand new computer. Sometimes this is really the best way to go. If none of these work, and your computer is still dogging, its probably because the computer is very old. It sounds like your either running Windows 98 or 2000 because of your processor and RAM settings. If you pick up a new computer, I would stick with another DELL. You'll be able to swap in parts from the old one down the line if you need them. I would never buy a computer from Wal*Mart for $600. Go to Dell's website and order one from the online store. They are alot cheaper, have free shipping, and you can configure it exactly how you want. I would recommed getting one with a Core 2 Duo processor at around 2.0GHz and atleast 1GB of RAM. One thing you can do after you buy a new computer, is take your new reformatted hard-drive out of the old computer. You can purchase a hard-drive enclosure, put the hard-drive in there and use it as an external hard-drive to write extra stuff to. You can probably try and sell some other parts out of it to other students or on ebay, alot of people look for cheap used RAM, processors, wires, optical drives, etc.
My HP is about three years old and I decided I wanted a new computer. I don't know much about computers so took someone who was savy along with me. I purchased a great HP tower with Microsoft Vista. Big mistake for me. It wasn't compatible with some of the programs I use, or the online game I play frequently. Even had to purchase a new webcam. Printer was touch and go but finally worked. Am back to using my three-year old computer and very happy. I will upgrade stuff on it before I purchase another computer anytime soon. So make sure the new computer with all it's fancy gizmos is compatible with your printer, programs, etc. It seems that everything is planned obsolescence. Good luck.
Rule of Thumbs: Upgrade kits may not be available if your system is older than 3 years. It's cheaper to buy a new system outright, than to gradually upgrade it.
It will first of all cost you less to buy a new one than to upgrade. Second: You have limitations on how much you really can upgrade on that motherboard, so you will have an old pc still, just a bit faster and if you're lucky at the same price as a new one. But if you do buy a new one, buy it at a place where they deal with computers, where they can help you and service it if you run into problems.
It can be upgraded, but with the new motherboards, ram, processors, etc that are available now you would probably be better off buying a new computer.
It depends. Is your computer slower than it was when it was new? You could try backing up your data and reinstalling the OS and programs. You may find that that will speed it up to where it was. You are going to be limited on your upgrades form what you system will take, so you will never get it up to the same speed as a current new system. You could add more memory, put in a faster hard file, upgrade the CPU. You could replace the motherboard+memory+CPU, but if you are spending anything close to the price of a new system, then what is the point?