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Technology

When does your computer become obsolete?

(67 Posts)
jack Tue 24-Apr-12 12:43:04

I have spent nearly three hours trying to get Virgin protection ( no - not that sort!) and ended up talking to a nice man in New Delhi who ordered - yes, ordered! - me to buy a new computer immediately.

My PC is only 7 years old, I yelped. He was dumbfounded. Then I realised it is actually 8 years old. And I have to admit it is very, very slow.

So how long have you managed to keep yours going, gransnetters? And what on earth am I going to buy now (presuming I can afford a new one)? shock

Katek Fri 18-Aug-23 08:57:46

I have a 2 year old laptop but it's seldom used. I can do 99% of what I need on my iPhone.

Lovetopaint037 Fri 18-Aug-23 08:51:20

I am retired so although I bought a Mac a few years ago I found my iPad is the one I use. It is so easy, so efficient and I love it. Now thinking of getting the largest screen sizein the hope this will help my failing eyesight.

lauryfriese Fri 18-Aug-23 06:52:43

The game candy-crush.io challenges players to strategically swap adjacent candies in order to create matches and clear the board. As the levels progress, new obstacles and challenges are introduced, such as jelly-filled squares, chocolate blocks, and other special candies with unique powers.

Jackiest Fri 07-Jul-23 10:12:59

My PC is about 14 years old and. Still runs quite fast I have upgraded the hard disc to SSD and the memry to 16Gb. It does have quite heavy use and is running many things simultaneously. May have to change it soon as I don't think it will run windows 11.

J52 Fri 07-Jul-23 09:08:19

We have Apple Mac books and iPads. DH has a huge screened Apple desktop for his work. All are varying years old and never give any trouble. My MacBook Pro is 12 yrs old, but now I only do some writing on it. My IPad Pro is 6 years old having replaced the earlier one. The battery sometimes has a mind of its own, so it probably will be replaced soon, when the latest machine is in the UK.
DH replaced his IPad and MacBook a couple of years ago. We’re definitely an Apple family, they’ve been very reliable for 30 years of machines.

FlexibleFriend Fri 07-Jul-23 08:45:40

I haven't had a desktop for at least 10 years. I use laptops, currently windows 10 and usually replace them every 2-3 years.

Freya5 Fri 07-Jul-23 08:32:21

My windows 7, still works well, bit slow utility love the 19" screen, all in one. The problem, you can't get updates anymore. Drivers become obsolete, need to download photos onto external hard drive, then off to computer graveyard. Do most of my work on Samsung tablet nowadays. Not sure another computer is worth the expense.

NotSpaghetti Fri 07-Jul-23 07:23:26

My mother-in-law had a new system last year. She is 99 now and after a few issues initially, she's so much happier with it. We bought a keyboard and a mouse to go with it and connected it wirelessly to the printer - this definitely helps as now she doesn't need to go to the study for day-to-day printing things off. Her old laptop was very very slow and was no longer being correctly updated.

We have had two laptops in the years that we have had our last PC. I found the PC was just too slow for Photoshop etc though I was reluctant to part with it. I think a computer is too old if you have to go away and make a pot of tea whilst it boots up!

I do use an old desktop (not connected to the Internet) to run a particular programme which connects to a specific computerised device but it's only used for that one job and does it perfectly well. Otherwise that laptop is obsolete!

Coolgran65 Fri 07-Jul-23 05:27:07

Our old tower system is still rocking on at about 8 years old. Mostly I get by using my Kindle Fire Tablet.
Our kids tell us to get lap tops, or at least replace the tower with a laptop. It's the thought of getting to grips with a new system that puts us off. I'd definitely want a mouse and a keyboard. Can't be doing with the wee slidy thing.

Here in N Ireland we use the term numpty, yes an idiot.

Marydoll Thu 06-Jul-23 19:13:09

🤣

No worse than me posting a WhatsApp message on GN! 🤭

MerylStreep Thu 06-Jul-23 19:11:28

Sorry Mary
Doing two things at once and didn’t notice I’d used quote

Marydoll Thu 06-Jul-23 19:11:27

MerylStreep

Marydoll

He has probably had at least two new PCs by now! 😉

LOOK AT THE DATE. I DOUBT IF THE OP IS WATCHING.

I did! One post and he disappears!

MerylStreep Thu 06-Jul-23 19:10:18

Marydoll

He has probably had at least two new PCs by now! 😉

LOOK AT THE DATE. I DOUBT IF THE OP IS WATCHING.

NanaDana Thu 06-Jul-23 18:51:06

We've had our laptop for about 7 years now, and have regularly updated the operating systems etc. as required. It's still quite fast enough for our purposes, as we're not using it for heavy duty PC games with complex graphics etc. It does everything we need, and more, so no plans to replace it.

Blondiescot Thu 06-Jul-23 18:42:35

Computer technology develops so quickly now that things can very quickly become obsolete. Of course, a great deal depends on what you want to do with a PC, Mac, tablet or laptop.

tanith Thu 06-Jul-23 18:35:53

What a very old thread 🤦‍♀️

dotpocka Thu 06-Jul-23 18:25:14

my main one is 12 years old dell with linux mint os it updates regularly when it dies i will buy a used and install we os from
linux
about 120 per unit

PamelaJ1 Thu 06-Jul-23 18:14:41

My iMac is sooo slow, I’ve deleted everything I can but have started thinking about replacing it. It’s about 13.
I no longer need to do as much paperwork as I used to so feel like I don’t want to spent about £1300 for something that is not needed much.
So I have got a connection lead that I can plug into our small smart TV and my iPad. This gives me the size of screen that I want and now I think I will get a keyboard for my iPad then that will be all I need.
I know this thread is old but the same problems occur.

Marydoll Thu 06-Jul-23 14:42:44

Everyone should have up to date protection their device, I never relied on Windows Defender alone.

If you find that too pricey, there is the free version of AVG, which offers some protection.

karmalady Thu 06-Jul-23 14:38:18

It becomes obsolete if, when you are on the internet, it becomes vulnerable to online safety issues. It would be ok if you are still able to get regular windows updates with safety patches etc

My old samsung laptop is heavy and has windows 7 but I liked that I could sit with it on my lap and watch dvds. Updates stopped a long time ago for windows 7 and so I disconnected it from the internet to keep it and my information safe. I took off what I could and decided that the laptop was not suitable for everyday stuff, nor would it have linked to my printer. That laptop is obsolete

Marydoll Thu 06-Jul-23 14:31:38

He has probably had at least two new PCs by now! 😉

NotAGran55 Thu 06-Jul-23 13:44:41

Hoping that Jack has sorted their PC 🖥️ problem by now!

Only 11 years ago….

Marydoll Thu 06-Jul-23 13:14:58

My PC is 7 yrs old and runs like a dream. We just replace parts ourselves, which are are no longer performing well.
I am, however, planning to replace my monitor, which is 15 years old, only because I need a bigger display. It's just a matter of checking compatibility with my tower.

I dislike laptops, due to the problems with dexterity and the fact that I am so familiar with my PC, I do everything instinctively and intuitively.

albertwatson248 Thu 06-Jul-23 11:50:05

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

biglouis Sat 04-Feb-23 00:08:29

My nephew built both of my desktops and from time to time we just upgrade some of the "bits" inside. I just got a new laptop as the old one was 3 years old and was chugging a bit. I passed it on to an aquaintance who only wants to do a bit of web brousing and email.